Should a HARDCORE gamer upgrade to 1080p panel?

720P all the way. 1080P screen is good for productivity works, photoshopping, web browsing etc.

As for gaming, even the current high end laptop GPUs like 460M and 5870 have problems running intensive games like metro 2033 at 1080p, let alone future games. In one year at best, you are gonna either have to lower the settings or your resolution in order to have playable FPS. And gaming at non-native resolution is just awful on almost any laptop screen, since gaming is your primary interest with the laptop, having a 1080P screen won't benefit you much as for the people who do lots of productivity works.

Actually I would choose a 1600x900 screen if I was in your shoes, games will go easier on your GPU than it will at 1080P and you still got plenty space on your screen to work with programs like photoshop, browsers.

 

nah 1200 is MUCH better for that kind of work .. okay web browsing is nice on 1080

 

I haven't tried metro 2033, but I generally get excellent frame rates with any game i've tried at 1920x1080, all detail settings maxed, even with my second tier mobility 5830 GPU.

Also, since 1080p is becoming a very common video standard, another good reason to get a 1920x1080 display is because it's the only way to watch 1080p video at native resolution. IMO, 1600x900 is not a bad display resolution for a laptop, either; however, if I understand correctly, the OP is planning to buy an external monitor and his choice is between a 720p external monitor or a 1080p external monitor, in which case, hands down I recommend the 1080p monitor. If 1366x768 looks like dogcrap on a 15.6" laptop display (and I can assure you it does), then 1280x720 will look even worse on a much larger external monitor.

 

Yeah...Metro 2033 will massacre your GPU. It's definitely not easy to run...more like "Damn, this game is like 'slap ya momma' hard to run".

 

That's because the games you play aren't so demanding, heck, the most games I play run even perfectly fine with medium/high at 1080p with my 9800M gs(running at 9800M gts speed).

There are games that will slow your system to crawl, try metro 2033, it will choke even the high end desktop GPUs at high details and resolutions, 460M and 5870M can barely manage to produce enough FPS. The 460M gives a laughable 9.6 fps with all dx11 eye candies maxed at 1080p: Review Asus G73JW Notebook (GTX 460M) - Notebookcheck.net Reviews Try it with your 5830 yourself.

Metro 2033 is too demanding? Try starcraft 2, play a big map with 4 players or more, you are gonna find neither 460M nor 5870 will give you satisfactory result with ultra settings at 1080p. Remember these are only current games and they already push the laptop GPUs to the limit, can you imagine the games released next year?

 

Metro 2033 is not a competitive game, I think most would only sacrifice resolution for higher frame rates for really competive games like CS 1.6 or something, but those games are so easy to run 1080p is just fine.

I cant think of any situation where I would want to use 720p over 1080p gaming or not.

The situation where you would have to use 720p over 1080p is almost non existant.

If you did find that scenario (or simply choose to put yourself in that scenario for some reason) upscaling from 720p to 1080p has almost no visual effect, atleast not one you would notice unless you just changed from native 1080p.

Still if you were born with some kind of scaling phobia, there is always 1:1 scaling as well so you will not scale the image at all from its original pixel content.

 

k well tday i got quote from dell and this is the specs

XPS L501X 1
Intel® Core? i7-740QM Processor (1.73GHz, 4Core/8Threads, turbo boost up to 2.93Ghz, 6M
cache)
1
15.6 HD (1366x768) WLED display with TrueLife? 1
Anodized Aluminium LCD Back Cover (WLAN) 1
Intel Wireless Driver(6200/6300) 1
System Documentation (English) 1
Directship Info Mod 1
System Drivers 1
Systerm Resource Media 1
E-star Label 1
Break the seal sticker 1
Regulatory labe (ICC) 1
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 Label 1
4GB (2GBx2) 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM 1
500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive 1
Tray Load Blu-ray BD-ROM / DVD + /-RW Combo Drive 1
Bezel for Blue Ray 1
Roxio Burn Software 1
Cyberlink PowerDVD Software9.6 1
Power Cord (IND)
130W AC Adapter
9 Cell Primary Battery
Litho Box Shipment box
2GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 435M graphics with Bluetooth
Waves MaxxAudio V3.0 audio enhancements software
Intel WiFi Link 6200 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card
Dell? Keyboard with Touchpad (English)
Windows(R) 7 Label

 

First thing-WOW i mean 720p panel!I will ask them for a 1080p panel as that was what i was getting on 1645 b4.
Second thing -its written dell keyboard with touchpad
i suppose it should be a dell backlit keyboard with touchpad
Should i bother mentioning it!
Thanks!

 

Having (myself) a non-backlit keyboard, aback lit, and lighted keyboard I would say get a lit keyboard of any method they make a huge difference.

 

2GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 435M

Why does this have 2GB memory? WHy not slap on 10GB and call it the best card in the world and they will sell even more

 

I know. They're probably to the point though that 2GB isn't much more expensive than 1GB so why not? Kinda silly though. Even if it saves $5, it's probably a $20 savings to the end consumer.

 

Yeah, and it's just regular DDR3, not even GDDR3. A total waste for that card, especially when a 768p display is standard.

 

Because not everyone knows that stuff, and 2GB > 1GB, so why wouldn't they choose the 2GB 435M when a competitor has a 1GB 445M, right? It's pure numbers inflation.

 

was yur last monitor high resolution? if it was, demand a high resolution screen to come with yur replacement. tell them that the high resolution is a crucial part of yur work and/or school productivity. anything less will not be tolerated.

 

I've tried lots of recent games on my laptop at 1920x1080 all detail settings maxed, including F:NV, DAO/Awakenings, Prototype, Mirror's Edge, Arcania, TheWitcher, MafiaII, ME2, ME1, Bioshock1 & 2, RE5, Civ5, and the only one that dipped below 30fps occasionally was Crysis Warhead and IMO, 25-30 fps was still quite playable for that one.

I'm usually able to run games stable overclocked to 550 MHz (core) / 1150MHz (memory) using the AMD GPU clock tool. Only F:NV and Civ5 seem to require a bit lower overclock (450/1050). Performance on a 5850 or 5870 should be much better than on my 5830.

 

That's what I was talking about, none of the games you mentioned are very demanding compared to metro 2033 or SC2. Try to max the settings in either of the two. Neither 5870 nor 460M is sufficient.

 

wow,everybody here is going outta topic.BTW i think i will mail them about the 1080p display and backlit kb!
Thanks
Last question,do you think i would regret not gettin 1080p display!

 

love the 1080p if you can take advantage of it

 

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: yes.

 

Yes, definitely. 720p external display is already obsolete

 

Let me put it this way: I wish my 12" netbook had more than 1366x768 resolution.

 

Haven't read through the thread... but it really depends on the game, no?

As a semi-hardcore starcraft 2 player, I opted to get a 1080p (1080p for coding and whatnot). Originally, I had intended to play on 720p with high settings assuming that the non-native res wouldn't bother me. Turns out, it did bother me. I play on 1080p with low settings in a serious game, but it's also partly because I find the high graphics with shadows and whatnot to be quite distracting.

That said, this is very starcraft 2 specific and I still voted for "I will get 1080p display and lower the res"

 

To my eyes, below native, the textures look blurred and muddy.

Even setting my 1680x1050 display at 1440x900 bothers me.

 

The XPS 17 comes with a Nvidia 445m w/ 3gb of memory and a 1600x900 screen. Go figure.

Go with a 1080p screen. You'll regret a lower resolution screen later. My first laptop (six years old and still going strong) has a 1920x1200 screen, and I can't imagine working on it with a low rez screen. My work desktop only has a 1440x900 screen, which isn't terrible but I wish for a higher rez monitor all the time.

 

well i got a new config tday from dell.It has 1080 panel and the backlit kb i was asking for.DEll is really great!
I am really excited to get my hands on it.Think from a m1330 with core 2 duo and lowly 8400 mgs to a full blown i7 740 and gt435m.!!!
BTW i will receive a mail tmrw about the STA of the new laptop!

 

BTW can you people tell how much better is the B+RG display compared to a normal WELD one
Thanks!

 

Try 1280x800. Some displays are just bad at it although newer displays have at least one lower resolution that runs fine. That is usually 1280x720 or 1280x800 depending on if its 16:9 or 16:10.

I run 1280x800 on my 1680x1050 laptop display and it looks great. I run 1280x800 on my 1920x1200 desktop display and it looks great. It does depend on the game somewhat. Battlefield 2 looks best at native, but definitely not a problem at the lower resolution, especially since I can kick in 4xAA.

I had someone play a game that was a gamer but didn't know or care much about displays. I had him play at 1680x1050 one time, and next time (a few days later) 1280x800 and he didn't mention anything. When I asked him if it looked any different he said no. I know that's just one person. If I did it immediately after he played at higher res he might have noticed. But it just didn't bother him. He was more into the game.

 

it's RGB!!! lol

and yes real RGB is much better than regular LED. there are actually red, green, and blue LED's in there instead of white LED's tryin to reproduce red, green, and blue colors.

 

B+RG is just a type of regular WLED, it is not RGBLED. It is still much better than the average laptop display. Anandtech has a review of it here Dell XPS L501x: An Excellent Mainstream Notebook - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

real harcore gamers use 16:10, not 16:9

 

Real hardcore gamers use whatever the **** they feel comfortable using and not what other people determine for them.

That said, I love my 20" 1680x1050.

 

Go 1080p. Even if you have to play a game at 720p due to performance, you'll probably be able to manage 4x AA (Metro 2033 is a good example) and you won't notice the lower resolution too badly. If your GPU can handle the resolution, then more power to you.

 

k.
I have confirmed on the 1080p quote btw.I am getting 1080p panel actually.BTW can you people throw some light upon the b=rg display and will it kinda improve game quality or such!
CHeers!