M17 1440x900 vs 1920x1200

I ordered a new M17 and it arrived at my house on 1-29-09. Unfortunately, I have not. I am a tug captain and was supposed to go home today Feb 4th but now have to wait until the 9th. Talk about torture! Below are the specs of my new M17 and my old rig. I was trying to stay below $3,000 and I did so by going with the 1440x900 screen. So can anyone tell me if I made a mistake? Would I really see an enormous difference in game graphics with the 1920x1200. I like to play IL2/1946, BF2, Warrock, Far Cry, Half-Life, Call of Duty. So am I going to be happy or am I going to regret my choice of screen?

Alienware M17 (New Rig)
Intel Core2 Extreme X9100 3.06GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Dual 512MB ATI HD 3870 in CrossfireX
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM (1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB)
160GB 7,200RPM Hard drive (8MB Cache)
Vista Ultimate (64-bit Edition) SP1
17-Inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)

Dell 8600 Inspiron (Old Rig)
Intel Pentium M 1.40 GHz (1MB Cache, 400MHz FSB)
128 MB ATI 9600 Pro Turbo
1.5 GB DDR-SDRAM (333 MHz -1x512MB +1x1024MB)
60 GB 7,200RPM Hard Drive (8 MB Cache)
Windows XP Home (2002) Sp3
14.8-Inch WXGA 1280 x 800 LCD

 

Pros:

Better gaming performance at native resolution
Larger images and text with no scaling required
720P support

Cons:

Some web pages and images can crowd your screen
Some games are finer and crisper at WUXGA+
Resolution can be decreased to 1440x900 for games with varying impact to image quality
Lack of native 1080P support

 

I like "eye candy" and I am getting this really bad feeling that I made the one mistake that I can't change or upgrade. Thanks for the info.

Alienware M17 (New Rig)
Intel Core2 Extreme X9100 3.06GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Dual 512MB ATI HD 3870 in CrossfireX
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM (1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB)
160GB 7,200RPM Hard drive (8MB Cache)
Vista Ultimate (64-bit Edition) SP1
17-Inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)

Dell 8600 Inspiron (Old Rig)
Intel Pentium M 1.40 GHz (1MB Cache, 400MHz FSB)
128 MB ATI 9600 Pro Turbo
1.5 GB DDR-SDRAM (333 MHz -1x512MB +1x1024MB)
60 GB 7,200RPM Hard Drive (8 MB Cache)
Windows XP Home (2002) Sp3
14.8-Inch WXGA 1280 x 800 LCD

 

downgrade your os and memory, buy memeory from newegg if u dont wanna increase your budget

 

Nah, trust me, your new rig is going to rip your old one apart in every way possible. You won't be disappointed.
at 1440x900, you will be able to run just about every game maxed out. Better get your drool rag ready.

 

Thanks for helping me feel better. It would be a very expensive and disappointing mistake if I feel differently later.

 

I bought the m17 two times and both with the 1440x900 ... it's great! And I don't need Full HD ... the display is only 17" and 720p support is quit enought!

The fackt, that playing at nativ res is a "eye candy" aswell, was the biggest reason to stay with the 1440x900 LCD

Greetings
Julian

 

Given the machine you came from, I agree, you won't be disappointed. The 1440x900 screen on your M17 has about 20% more space than your old 1280x800 screen, so it is a decent improvement.

Enjoy your new rig - congratulations!

 

Same predicament as yourself. I had a 1280x800 prior and couldn't decide on 1440x900 vs. 1920x1200.

Long story short, I went with the 1920 for two reasons:
1. Clearview
2. The hardware specs. could handle almost all games on 1920 anyways

Yes, websites do appear to be very small; however, movies and games do look fabulous. Also, your CPU owns mine so games should run better on 1920 (UT3 engine, WoW, HL2 engine, Fallout 3 all run like champs on 1920 with the graphical settings cranked; roughly ~60 fps+). If you really wanted 1440 on a 1920, then you could use E-Wrecked's modded drivers (which I did sucessfully); then again, 1440 is not the native resolution so quality suffers. It's really all about compromise.

Though, since I've gotten used to 1920, I can't imagine using a lower resolution anymore.

This may make you feel guilty, but that's just my two cents... Regardless, that's still a very solid configuration for you m17.

 

wait you can run 1920 on a 1440 screen???????

 

feelign bad for something that you didnt do...
this was troubling me a lot too
but then i thought that i would prefer to downgrade something that i could upgrade sometime later like the processor or the HDD or even some RAM
but am still jealous of your CPU choice

 

It's a shame iamomega, such a beasty computer, but it wont push your computer at all. At least you can safely say you max out everything though.
I have a 1440x900 on a 15 inch, and its perfect. But on a 17inch it wouldnt be big enough...

 

No - however, you can run 1440x900 on a 1920x1200 screen.

 

And this is what he wrote ... He has a 1920x1200 display ... and if he wants eg. to max out Crysis he uses 1440x900 ... he can because of E-wreckeds drivers (resolution added)

One more time When you play Crysis you will be happy with your 1440x900 LCD like I am^^

Greetings
Julian

 

Speaking of Crysis, I'm currently in the process of installing it.

I'll give a short report on the performance on 1920 x 1200 on my current configuration. I suspect I'll have some issues on 'Very High', so I will most likely run on just 'High'.

 

it will be a more enjoyable experience on High.. unless you run in DX9, with the DX10 hacks, and Very High That looks and feels great. Anyhow.. look forward to what ya think.

 

Thanks for all the reply's. When all you have to do is set and think about your M17 at home until Monday, you start questioning certain decisions. I promise to come back on and tell you what I think. First I have to kiss the wife, hug the kids, pet the dogs and pretend that it does not matter that it is even in the room for about two hours so no one suspects just how badly I want to get my hands on the darn thing. I'm sure everyone here knows there is a fine line that must be walked between gaming and the family. Family always comes first.

Alienware M17 (New Rig)
Intel Core2 Extreme X9100 3.06GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Dual 512MB ATI HD 3870 in CrossfireX
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM (1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB)
160GB 7,200RPM Hard drive (8MB Cache)
Vista Ultimate (64-bit Edition) SP1
17-Inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)

Dell 8600 Inspiron (Old Rig)
Intel Pentium M 1.40 GHz (1MB Cache, 400MHz FSB)
128 MB ATI 9600 Pro Turbo
1.5 GB DDR-SDRAM (333 MHz -1x512MB +1x1024MB)
60 GB 7,200RPM Hard Drive (8 MB Cache)
Windows XP Home (2002) Sp3
14.8-Inch WXGA 1280 x 800 LCD

 

lol.. One word, painful.

You're a good man.

And..that's a really nice replacement you got there. Congrats on the order

Side note; And, if you like, you can click "User CP" on the blue bar across the top of the screen.. then "Edit Signature" on the left and throw those rigs in.. I think they may limit the amount of lines, as to what they consider "appropriate" - But 5 lines or less and you should be solid.

 

I am currently editing my profile. Not having much luck with the profile photo.

 

Alright Ewrecked, I tried what you said now let's see if I am successful.

 

Thanks E!!!

 

W00t. Now you need a photo.. takes some time to find a nice one that fits well.. But, you'll find it.

 

hey guys...I have an off topic question (sorry in advance!)

how does one change the caption just below your username (i.e the "un-BANNED" found under E-wrecked's name)

I just can't seem to figure that one out...

 

You gotta hit.. 700 posts I think? Then you PM a mod to enable it.

 

oh man....I got a long way to go...

thanks E

 

I think this computer is a beast, I'm getting mine this week, I guess, I still need to decide

at 160GB 7200 RPM, I will use around 20GB for WinXP and the rest of the power use it for games

I will install DeskPro, TopDesk and maybe madotate, and it will be like Windows Vista + Aero on steroids

I can't wait

The ONLY game on the market that uses DX10 is basically Crysis and FarCry2, and I'm not going to have a slower computer because of those games

Allthough maybe later with a 320GB drive upgrade I can have both systems

this computer will be a beast with Windows XP

I have one question though, GTA IV runs slow?

With WinXP I assume GTA IV will run better, as well as 100% of the other games.

I want to take full advantage of my 2.4 Ghz processor

 

LOL... good luck with GTA IV on that.