Playing games in 4:3 on a widescreen monitor

My good old CRT in my old system started to flicker at random. I think it's time to buy a new screen for this ancient system. It's a P4 2.4 GHz with 1 GB DDR RAM and a GeForce 6600 AGP. It still runs games like Max Payne, GTA: SA, Brothers in Arms, WarCraft III, etc fine.

I plan to buy a widescreen LCD for this system. Is there a way to play games on the old system in the same resolution that I used to (1024x768) on the new monitor without having the game stretched with distorted aspect ratio? I don't mind playing the games in a non-native resolution, and increasing the resolution to a WS aspect ratio (say like 1280x800, not native but with the correct AR) will be a major load on this ancient PC, which is a thing I don't want.

Currently I am using my 19" WS LCD to try things before buying a monitor for the old PC. I tried nVidia scaling from the control panel but it didn't work.

Any help?

Look harder in the nvidia control panel, there should be an option for "preserve aspect ratio" that will keep your display from stretching and distorting.

Yes. That's what I said in my original post. But it doesn't work for me.

Does it work for you?

Yes. That's what I said in my original post. But it doesn't work for me.

Does it work for you?

Goodfella_no4

It works for me..however, nVidia's Control Panel acts weird sometimes, and the scaling refuses to apply properly.

Set your screen scaling to "nVidia Scaling with Fixed Aspect Ratio" and hit "Apply."

Sometimes the setting doesn't stick for some reason, and it'll revert to whatever you had scaling set to before -- it's a problem with nVidia's Control Panel software. If this happens, try changing your monitor's resolution (to something lower), and then selecting/applying "nVidia Scaling with Fixed Aspect Ratio." After the setting sticks, return to your monitor's native resolution, and everything should be just dandy.

Well, it should be dandy with most games, anyways. I've found just one really obscure Japanese title that doesn't function with nVidia scaling properly. Can't figure out why.

If it still isn't working: what game(s) are you trying to play?

Yes. I have the latest drivers.

It still doesn't work. The setting sticks and is applied. Now: I chose "nvidia scaling with fixed AR" and chose the resolution to be 1024x768, the native resolution is 1440x900. Instead of running in 4:3 AR with black bars in the sides, it gave me 16:9 with black bars at the top and bottom!!!

My monitor is a LG L194WT 19" WS LCD. I noticed that the scaling of this monitor looks better than the scaling of the video card (6600).