Which should I upgrade? Vid Card or Monitor

C

cplcarlman

New Member
Gentlemen,

Although I am not new to the computer scene, this is my first post on these forums. I am looking for advice as to whether I should upgrade my monitor or video card at this point.

My system:
Asus P5N-E motherboard
Intel C2D E6750 cpu
XFX 8600GT XXX video card (factory OC)
2GB DDR2 RAM
Windows XP Pro
Samsung 19" CRT

I would like to get a bigger display, but I am unsure if my video card can support the increased resolution to 1440x900 or 1680x1050. Currently I play mostly Source engine games (TF2 and DOD:S) @ 1280x960 which is my monitor's max resolution and I get 70-80+ fps.

I have around $200 to spend which could get me a decent 19-22" LCD monitor at newegg. Or I could spend about $110 (after rebate) on a 9800GT at newegg that comes with COD4.

I will say that I plan to eventually upgrade both components, but I am tempted to get the monitor first. Video card prices are dropping like a rock while LCD prices are slowly decreasing.

I am just wondering if my current video card can run the above games at acceptable frame rates until I scrape together enough coin to purchase a faster video card.

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
I would get the monitor first. by the time you save up for a new video, there will be a better one for the same price. so you ultimately end up with a better computer. if you do go the video card first, you won't notice a difference until you upgrade the monitor, whereas you could get a positive difference if you get the monitor first.

If games are not playing at acceptable frame rates just turn down some of the settings or the resolution. because 8600gt is playing them at acceptable level now.
 
The monitor for sure, due to the radiance. Buy a TFT. Also, I thinks your video card is XFX not XXX :D
 
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