15.4 xga vs.sxga

Hey you guys. I have a quick question about the x1400 on my new dell. I just got this laptop on tues. and so far am very pleased. Except I think I want to return it and go with the higher resolution screen. I'm wondering how much of a performance hit should I expect in games like HL2, DOOM3, Far Cry if I made this move?

These are the specs.
Core2Duo 1.83
1 gig of ram (soon to upgrade to 2 gigs)
ATI x1400
80 gig Hard Drive
15.4 LCD

P.S. Will the viewing angle improve with a higher res screen? I got an AUO screen and can't get a uniform color across the whole screen. Like 30 to 40% will look washed out no matter how much I tilt the screen.

 

SXGA, hands down.

Notebook screens have nothing to do with performance, so don't think that a better screen means you might get better FPS in a videogame. No connection.

Getting a better screen MIGHT mean - a) better viewing angles (sometimes) b) better screen resolution (almost always) c) better glare reduction (usually)

 

no, your game performace ( if you run the game at the higher swxga native resolution) will take a hit

how much depends on the game and varies.

and yes, viewing angle will increase with the better screen

 

Sxga all the way

 

hmm. Lol, I might not have made my self clear. I wasn't asking if games would run better with a higher res screen. I meant would they run slower because the video card has to push more details on the screen at once.

 

Playing at native resolution isnt really a must anymore, all the dell lcds I've messed around with in the past year scale extremly well, you wont notice much of an effect, the cheaper machines on display at office max, circuit city etc are a completely different story

I would get he high res screen, it will give you a much larger workspace, and better viewing angles. If gaming is your top priority you bought the wrong laptop, You will be hard pressed to play the above titles at 1680x1050 with medium low details, and new games 1280 by 800 high detail will be a stretch.With that card you would be better served going low res high detail unless your the sort that HAS to play at native. I suggest you try and find a laptop with a simialr screen to the one you want to get and try it out first to see how you like it, but like I said the cheaper units I've looked at on display scale horribly(acer,avertrac,low end gateway, sub $600 compaq etc) , so look either for a dell of the same model, or something close to it, like a midrange hp,compaq, etc good luck and enjoy it

 

hmmm.Well if you say Dell screen's scale very well, then lowering the res to 1280 by 800 on an sxga screen when playing games to get more fps shouldnt be a problem. And you're correct, I didn't buy this laptop with gaming as my highest priorty.Although I'm actually vey surprised at how well this thing is running Far Cry at the moment (most settings at high, a couple set to medium )

Thanks Iceman, I think I'll definitely return it and go with the higher res screen and just lower the res to 1280 by 800 when playing games. Best of both worlds.

 

anytime, have fun with it