Tell me more about monitors...

Hey guys,

I'm looking to get a monitor soon. The reason is that my laptop's resolution is 1280x800, and it's just not enough, so I need some higher resolution, and a bigger screen as well. I have a few questions...

My laptop's GPU is ATI 4670. How high of a resolution will this be able to handle up to? And will this be able to handle 2 screens?

I want to spend as little as possible (<$100), is it possible to get a widescreen LCD monitor?

When I plug a monitor into a laptop is it possible to use the monitor as a main screen and the laptop as an extension screen?

Thanks guys,
I'll post more questions when I think of them.

 

Yes, yes, and yes. The < $100 constraint is doable, but you'll probably have to buy either second hand or something relatively small and lower-resolution.

 

Depends what you meant by "handle." That 4670, especially since it is the laptop variety, is quite a low end gpu. If you are doing this for gaming, forget about upping the resolution.

The videocard can display up 2500x1900 or something in that neighborhood. It can't do multiple external monitors, but it can do both your laptop screen and an external monitor.

For less than $100 you have to get something either really crappy or something mediocre and second hand. I would save up some more and get much better display for not a whole lot more money. You can get something good that is 21 inches with 1080p resolution for under $200 shipped to your door. Spending less than $100 is just a waste.

 

If anything I want to play games on the monitor and have the laptop monitor be used for other stuff such as Ventrilo. And I will be buying an used item as new items depreciate so much as soon as I open the box...

 

If the monitor's resolution is higher than your notebook's, your HD4670 will struggle even more at displaying the game. Add to that the fact that you want to display an extension on your notebook screen(which btw is possible) and it'll lower performance even more.

Just be aware that you won't get the same level of performance for games as you would on your notebook.

 

But realize that even a used monitor, for under $100 is not going to be much better than the screen you already have. You should really save up another 50 bucks or something and get a decent monitor. But also keep in mind that you will have to lower your graphics settings, maybe considerably, to play at higher resolutions.

 

You can get a decent 22" monitor for around 150$ nowadays. I mean, ti won't be the cream of the crop but it'd still be a nice monitor for extra real estate if anything, but for gaming it'd hurt more than anything.

OP, have you looked at the DIY ViDock project? That would help boost your gaming performance while on the external.

 

Yea I checked out the DIY ViDock thread, but I'm a computer illiterate and know next to nothing about computers. I'd love to be able to run an external desktop GPU but have no idea how to set it up even given the wonderful tutorial that's been written...

 

You can get a 20" LCD for $98. Open box model though.

Newegg.com - Open Box: Hanns·G HH201HPB Black 20" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 X-Contrast 15000:1(1000:1) Built-in Speakers

 

Lol my thread just keeps on getting moved all over the place

That monitor looks awesome, I'm going to get it after I do a bit more research on the ViDocks.

 

the thing about Vidock is that it isn't portable or in a way defeats the purpose of the laptop... unless ur using ur laptop as a desktop replacement all the time , quite useless.. anyways , the 4670 isn't powerful enough for 2 monitors.. ur really going to get a big drop in performance...

 

Right, because he's definitely buying an external monitor for the portability. A ViDock is just way overboard, though.

 

You don't need a vidock, don't worry about it. I run my notebook's (15.4'') 1920X1200 screen + 21.5'' 1920x1080 when I am at my desk. All with a 256MB GDDR3 HD2600 (via HDMI out). You will be fine, you dont need a ATi HD5870 to dual screen word docs. As for games, the most intensive thing I play is L4D2 and I just run that at 17XX x 1XXX on my external (laptop screen off) . Mind you my GPU is a whole lot weaker than yours.

 

I'm not really looking for portability here. I just want to use my laptop when I'm on the go (and not gaming), but be able to sit down at a table at home and get better graphics.

Mastershroom, why would you say ViDock is an overkill?

Can you get a 3D Mark benchmark using your external monitor please? I feel like it'll be easier to compare that way since I don't have L4D2 or anything with resolution nearly as high haha

 

The 4670 gets over 7000 points in 3dMark06. Are you maybe thinking of another GPU?

I run two monitors for web and office work with an Intel 4500 integrated card. Works fine.

 

Yea, I ran 3D Mark 06 and 3D Mark Vantage, and score came up ~6500 for 06, and ~2500 for Vantage (only GPU). I'm thinking about doing a ViDock, but I don't think paying $200+ for a 5750 just to get 10000 3D Mark 06 score will be worth it (10000 if I overclock it, otherwise it'll be ~7000).

 

3DMark06 isn't a very good indicator of performance, though. The ViDock is nice, but you don't quite get your money's worth out of it unless you can avoid having a PCIe bottleneck with your GPU.

Although you'll have to play some games on Medium settings, the 4670 is a decent GPU. After all, the Dell Studio XPS 16 offers 1600x900 and 1920x1080 screens with the same GPU. I definitely wouldn't buy a ViDock until after you've bought a screen and decided you're not satisfied with the performance.

 

I was making a sarcastic reply to sean473; he said that a ViDock would defeat the purpose of a laptop, completely ignoring the fact that you're getting an external display anyway.

 

Hmmm, guess it would make sense to read posts in order lol.

 

No, and don't lump what I said with that sean473 guy said. I'm not talking about running two displays, I said that works fine. I said that he would have to turn down graphics settings to run a higher resolution monitor. And the mobile 4670 is a weak gpu any way you slice it.

 

I reacted to the part where you called the ATI 4670 with 1GB DDR3 RAM a low end GPU.

Notebookcheck: Review Dell Studio XPS 16 (ATI HD4670) Notebook

 

I don't care what they call it or called it even when it was new. Did you look at the horrible results it received in their testing? To add insult to injury they only tested up to 1280x1024 resolution.

Quoted from the same article: "its strengths are definitely not found in the gaming field."

I guess the "low end" can drop significantly lower than the mobile 4670, but that doesn't mean the mobile 4670 isn't low end.

 

Let's not confuse forum readers that don't know much about GPUs.

The ATI 4670 is considered at least a mid range notebook GPU.

Actually the Notebookreview guide in 2009 considered it high-end. That guide may be called outdated though.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...hics-card-info-page-most-gpu-qs-answered.html

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