I'm some 12 to 14 hours in and only at the beginning of Act 3. It just keeps getting better and better.

And I thought coming here would bring me closer to setting up my **** specifically for gaming. Well, thanks for the honesty. Is the state of affairs here really that bad?

Damn.

Two days ago I added the PS3 to the family by buying the MGS4 bundle. Really sweet machine so far, with some reservations that I won't go into here.

My TV is a Samsung LNT-4665F. I've hung out at AVS Forums for a while and have read multiple guides on HDTV tuning etc. Actually, I might run out and go grab this disc later today:http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Video-Essentials-Basics-Blu-ray/dp/B000V6LST0/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1213377649&sr=8-1

Before I do, however, I wanted to stop by here. All of the calibration information I've found so far is optimized for movie watching. But what if I want to optimize my LCD TV for gaming? I now have a PS3 and an Xbox360 hooked up to this TV, both via HDMI. I'd like to know how to tune the TV's settings so my games look the very best.

Any guidance on this would be highly appreciated!

Thanks

Here's the thread I promised at the end of this one: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=25706791. I'm looking for a surround sound headset that will use the power provided by the Auzentech Prelude that I'm planning to get to the fullest.

Of course it should be ideal for gaming, but it should not be a slouch for things like listening to music and watching TV shows and movies either.

All comments and suggestions welcome. Thanks!

I have an important update. I kinda did a 180 here and decided to go with a 22" instead for now. I will cut the cost by 50% and get an Auzentech Prelude at the end of the month as well as the best true surround sound gaming headset money can buy. The latter I'm about to make a new thread about (what sentence structure...) so you guys can help me with that too.

The monitor I picked is the Samsung 226BW, which has unanimously been called an AMAZING monitor by every review and forum post I was able to find. Many sources call it the best 22" monitor, and the nice thing is that it's not just the best for SOME applications.. but for everything. In other words, for gaming, in terms of image quality, sharpness, color and contrast and the rest.

I'll get on the 24" bandwagon some other time. I'm much better off saving the money and getting a Prelude AND a sweet headset than I am on blowing it on a 24" screen. All I'm getting with a 24-incher is 2 more inches of screen real estate plus true HD support. So yeah.. I won't have a second monitor that will ideally display content from my Xbox360, but the 360 is already hooked up to a 32" HDTV in my apartment, so whatever.

Thanks for everybody's patience and help :)

Good point. I forgot it carries "Ultrasharp" in its name.

The BenQ has an HDMI port and (subjective) reviews say it has better colours than the Dell. Probably not worth $200 but meh, in the UK the price difference is so little (it's a case of 30pounds from UK retailers) I would go for the Benq. See if you can shop around for better deals.

I've had the Dell for a year and it's absolutely fantastic, either way you'll get an outstanding screen.

jollyriot2k1

Thanks for the comments. I'm not in the UK so the small price difference does not apply to me. In the US, the price difference is about $70 to $80, which is not small, but not considerable either. It's a tough choice.

Then again, if I have to get it shipped and buy it online, I might as well go for the BenQ, because that price difference is small enough. Where the decision becomes much harder is with that local deal I mentioned. I could have the Dell for $500, and that's a juicy $200 less than the BenQ would cost me. The biggest problem I have with that is that I don't know whether the warranty will be transferrable. If not, the deal is pretty crappy.

What makes you think the BenQ is worth $200 over an amazing Dell LCD?Hiryuu_

Absolutely nothing. That's my point. In any review I've read of the BenQ and whenever the Dell was mentioned, it always said the BenQ had noticeably better image quality.

I *could* get the Dell for $500 locally from a guy who's selling it brand-new (found the deal on Craigslist). Thing is.. if I do that, as I understand I will have ZERO warranty on the item, and that's pretty damn bad. I would like to have warranty.

And if I buy the Dell online, it will cost me about $620 or $630 shipped vs. the BenQ at about $700 shipped. 70 bucks is not that huge a jump up when considering a noticeable difference in quality, I'd say. ANd buying the Dell at $500 without warranty probably is a pretty bad idea :(

Dell Ultra no question it is the best monitor on that list.frizzyman0292

Dell ULTRA? WTF.. where do you see Ultra? Do you mean the Dell 2407WFP? And what makes you say that? I'm inclined to think the BenQ is better than the Dell in the most important area: image quality.

I don't really look at side-features like the included card reader, USB hubs and crap like that. I can get that for 15 bucks on Newegg. Big deal. In a monitor what I'm most concerned about is image quality, contrast ratio, performance, response time.. you know, the stuff that actually matters. In those areas the BenQ seems to beat the Dell, but I'm still unsure cause it's hard to find good reviews online.

The Thermalright Ultra 120 and Ultra 120 extreme does KILL the Zalman 9700.

LordEC911

The Zalman still is one of the best performers on the market. Not as good as the Thermal, I'll now admit, but for my purposes it will be just perfect. What Anandtech did there is EXTREME overclocking. I won't be doing any of that.. in fact, this will be my first time experimenting with overclocking. Ever. I sure as hell won't try to push for 3.7 and 3.8 and 3.9GHz.. I'll make smaller steps and see how far I get.

So yeah, if you're really going to squeeze every last drop of performance out of your CPU that you can, then the Thermaltake would be the one to buy. For everyone else, you have other great options to choose from, such as the Zalman I went with.

Can we get back to monitors, please? WTF.