Receiver or Computer Upgrades?

[netviper13]

Well it's the summer upgrade season (read: birthday time), and I'm trying to decide between a brand spankin' new stereo receiver (the old Dolby ProLogic shelf system is unbearably old), or a 17" NEC 1760nx LCD display + 512mb PC3200 DDR RAM.

Now I'm currently on a 19" Dell CRT display that's doing a fine job, and running at 2ghz on the processor; so I'm leaning toward the receiver. What do you all think?

[Rampant CL]

Go for the reciever, the lcd's are still not good enough for gaming (imo) and your ram can hold out for longer, btw, the money you save could go for an nv3x soon :)

Would you rather enjoy ghosting or better sound??

off topic, what cooling have you got on the 1700?

[nVidi0t]

Reciever definately..

I didn't realize how much use mine would come to until now, everything is rigged up to the damn thing.. lol.

Just rigged up a Radeon all in Wonder this morning.

[LTech221]

Like the above Reciever, I have the somewhat older model the 811s. By the looks if it, all that seemed to change was the remote and some added features, and a blue light instead of red. But the thing has alot of connetivity, been reliable thus far (way more than the previous sony I had, stupid thing kept flashing Protect for no reason) and has great sound.

[netviper13]

Originally posted by Rampant CL
off topic, what cooling have you got on the 1700?

A Thermalright SLK-800A w/ Thermaltake SmartFan II.

[nVidi0t]

Originally posted by netviper13
A Thermalright SLK-800A w/ Thermaltake SmartFan II.

Which conductor did you use to unlock the Multiplier? I'm thinking of unlicking my old XP1800, just need the right conductive stuff.

[netviper13]

It's actually the Thoroughbred core, so my nForce2 automatically unlocked it.

[nVidi0t]

Ahh. shoot :(

[SavagePaladin]

I want a LCD because they supposedly have a lot less radiation and I use the computer 24/7-sleep

[Harnagel]

Why don't you turn your monitor off when you sleep?

[SavagePaladin]

I do. Hence the minus.

[nin_fragile14]

Depends on which one you use more. I have the 1760NX LCD and it's fantastic. It seems much more valuable to me than a new receiver, and I had a 19" Trinitron before it.

[netviper13]

Well they'll both get about equal use since I usually listen to music while I'm on my computer.

I think what I'm going to do is get the receiver and 512mb of PC3200 DDR. LCDs still have a little way to go as far as maturity, and if/when I buy one I've decided I want it to be bigger than my current monitor (18" viewable on this one). So I'll either wait until Christmas or my birthday next year to worry about the LCD.

[Riptide]

I'd go for the LCD and the RAM. But hey... it's a tough call. You can always return the LCD and the RAM if you don't like them and you're careful about where you get them from. The ghosting that's still present in 25ms or less displays is pretty minimal, more like a slight motion blur. But, if you can't handle it return it.

[UDawg]

It depends on if you are going to play HL2 in the fall and what type of eyecandy you want turned on. ;)
If you don't care much about HL2 then get the receiver. If you are like me and your life revolves around the release of HL2 then get the upgrade.

[netviper13]

My upgrade for Half Life 2 will involve a much stronger graphics card, I have more than enough processing power and memory bandwidth. But yes, my life is beginning to revolve around the release of it too :D

[Riptide]

Careful with that... Those that let their lives revolve around Unreal 2 were largely disappointed. Seems if we keep our expectations up to high we get disappointed easily. I think there's that old saying, was it some sort of Zen thing?
"Expect nothing and you shall have everything"

I myself was somewhat disappointed with Unreal 2 but I still enjoyed it.

[netviper13]

Sigh, I really can't make up my mind. If I do go for an LCD, do you think a 17" would be large enough? I really would like the 16ms display, but those only come in 17" size. I've read reviews from people on Newegg and also around the web about the Samsung 191T 19" LCD and they seem good too, but do you think the extra 2" visible space would be worth such a jump in price?

[FastM]

What else could you upgrade?

also... i wouldn't spend an arm and a leg to get less viewable area. I just got a new monitor from my Samsung 900NF, i looked alot into LCD's and finally decided on a Samsung 1200NF. LCD's just dont make sense /price/performance to me Yet.

[nin_fragile14]

Originally posted by netviper13
Sigh, I really can't make up my mind. If I do go for an LCD, do you think a 17" would be large enough? I really would like the 16ms display, but those only come in 17" size. I've read reviews from people on Newegg and also around the web about the Samsung 191T 19" LCD and they seem good too, but do you think the extra 2" visible space would be worth such a jump in price?

The 17" LCD is literally 17" viewable. My 19" CRT was about 18" viewable, and that 1" is negligible in my mind.