http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824116079

This is the one I'm looking at. I know 1080p will go perfectly with my PS3 for gaming and Blu Ray movies, however, this will mainly be used for PC gaming purposes with an 8800GT. Not sure if it will matter, but it will be paired with a Dell 1905 FP.

Main questions:

How will this monitor look out of native resolution if I need to lower it a bit to play some games smoothly (Crysis)?

Is 8ms response time going to be terribly noticeable?

Finally, looking over the specs, is there anything that would entice or push you away from this particular model?

Thanks for your responses in advance. This is a non-refundable item and I do not want to be stuck with it if I am disappointed.

link not working

Woops, copy/pasted from other forum. Link fixed.

8ms might be a little too high if you're going to use it for intense FPS games. Generally 5ms is where you'll be looking at.

OK, so assuming it would be a bad experience... I see the Samsung 226BW and think it would be a great second choice. Only 22" but apparently, if you get lucky, you get one hell of a monitor. There seems to be an issue with Samsung using sub-contracted manufacturing in addition to what they pump out. The only difference being the quality of the panel you happen to end up with. S or A.

Is that gamble worth the risk? Or is there a more surefire solution for a sexy 22"+ gaming monitor. Think $600 or less. I'm stumped. Looking at the other choices, I see that most 22" suffer from using shoddy LCD panels. Some are better than others, but I have a picky eye, and I'll spot the small annoying things that most people could probably dismiss.

nvm

19x12 is BIG rez.
U wouldnt play Crysis at decent settings with anything other than a GTX.
DONT USE any lcd in anything BUT the native rez. Its like turning the gfx settings down a notch without a performance boost.

That's what I've been hearing, and the reason I posted. So 22" is the sweet spot for now it seems @ 1680x12xx.

Is the Samsung worth the gamble? Is there an easy way to tell which panel is installed by retail box markings?

I don't think you can tell which panel is installed by which sub-manufacturer....

But from what I've heard, 226BW is a very decent monitor...

I just got mine from Amazon for 250USD...

On a side note though, I am not sure if you can hook 226BW up with PS3...given PS3 outputs HDMI..

Yea, I was just going to take advantage of the 1080p signal for Blu Ray movies mostly. I can put the PS3 on my HDTV at only 1080i, but should still look fantastic.

If you're looking at a monitor mostly for FPS, 20" should be better. Larger screen means more resolution, and it isn't really a good thing when you have to lower the resolution to play.

But hey, 226BW is only 250USD at Amazon (deal expires 11/30), while 206BW (20" ) is 230USD. Your choice

I've never been a huge fan of Viewsonic, they tend to have more broken pixels than better brands.

Given all your requirements I'd go with a BenQ FP241W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824014124

It supports 1080p, and it has a lot of connectors.

For Crysis I simply ran my 26" Planar in 1680 x 1050 mode with a black border. It was still larger than a 22" monitor. Most monitors smaller than 24" are TN which while they have less lag they only display 1/4 the colors of MVA or IPS. Also these days lag is not so tied to the response time of the crystals.

I think I've settled on the 226BW. In fact, I may buy 2 of them (same price as I expected to pay for the Viewsonic) and increase my chances of getting an S panel. If I happen to get 2 S panels, then yippee, dual 22" monitor time. If I get one of each, the A panel will be destined for Ebay or thru here at a discounted price.

What's the difference between A panel and S panel?

The S panel is manufactured by Samsung and seems to provide the best picture quality of the available "sub-models".

The A panel is manufactured by one of their contracts and, judging by the reviews on Newegg, is just terrible.

Just noticed that there is also a "C" panel floating around now as well, which also seems to suck. So, ordering online, you now have a 1 in 3 chance of getting your money's worth.

I called Samsung, and their CSR said that she was aware of the differences, and it was just basically luck of the draw. She said she wouldn't suggest purchasing this monitor online. Unfortunately, the only way to guarantee an S panel would be to go to Circuit City, CompUSA, Best Buy etc, and have the manager open the monitor boxes until you find the sticker which shows the S panel installed. I have a feeling that most retail managers are going to be way too uptight to go through all that just to make a $300 sale.

An 8800GT will not do Crysis smoothly at 1920x1080 native LCD.

Even Dual overclocked 8800GTX's struggle at some points at 1920x1080. I know this for a fact.

That's already been established. That wasn't even one of my questions tho. Thanks for your input

The lottery is a tax on people that can't do math. Best of luck to you!

HAHA, I called Circuit City to see if they would let me look through their stock to find the S panel and the sales mgr said "Sure, if for every one you don't buy after you open it, you pay the 15% restocking fee"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....good one you poor pitiful retail manager.