Which LCD Resolution to buy?

I have a Macbook Pro 2.2, 2gb, 8600gt 128, 160 HD. Pretty much the lowest macbook pro.

I use my computer for Graphic design and also for games. For work, the 1920x1200 resolution would work really well so I'm contemplating a 24" Dell 2407WP-HC.

For games, however, I'm not sure if it would be worth it to play at such a high native resolution; I'm not sure if it would affect framerates significantly. I play battlefield 2142, FEAR, and possibly Bioshock in the future. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Does it make sense to use 1920x1200 for gaming on the low-end Macbook Pro? or go with a 22" 1680x1050 resolution (or even 1440) to remain playable?

I have no experience using an external monitor for games, so i'm not really sure of what the MBP is capable of at such a high-res.

I'm using bootcamp, XP for games.

Thanks for your help.

 

Since the MacBooks only use the GeForce 8600M the lower the res the better for games...

And since you're using the lower MBP it uses a 128MB VCard version so the lack of additional VRam might also hinder you at higer resolutions (though I think the card itself will hit before that happens)...

 

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was thinking, but is it possible to play at a lower resolution than native on an lcd monitor?

 

It is possible to play at a lower res than the native resolution, but it won't look proper.
But I agree, if you plan to game, especially those games, get the lowest possible external resolution monitor.

 

Yes, but it won't look as good.

 

In gaming, yes it will.

It's better to be able to play games at say, 1280x1024 with some good settings than 1920x1080 with everything else turned down.


**Edit**
whoops, just realized dave was probably talking about the playing games at a res that is none native