Monitors (WXGA vs WUXGA) and Gaming question

I'm looking at notebooks with Geforce Go 7900 GS or better and was wondering which monitor is best.

WUXGA (1920 x 1200) or WXGA (1440 x 900 pixels)

I'm going to be playing games like Oblivion hopefully. Since the game would probably run better at a lower resolution, I wasn't sure if the WUXGA would be the right choice. I have good eyesight so small icons don't bother me.

 

getting WUXGA will not just give you more desktop space for windows and icons, but it will also help "future proof" your notebook for 1080p Full-HD video (from Blu-ray/HD-DVD) and next-gen games.

I enjoy my WUXGA a lot! it makes things so much more simpler by having such a high resolution. And the games all run at max settings, so i would not worry about it. you probably wont even need to use AA in games because you at such a high resolution, it wont even be noticed.

 

I have played quite a few games (Gothic 3, Dark Messiah, LOTRO and Tomb Raider Legend to name a few) at my laptops native resolution of 1680x1050 and they look amazing. Once you start using a higher res screen, you will never want to go back. If my Go 7700 can push these games at high/medium settings at that resolution, then the Go 7900 should be good at 1920x1200. My last laptop was a 17" @1440x900 and I look back at it and wonder how I even look at it. Higher res is the better choice. Something to think about, you can lower the resolution of games on a high res screen, but you can not raise the resolution of games on a low res screen.

 

I heard that it looks worse when you run games at a lower resolution than is native for the lcd monitor. That was why I was unsure which would be best since I'm not sure how smooth Oblivion would be at 1920x1200 with a 7900 GS.

I'm not getting a laptop until Santa Rosa though so I have a while to think about it and maybe even get a better system if prices go down. I'm not planning on getting HD-DVD or blu-ray so that doesn't really come into the decision for me. Never know which will win the competition as the next media anyway so it's a waste currently IMO.

 

Go for WUXGA. A high resolution screen is invaluable when you have a GPU as good as the 7900 in your notebook. Having a lower resolution somewhat "limits" the GPU.

Notebook LCD screens alter the image resolution and settings very well. You can always decrease the resolution in games if you running with high details and your lacking with frame rates. Occasionally, bluring does occur when decreasing resolution, but this is rare. My notebook does it fantastically well in CS:S, decreasing from 1600 x 1200 to 1024 x 768.

 

Always the same old debate.
I recently bought my laptop and went for the WSGXA+ screen (1680x1050) and not the WUXGA.
Reason is to try to keep on playing games at native resolution: for instance I can barely play FEAR with a decent framerate at native resolution (and my laptop is equipped with 7950gtx), it wouldn't be possible with the WUXGA screen. I would have to lower the res and get all the ugly interpolation effects....

Now it's up to you. My old laptop was 17" 1440x900 and I admit that WSXGA+ /WUXGA look much better for a 17".

 

i have the wuxga resolution and its great !

 

I think you have some problems with your settings and configurations for your OS and FEAR.

I have a 7800GTX and WUXGA screen, i get 30+ fps with Max Settings in all current games. So I truly believe that you have not optimized the settings in your notebook. (and disable useless things that are wasting your resources... like System Restore, and Anti-Viruses)

For instance, you should do the Multi-Core XP hotfix to make sure that your OS is utilizing both cores, and make sure you are using the best drivers for your videocard (which is not always the stock drivers)

Do this first:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

And then update your video drivers following this guide:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=64910

 

WUXGA, detail is incredible, I mean seriously amazing. Don't worry about your games running at that res, it will be able to do it, trust me, I've got a WUXGA screen (1920x1200) that looks amazing on all games I've tried it on.

Oblivion is the only game so far that tests its abilitys, and even that runs very well on medium-high/high settings (plus alot of unofficial updates and user mods). And I haven't noticed a lot of fps increase when I do drop the screen resolution.

HL2 plays highest res, absolute best settings without a single hiccup. Supreme Commander gets highest res, and all settings highest without much problems until you get 500+ units on screen at once.

etc.

And especially if you're waiting for Santa Rosa (which I am too, to get my own killer laptop), brand new processors/graphic cards will make your games run even better in 1920/1200.

 

Thanks for the responses. Looks like I'll go for the WUXGA screen when I decide to buy.

 

Well, I hate to make things hard for you, but I may be a rarity. I currently have a WXGA+ screen (1440x900) with a 7900GS equivalent GPU, and I'm not really dissatisfied. I think a WSXGA would be nicer, but it's not offered on Dell 17" laptops, so I didn't really have an option. To be honest, I sometimes go back to my old laptop which has a 1400x1050 resolution (but it's a 14") and I find it hard to look at. And I can currently run all my games at native resolution/max settings with minimal (if any) lag, including F.E.A.R. and Quake 4 (which actually has to be run at High settings, not Ultra).

Now, it's up to you, and I think the WUXGA will be a great screen, but honestly, you're not getting a 7950GTX or a 7900GTX or even a 7800GTX here; you're getting a 7900GS, which is slower than all of those previously mentioned cards. You'll be able to run most new games at native resolution (1920x1200) fine, but some just won't take. And if some games won't now, think about in 6-12 months time when games are even more demanding than now. I'm not trying to change your decision, just presenting all information and opinions and giving you something to think about. Good luck with the search, and I hope you find a 17" laptop with a WSXGA screen personally. It's what I would prefer looking back now.

 

Yeah as I pointed out in some other thread (Clevo sub-forum), I use Vista on my laptop, and because of beta drivers, I can't get the full performance out of my 7950GTX.

However, my point is still valid. I have a 7800GTX on my desktop, and believe me this one is well optimized on XP. I cannot run 1280x1024 with max settings without losing competitivity online.
30+fps is not enough, you should have average 60fps and never go below 30 even with tons of enemies and special effects on the screen. Otherwise you can expect to be fragged pretty quick in hot situations.
That's just my 2 cents. Games are gonna need more and more GPU power and there's no way you will run at native res (even with 7950GTX) with games like quake wars, crysis, etc... Oblivion and FEAR are already 2 examples where you need to lower the settings to get a decent framerate.

 

to backup my previous post:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3017&review=Sager+5760

sager 5760 review with WSXGA+ and 7900GTX on XP.
With max settings (AA 4x) and at 1680x1050, average fps in the FEAR benchmark is 21. I can't imagine what it would be with WUXGA.

 

ahhh so u use AA... thats whats killing your performance. AA is not even needed when you have a high resolution.

Turn off your AA, you should see a better performance boost.

 

you're right AA is over killing in this game.
I guess that if you play with a high res such like 1920x1200, AA might not bring so much...

 

thanks for clouding the issue for me It's good to hear both sides though.

It would be nice to know what the performance is like without AA turned on. I'm kind of hoping that I can get a 7950 GTX in a $2,000 or under laptop this fall. With the addition of the 8 series cards, it may be possible. I'm hoping.

 

Sorry to make your decision harder to take.
The real question is how much you'll use your laptop for gaming, and how much for the rest: multimedia, browsing, and everything else...
The WUXGA is better in almost any situation; my personal concern was the ability to play at native resolution with upcoming games, and this is why I went for the WSXGA+.
I wouldn't pick the WXGA+ no matter what, because it's really not good enough for a 17" laptop.

 

I'm not stuck on dell but they don't even offer WSXGA+.

If playing under native resolution isn't that bad then I'll probably get the WUXGA. I'm used to 800x600 when playing oblivion on this desktop so anything higher will be a treat lol.

My main tasks on the computer are surfing the web, gaming, email, typing word documents, music and movies. I don't game nearly as much as I used to but enough to want a good rig for the times I do.