Building the Ultimate Gaming System IV

FOR LCDs, LOOK FOR THESE FACTORS:
- DVI input. This allows a higher color resolution, which allows for much better graphical quality. Of course, expect that this might knock down your refresh time by approximately 2 milliseconds, but that isnt such a big worry. Make sure you have a DVI compatible video card, though, before this becomes an issue.
- Under 20ms response time. At the moment, the lowest I've seen is 8ms, the LCD I'm using. If you're not a gamer, this isnt important. However, from gaming to watching movies, less response lag means faster graphics.
- 17" is the current default for LCDs, but I'd reccomend getting a 19". 19" compared to my other 15" LCD is like comparing a bike to a car in level of quality. Big screens make even the smallest resolution so much better.
- Don't get tricked at buying a LCD with under 16.7 million colors. 16.7 is the standard, going higher is pretty useless, but going under is the stupidest move you can make.

FOR CRTs, LOOK FOR THESE FACTORS:
- Don't worry about "Flat" CRTs. "Flat" CRTs have come into big attention recently because the front of the glass is flatter instead of rounded like old CRTs. While it allows for better screen geometry, it still doesnt match LCD, so don't assume that paying $500 for a "Flat" CRT ensures LCD quality.
- The bigger screen, the better. Instead of with LCD where you don't want to go too big because its really expensive, the bigger screened CRTs don't shoot up in price as badly. That's a decent reason for getting an CRT- bigger screen.
- Try to get a CRT by a known company like Viewsonic or Dell. Offbrand monitors tend to be of worse quality and have more problems. However, I have heard that companies like IBM make some extremely well-made CRTs, so this rule may not apply 100% of the time. As always, look up the CRT online.


As always, you can give me a private message on the forums or somehow contact me if you have a question, comment, or suggestion. Happy hunting!

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