Not to be confused with PCI-E.

But yeah, if you don't have an AGP slot or PCI-E slot(s), then you're stuck choosing from cards that are so slow they're not really worth buying, and mainboards are dirt cheap these days. AGP is still a very good, very viable graphics system and many of the top video card manufacturers are still producing very high end AGP cards. I'm still running AGP.

I totally agree Terrance.

There are plenty of AGP cards that outperform my PCI-E card.

I would say thta if you were buying a nwe rig, definitely go PCI-E/SLI but if you current machine has a AGP slot (4x/8x) it isnt something that is killing your performance.

I am probably going to buy a PCI vid card to run a second monitor so that I dont cover up my play screen with anything...but that will only be for browser windows, Auto-Map, etc.

Now if we could just stop all the manufacturers from migrating to LCD panels. Most LCD panels I look at have the picture quality of a first generation VGA through about 3 feet of water. What stinks is that I can no longer buy a real tube monitor locally anymore. I get to order them sight unseen and pay for shipping. Even a ViewSonic flat panel I looked at today was sitting there rippling. Atrocious garbage.

You might think about just buying a different PCI-E card that has dual outputs. Just a thought. Most do even if you have to use the..the..oh what's the HiDef TV output connection called again? But they supply you with an adapter to use it as your second VGA port.

Ooooooooo, I never thought about that! Tnx muchly! Ill give tht a check when I get home I know I have a S-video out and an adapter, I just need to see if I can set it up to span or if it will just mirror what is on my main.

And Ill tell you that I was totally in your shoes about LCD monitors til I started using them more. I still realize that CRTs are certainly sharper (and possbly always will be) and have the immensely desirable multi-resolution settings, but I really dont think Id trade my 19" LCD for one now. One stuck pixel and all

The LCDs I use at work are a little older and probably 32ms latency, which is distractingly slow if your scrolling through a webpage fast, nevermind attempting to play a game. my LCD at home is a 8ms and it is really not that far off of the speed of a CRT, at least by my eye. The amount of diference is easily gotten used to over a few days use.

Where are you seeing this LCD monitors, or are you only looking at the cheap stuff. LCD's in the $1000 to $1500 dollar range are superb.

At home I'm using a 40" 1980x1080 really high quality LCD monitor I paid $3600 bucks for in July (though I've seen the price drop 4 or 5 hundred bucks since then), and I've never in my whole life seen anything so amazing picture-wise.

I'm curious why you think LCD's are inferior quality, or is it just low end LCD's you've seen?

p.s. As for latency, this one i'm using at home switches resolutions very quickly and has flawless refresh rates.

p.p.s. Here's an example of what I'm talking about makes a holy-cow monitor:

Sample LCD

Sample LCD from best buy (though don't forget that price doesn't count tax and warranty).

Arjuna I can be adopted .

and daddy I need a new monitor .

Vepl

If i were rich enough i'd buy you one in a heartbeat. As it is, 4 months later i'm still paying off the two TV's I bought in july. In 2 months i should have them paid off (hopefully, hehe).

They're kind of addictive. Part of me wants to buy another one now!

Every LCD flat panel I look at is trash. ViewSonic, Samsung, no-name, all of them. They're dark, murky...again, like the screen itself is under water. $1,000+ is unacceptable for a PC monitor, especially when $300 to $400 buys a Philips or ViewSonic CRT monitor that still has much superior picture quality.

And I honestly have no earthly idea how I would fit a 40" display on my PC desk..nor would I care to sit far enough away from it for it to be usable.

I was thinking the same thing Terrance. Exactly how far is your chair from this beast of a monitor?

Im about arms length (maybe 2.5 ft.) from my 19" and If I could run UO at 1280x1024, I woiuld be sitting pretty.

A friend of mine had a 48" projection TV and you had to be a fair distance from it (at least 7-8') for it to look right. Any closer and you had blind spots in the periphery...

I sit about 12" to 18" from the monitor. It's about right (slightly bigger i think would be better).

I've had 3 detached retinas, a collapsed eye, several cateracts surgeries (several), a dead center retinal wrinkle in one eye, retina pigmentation problems, etc.

19" monitors are absolutely unusable for me. 32" monitors are borderline too small unless at relatively low resolution (like 1280x768).

Large size monitors isn't really a luxury for me. It's a requirement worth any cost.