# Request for LCD Suggestion - Plz be kind enough to drop in ur opinion



## emmarbee (Jul 18, 2008)

Hi,
It would be nice if someone suggest me with a good monitor. Here's my hardware specs
Intel D930 & 945GNTL board
Zotac 9600 GT amp! and 400w (Zebronics Platinum SMPS).

*My budget:* 12,000 - 18,000.
*Preferable Screen Size:* 20" & 22"

*Requirements:* I will be using it for multi purpose. I used to sit in from of PC for a long time, so <<TEXT>> viewing should be perfect and movie 'n' game viewing need not be perfect but shouldn't be annoying at the same time.

What I've chosen so far.

Dell SP2208WFP
Dell SP2008WFP

If there are some better options please let me know.


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## desiibond (Jul 18, 2008)

yep. check out the new releases from Samsung, T190, T200 and T220. They are just awesome.


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## emmarbee (Jul 18, 2008)

desiibond said:


> yep. check out the new releases from Samsung, T190, T200 and T220. They are just awesome.




```
the Samsung T220's performance was merely average. It posted a composite score of 83 on our DisplayMate-based suite of tests, which is a good score in and of itself but trails the scores the Dell SP2208WFP and the Samsung 2232GW achieved.
```
- From CNET

And TrustedReviews rating (image quality) for samsung T200 was 7/10 (this is the rating they give for most of the best looking monitor even Dell US2408wfp except for samsung 226BW which 9/10).

Is samsung BW series availabe in India? It's not available where I reside (Chennai).
Anybody else with few more suggestions?


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## desiibond (Jul 18, 2008)

I your mind it tilted towards 2208WFP, you need not look for anything else


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## emmarbee (Jul 19, 2008)

Ya, I'm ok with it. But in case, if there is any other bettet monitor that is available here, like viewsonic (they have released a lot of new models). If there is, let me know. I thought many members will tell me their opinion. But I'm glad atleast there is one to help me out.
Reason why I'm looking out for another monitor is "Dell's Glossy panel", "silver bezel" and the aesthetics and atlast the price.

I checked out with hpw2207 (it has bad viewing angles) - anandtech.

If there is any monitor as good as dell and is aesthetically good with low price then I can go for it. Like samsung 206bw.


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## desiibond (Jul 19, 2008)

there is one in LG with same spec and not glossy. Check with gx_saurav. He is aware of it's performance


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## ashfame (Jul 19, 2008)

I own a LG L226WTQ LCD and its great @ 13k (If you can find one). Doesn't compromise in anything. Check it specs and you will love it. Since your budget permits, your first preference should be DELL only.


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## emmarbee (Jul 19, 2008)

ashfame said:


> I own a LG L226WTQ LCD and its great @ 13k (If you can find one). Doesn't compromise in anything. Check it specs and you will love it. Since your budget permits, your first preference should be DELL only.



Thanks for your opinion. Can you please tell me whether Samsung 206BW or any BW series is available in India?

One more question from my side. 
I think Dell SP2208WFP performs well for sure (through many reviews, from cnet, DIGIT). But does the 20" SP2008WFP performs similar to SP2208WFP? Why is everyone choosing the 22", after all the 20" would look better due to its higher dpi. Am i right?


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## moshel (Jul 19, 2008)

^^^ the Dell 2208WFP has an inbuilt HDMI port, thats why ppl recommend it.

oh and +1 for the dell 2208wfp


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## desiibond (Jul 19, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> Thanks for your opinion. Can you please tell me whether Samsung 206BW or any BW series is available in India?
> 
> One more question from my side.
> I think Dell SP2208WFP performs well for sure (through many reviews, from cnet, DIGIT). But does the 20" SP2008WFP performs similar to SP2208WFP? Why is everyone choosing the 22", after all the 20" would look better due to its higher dpi. Am i right?



I never really liked 22" models. I would go with 20" or 24". If you know anyone at Dell, try to get 2408WFP.

all dell xx8wfp and xx08wfp are superb performers. There is no real competition for them. Only monitors that can match them are HP's and Samsung's.

If you can pay for 24" monitor go for it. Else get 2208WFP. The reason for opting 22" is more real estate 

Yes, 20" has more DPI but you get 2 more inches of screen area in 22".


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## emmarbee (Jul 19, 2008)

desiibond said:


> I never really liked 22" models. I would go with 20" or 24". If you know anyone at Dell, try to get 2408WFP.


Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP costs 51k here, I can't even think of it. Even if some gives me for around 25k (as my friend did by buying it in abroad), I wont prefer it. Reason 
a) I have a Zotac 9600GT Amp!, So I won't be able to play games at 1920x1200 resolution.
b) At present the video quality of the movies is not so good (except for few hindi movies like OSO, Heyy Baby & sa**** which has bluray and no bluray in Tamil movies). So if I opt for 24", movies other than these won't look good on this monitor. A time comes when, everybody changes to bluray and we will own our bluray writer and cable with HDTV transmission, I ll buy the 24" & above monitor at that time.





desiibond said:


> Yes, 20" has more DPI but you get 2 more inches of screen area in 22".



You are right, but i think that extra 2 inch affect the video quality of the movies I watch. 
Like for example, divx movies while played on 15" CRT monitor looks good than stretched to 17" CRT monitor. Like wise 720p movies now looks gr8 on my 17" CRT, it would be little bit less when viewed on 20", and more worse when viewed on 22". Am I right?

And BTW Desi, why you said you would prefer 20" /24" and not 22"?


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## ashfame (Jul 19, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> You are right, but i think that extra 2 inch affect the video quality of the movies I watch.
> Like for example, divx movies while played on 15" CRT monitor looks good than stretched to 17" CRT monitor. Like wise 720p movies now looks gr8 on my 17" CRT, it would be little bit less when viewed on 20", and more worse when viewed on 22". Am I right?



720p will just look great on 22". No matter how close you are to your screen. 1080p will downscale at 22" but they are pretty good for larger screens >=24"

For 720p, 22" is perfectly fine.

Buy a bigger screen when they get cheap is what I would do.


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## hemants (Jul 19, 2008)

im seellling my Samsung syncmaster 226BW for a very reasonable price.. if interested please do let me know.


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## desiibond (Jul 19, 2008)

because with 24" you get FullHD resolution.

20" and 22" have same resolution. Just my thought. 
If you can afford a 24", go and get it. Your GPU can easily handle that resolution gaming.


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## emmarbee (Jul 19, 2008)

Desi ji, what do you mean by FullHD? I have heard this word everywhere. But downscaling the 1080p onto a 20" looks far more better than watching in a 24" right? I mean, as I said before, smaller the screen sharper the picture. And my GPU definitely can't handle games at 1920x1200 (crysis and upcoming games like far cry2).

@hemants - sorry, to deny your offer. But this being my first LCD and my dream come true monitor, I would prefer buying a new one.

@ashish - I'm happy that you are so sure about what you say (720p on 22"). But in order to get the full picture, i will zoom the video from 2.35:1 to 16:10 (Some movies come by default in 16:10, no problem in those movies) . Will the quality of the movies still be good even if I zoom the video to 16:10 (i mean crop in VLC)? And are you sure that the higher dpi in the 20" wont affect much in the performance? (In fact the SP2208WFP outperforms SP2008WFP as mentioned the MAY issue of Digit)


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## desiibond (Jul 19, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> Desi ji, what do you mean by FullHD? I have heard this word everywhere. But downscaling the 1080p onto a 20" looks far more better than watching in a 24" right?



No. You got it totally wrong.

FullHD a.k.a 1080p is the real High Definition resolution (1920x1080)

You need atleast a 24" display or a minimum resolution of 1920x1080 to enjoy Full High Definition.

There will be huge loss of quality when you watch a FullHD movie or play FullHD game in 20" by downscaling the content.

The smaller the screen the better the picture comes into effect when you are looking at one resolution .I mean 20" with 1600x1050 is much clear to watch than a 22" with 1600x1050. The same is not the case with 20" and 24". 

When you play a FullHD movie on 24" display, the movie is played with full HD quality but when you play the same on 20" display, the movie's resolution and quality will be brought down to fit 20".

FYI, those 700Mb divx movies that float on internet suck even on a 19".

BTW, my HD2600XT is handling crysis at 1440x900, i think 9600 should do  better


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## emmarbee (Jul 19, 2008)

Hmmm. Moreover the Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP is S-PVA panel right? CNet has given a positive review on that monitor (so far the best rating any monitor had ever got). But not on trusted reviews.
And also what is the cheapest available price of that monitor?


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## desiibond (Jul 20, 2008)

check this article. Might help you: *www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2325741,00.asp


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## emmarbee (Jul 21, 2008)

Thanks for your opinions guys, I think I've made up my decision. I'm going for Dell SP2208WFP / SP2008WFP. I'm going to call Dell today for details about price & delivery period.
Desi JI, I need a last confirmation.
1) SP2008 or SP2208? - What really bugging me is the "dpi" factor. Is it noticeable? Does this factor make the 22" look worse when compared to 20"? When compared with the advantage of getting <<2 inches>> extra, does the <<dpi>> factor gets surpressed?

2) Shall I buy it at Dell Online or Local Dealer (only if he is able to give the monitor before Dell's stipulated time and at a price less than Dell's online price)?

P.S: What's your personal opinion about Dell's Delivery Period. Will they be able to deliver within the time that THEY HAD MENTIONED?


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## emmarbee (Jul 25, 2008)

Finally I've ordered the Dell SP2208WFP at Dell through phone. He said it will take 3-4 business days. I might get the monitor by wednesday. Thanks everybody for your suggestion and Desibond for your efforts to explain tech terms.


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## pillainp (Jul 25, 2008)

Great buy, emmarbee, I can guarantee you will not regret the decision to buy the SP2208WFP. I have one myself, and it's absolutely great.


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## emmarbee (Jul 26, 2008)

pillainp said:


> Great buy, emmarbee, I can guarantee you will not regret the decision to buy the SP2208WFP. I have one myself, and it's absolutely great.



Oh I see, then I have to ask you about the settings at which the monitor looks at its best.


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## desiibond (Jul 26, 2008)

^^^ That's subjective. Download Displaymate software. Go through the tests and adjust brightness and contrast that gives you best detail.


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## pillainp (Jul 26, 2008)

Off the bat the monitor does have some pretty bad settings. It will be too bright, and everything will look like s**t.

My personal settings are as follows:

Brightness: 50
Contrast: 80
Color Management: On
Color Settings Mode: Video
Green: 90
Red: 90
Blue: 90
Sharpness: 50

As the poster before me said, most of those settings are subjective, and will vary greatly depending on your personal preferences and location of the monitor.

I do have a suggestion, though. This is a glossy panel, and will tend to reflect any bright light sources behind you (ie in front of the panel). So I would suggest you not have any bright lights behind you, or situate too close to an open window.

One way you can avoid this is to mount a moderately bright light above and behind the monitor, so that it negates any light sources behind you (in front of the monitor).
I do hope I am making sense.

For everything else, short of an actual Act Of God, I am sure you will have a  great time with your monitor.

Again, congratulations on your purchase.

If you have any problems, contact Avinash BM. His email is avinash_bm@dell.com. Unfortunately, due to the untimely demise of my cell phone, I do not have access to his phone number, but I am somewhat sure you will find it somewhere on these forums in an earlier post of mind. Search for the word Avinash in post content, with poster pillainp.

Oh yes, be sure to enable cleartype (Desktop Settings> Appearance>Advanced). For Vista, you may also want to download the Cleartype Tuner from Microsoft.


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## emmarbee (Jul 30, 2008)

Dell does it once again. The shipping has been delayed by 2-3 days. Harish (the sales/marketing executive of DELL) told me on friday that I would be receiving the monitor by this wednesday. But today after I called him to get the confirmation number, he told me that I ll be getting the monitor by friday/saturday. Let's see how long does this really take . . .


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## pillainp (Jul 30, 2008)

I don't think that is their fault. It is most likely due to the heightened security measures following the horrible incidents of the past few days.

I believe they manufacture in Malaysia and ship from there.

When I ordered, Dell's tracking site gave me a delivery time of about 15 days, but it took hardly a week for me to get my monitor.

BTW, I don't know about the quality of Zebronics Platinum PSU's, but is Zeb 400W enough for a 9600GT? nVidia/eVGA list a minimum of 450W, so you might also want to upgrade your PSU.


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## Micheal (Jul 30, 2008)

i'd say go for dell ne day. KUDOS for your choices brother !!!


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## emmarbee (Jul 30, 2008)

pillainp said:


> I don't think that is their fault. It is most likely due to the heightened security measures following the horrible incidents of the past few days.



Ya, even that guy Harish told me the same reason, as it was on friday the bomb blast took place, he couldn't make it and on the next working day i.e., monday he was not feeling well. So he made my order on tuesday only.

And BTW I got my Order No. today.



pillainp said:


> I believe they manufacture in Malaysia and ship from there.
> 
> When I ordered, Dell's tracking site gave me a delivery time of about 15 days, but it took hardly a week for me to get my monitor.



Is it possible for me to track down, just like how you did? But I highly doubt mine is coming from malaysia (though a sales rep told me like that) .



pillainp said:


> BTW, I don't know about the quality of Zebronics Platinum PSU's, but is Zeb 400W enough for a 9600GT? nVidia/eVGA list a minimum of 450W, so you might also want to upgrade your PSU.



I was having the default SMPS of Zebronics Sivaji cabinet for my earlier video card ASUS 7600GS EN SILENT. But just a day before my new video card arrived, I feared that my SMPS couldn't handle the 9600GT and so I bought Zebronics Platinum series 400 W (Pure). My friend highly recmomended for me to go for cooler master, but I didn't want to spend more money on this as am thinking of upgrading my video card again (I'll buy a better SMPS at that time).


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## pillainp (Jul 30, 2008)

*Go Here - Dell India Order Status* to track your order status. It may tell you no such order exists, or some such error, but just keep trying. It will work eventually.

I'm using a CM 600W ExtremePower for my 9600GT, and it's doing quite well.

However, if you do decide to upgrade your PSU, buy one with an 8-pin EPS connector, for future compatibility. I would strongly suggest an upgrade, though, for your GPU to work optimally.


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## emmarbee (Jul 30, 2008)

So far I didn't have a problem with my PSU, even at its full utilization. I ll upgrade mine only after I get a new card or the same card for SLI. 
And the delivery status says that: "Ship from Factory". Still three stages left- I highly doubt that I will get it by friday or even saturday.



Micheal said:


> i'd say go for dell ne day. KUDOS for your choices brother !!!



Thanks mate. I was left with no option other than choosing this monitor. But I'm very concerned about the transit from CRT to LCD. Everything is getting ready for the "kinda HTPC". 

While buying any new video card, it says that "PLAYS HD VIDEOS" or "ELIMINATES THE CPU's STRESS on playing HD videos". But I doubt that my video card is so. 

Even after upgrading from 7600GS to 9600GT, while I play HD clips, my CPU usage is more than 50% for 720p and 100% for 1080p. What should I do to make my video card handle the HD clips.


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## desiibond (Jul 30, 2008)

^^ add more RAM and slightly overclock CPU


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## emmarbee (Jul 31, 2008)

desiibond said:


> ^^ add more RAM and slightly overclock CPU



I've 2 gigs of RAM, isn't that enoughto play 1080p HD clips? It was fine in XP, but not in vista. The video file stucks a lot, doesn't play continously. 

And about CPU overclocking - is it possible with D 930? If so, can you please tell me with which tool I have to do that?(ofcourse I can google it up and do it my self, but i think instructions from you will be more reliable)


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## desiibond (Jul 31, 2008)

if it's playing in xp and not in vista then,

1) do all the required updates to vista.
2) try using vlc player


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## spikygv (Jul 31, 2008)

no , VLC player does not support dxva . If u want to use purevideoHD , then u have to use one of these.

purevideoHD works equally well in vista and XP now. 
****** upgrade to latest nvidia drivers ******

1. power DVD - cpu usage dropped to 6-8 % while running die hard 4.0 1080p trailer . but it wont read matroska files ( .mkv ) . if u use haali's matroska splitter , then purevideoHD acceleration is gone , cpu usage 100% , choppy video.

2. intervideo winDVD - havent tried
3. nero showtime - havent tried.

4, media player classic home cinema 1.1.604 + haali's media splitter to run mkv -in MPC home cinema ,  goto view -> options -> output . select vmr9 and in the right select 3d surfaces and bicubic filtering . .this will use dxva and run matroska files. . cpu usage hovers around 12- 21 % for both 720p and 1080p . good framerates and u get subtitles . but this is far from the perfect solution. video HAS to encoded in some specific formats which conform with some standards. if not , then dxva wont work . some say this is due to DRM . so , many video's encoded by non-pro's cant use dxva. .

the above tests , i did in XP. powerDVD works in vista also. . for MPC home cinema , choose EVR custom instead of VMR9 in the options ( maybe , vmr9 works in vista , but i'm not sure. ..) but i'm sure evr works.

Also note that codecs such as ffdshow , coreAVC  DO NOT support dxva. they use the CPU only. . so make sure that they dont come in the way. 

i thought i should write this in a tutorial since many guys in this forum own 8 or 9 series cards. . but then again , its quite simple and most can figure it out easily themselves.


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## emmarbee (Jul 31, 2008)

Can anybody tell me whether it is possible to make use of my video card to play HD videos instead of my CPU, therby reducing the CPU usage considerably.




desiibond said:


> if it's playing in xp and not in vista then,
> 
> 1) do all the required updates to vista.
> 2) try using vlc player



1)Ya, Anyway I'll be doing that to install dreamscene. 
2) No VLC plz, it's not good for H.264. I use MPC - its good. It even played 1080p hands down on my XP.

Desiji, Is it possible for me to overclock my D930? am having Intel 945GNT board, so I highly doubt that it is overclockable. If i can please let me know.



			
				sagargv said:
			
		

> no , VLC player does not support dxva . If u want to use purevideoHD , then u have to use one of these.
> 
> purevideoHD works equally well in vista and XP now.
> ****** upgrade to latest nvidia drivers ******
> ...



Thanks for your effort to tell this 'tutorial' like explanation. But I'm not able to figure out what's wrong in my PC. And of course am using the CoreAvc and ffdshow to play H.264 videos. Wasn't aware of the 'cpu usage' fact ! ! !

So are you suggesting me to use some other video codecs? And that would be PureVideo? Hmmm,  will give it a shot. But am not sure about the CPU usage. I think I gotta overclock it.


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## mathi_vadhanan (Jul 31, 2008)

@emmarbee,
Please let us know, how much you paid for SP2208WFP?

This is the quotation that I got from DELL,

Dell E198WFP 19" Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 11,400/- 
Dell UltraSharpTM 1908FP 19" Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 15,700/- 
Dell UltraSharpTM 1908WFP Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 13,300/- 
Dell 2007WFP 20" UltraSharpTM Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 19,200/- 
Dell 2007FP 20" UltraSharpTM Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 19,200/- 
Dell 2009 WFP 20" UltraSharpTM Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 19,200/- 
Dell SP2008WFP 20" Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 15,400/- 
Dell SP2208WFP Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 17,400/- 
Dell E228WFP 22" Entry Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor: 15,000/- 

Prices include tax+Shipping+3yrs warranty.

Me too thinking of getting an LCD(1680*1050), but want to keep it under 12K.


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## desiibond (Jul 31, 2008)

^^ Dude. you won't get a quality 1680x1050 resolution LCD inside 12k. you have to spend some 15k. 

get Dell SE228WFP if you are okay with glossy panel else try Samsung or HP.


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## emmarbee (Jul 31, 2008)

mathi_vadhanan said:


> @emmarbee,
> Please let us know, how much you paid for SP2208WFP?
> 
> This is the quotation that I got from DELL,
> ...



I bought it for 17.2k. And ya, Jus now I've received my monitor.


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## acewin (Jul 31, 2008)

hey emmar, how much extra did it cost from the site quoted price to you.
mathi you got 2 options get Dell e198 model under 12K or if you wanna go for 22 inch then think of Dell models 

Other than this try to check HP L1908wm site quoted price is around 12088, if you get the availability nearby.
I had tryied to get in touch of HP customer care through site, but did not receive any response.

@emmar you bought 2208 model in 17.2K ??
how did they do the breakup, I mean with shipping and extra taxes.
I also wanna place an order. For either Dell 2208 or from HP.

I will call up HP tomorrow, lets see what happens, HP customer care do not give good response anytime.


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## desiibond (Jul 31, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> I bought it for 17.2k. And ya, Jus now I've received my monitor.



Congrats man. SO, did you like it??


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## emmarbee (Jul 31, 2008)

desiibond said:


> Congrats man. So, did you like it??



Desiji, am new to this LCD age. I love CRT. I'm not sure whether the settings which I've set in this one is the perfect settings. Have to work on that. 
Since I got the monitor in the evening time, I'm not sure about the glossy thing. Will check up tomorrow with my window glare and will let everybody know about the so called "mirrory" sp2208wfp.
And you still haven't told me about the overclocking / play HD videos with video card.




			
				acewin said:
			
		

> hey emmar, how much extra did it cost from the site quoted price to you.
> @emmar you bought 2208 model in 17.2K ??
> how did they do the breakup, I mean with shipping and extra taxes.
> I also wanna place an order. For either Dell 2208 or from HP.
> ...


In site it was 16.5, and I got that for 17.2
So shipping/ warranty/ extra taxes / whatever = 700


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## desiibond (Jul 31, 2008)

ah sorry. can you send me your processor's model number??


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## emmarbee (Aug 1, 2008)

desiibond said:


> ah sorry. can you send me your processor's model number??



It's D 930. That is not the problem. I googled it up and found that you can overclock it well. But I didn't see anybody mentioning about overclocking it with Intel Board. All were using some other boards like ASUS P5LD2 and some other.
Does motherboard has anything to do with processor overclocking? If so, is it possible to overclock my CPU with Intel 945 GNT board?


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## icebags (Aug 1, 2008)

i hv got a question , both 17" and 19" have 1440X900 pixels ......which one is better?

does 19" one give crappier pic anyway? i use monitors for all purposes - reading, gaming , movie ....

i was thinking for 19" tho.


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## emmarbee (Aug 1, 2008)

icebags said:


> i hv got a question , both 17" and 19" have 1440X900 pixels ......which one is better?
> 
> does 19" one give crappier pic anyway? i use monitors for all purposes - reading, gaming , movie ....
> 
> i was thinking for 19" tho.



No, its not like that. Even I was thinking the same. whether to buy 20" or 22", but my 22" is good. Of course I can't say about the quality when compared with 20" , but the 22" at 1680x1050 is not as I thought. Good for text, movies and gaming ! ! !


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## mathi_vadhanan (Aug 1, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> It's D 930. That is not the problem. I googled it up and found that you can overclock it well. But I didn't see anybody mentioning about overclocking it with Intel Board. All were using some other boards like ASUS P5LD2 and some other.
> Does motherboard has anything to do with processor overclocking? If so, is it possible to overclock my CPU with Intel 945 GNT board?


 
Emmarbee, you can't overclock on intel motherboards except skulltrail.
Intel motherboards are well known for their stability and hence they don't come with overclocking features in the BIOS.



acewin said:


> mathi you got 2 options get Dell e198 model under 12K or if you wanna go for 22 inch then think of Dell models
> 
> Other than this try to check HP L1908wm site quoted price is around 12088, if you get the availability nearby.
> I had tryied to get in touch of HP customer care through site, but did not receive any response.


 
acewin thanx for the suggestion. 
How good is LG206WTQ,226WTQ. Both have pretty good specs but not much reviews around.


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## raptorz (Aug 1, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> I bought it for 17.2k. And ya, Jus now I've received my monitor.



I think you paid too much.. I have ordered ultrasharp 22" for 14.5k.. And ultrasharp is more expensive than your model on the dell us site.


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## desiibond (Aug 1, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> No, its not like that. Even I was thinking the same. whether to buy 20" or 22", but my 22" is good. Of course I can't say about the quality when compared with 20" , but the 22" at 1680x1050 is not as I thought. Good for text, movies and gaming ! ! !



Overclocking on Intel motherboard : *www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/7297-definitive-answer-can-i-overclock-my.html

Intel overclocking guide: *www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/1567-intel-overclocking-guide.html

Make sure to keep RAM frequency in control if you are using value ram like transcend. FSB overclock increases RAM frequency and you have to decrease the RAM frequency to keep it stable.

eg: I overclocked my Athlon64 3000+'s FSB and the resulting RAM frequency went up to DDR 550MHz+. So, I had to bring down RAM's core clock down to 133Mhz from 200Mhz and the final frequnecy was some 440MHz which is acceptable for this transcend RAM


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## mathi_vadhanan (Aug 1, 2008)

^^ desi.. he can overclock only by software and not through BIOS. OCing thru softwares will yield a maximum of 5% OC. There's no way his RAM frequency is going to go off-limits. You will have to keep check on the RAM frequency only when  you OC through BIOS by increasing the FSB. 
@emmarbee, i think  your processor is the bottleneck in  your system, hence the 100% usage. Try getting atleast a E2180 for Rs. 3,000/-.


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## desiibond (Aug 1, 2008)

^^ ah. didn't know that. The SW overclock that came with my gigabyte mobo was pretty good. 

Anyways, haven't used Intel proccy for years now.


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## acewin (Aug 1, 2008)

does anyone has idea of HP 2207 model.
Its around 18500 including all taxes, this model is not given on site and is older model, but I tried contacting HP dealer and he said that is the only available model.

I will try negotiations but before that wanna know if it is good


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## emmarbee (Aug 1, 2008)

acewin said:


> does anyone has idea of HP 2207 model.
> Its around 18500 including all taxes, this model is not given on site and is older model, but I tried contacting HP dealer and he said that is the only available model.
> 
> I will try negotiations but before that wanna know if it is good



No hw2207. No.
I've read in anandtech that it's viewing angle is not good. Even I was dying to buy that monitor for months cause of its aethetics and glossy panel.
If you still feel like buying it, take a look at this.


```
*images.anandtech.com/reviews/monitor/2007/hp-w2207/hp-w2207-angles.jpg
```

And here's the article: 

```
*www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=3054
```

They have compared it with other monitors and they have given the images of those monitor's performance too. According to that review, the monitor is good. But they haven't reviewed the SP2208WFP, so you can't compare it.


But in CNET they have reviewd both the monitors.
Dell SP2208WFP scores 8.4 and hp w2207 7.6.

Here are the links

Dell SP2208WFP

```
*reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/dell-sp2208wfp/4505-3174_7-32909878.html?ttag=rev_spon_prod&tag=prod.txt.1
```


```
*reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors/hp-w2207-lcd-monitor/4505-3174_7-32391039.html?tag=prod.txt.1
```

Hope you find them useful.


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## spikygv (Aug 1, 2008)

i have ordered for dell sp2208wfp. i was told that i will get it by aug 11 . 14 days time..


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## raptorz (Aug 2, 2008)

sagargv said:


> i have ordered for dell sp2208wfp. i was told that i will get it by aug 11 . 14 days time..


14 days is too long to wait.. Are you from bangalore?


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## spikygv (Aug 2, 2008)

^^ nope. from mysore. .abt 140km from b'lore.


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## acewin (Aug 2, 2008)

dell 2208 is overall very good. Its just taht I am an HP employee and if I buy it in a good price, I will also get 12% of the amount reimbursed.

THough I was looking for HP 2245, but they say its not available. I do not know how they put things on site and never provide in market this is not a new thing for HP.

@sagargv I wanna suggestion here. from SP Road, Bangalore I can get by paying just around 16.6K total unlike from Dell site as per emmar which comes onto 17.2
Should I buy from local market or direct from Dell.

In meanwhile I am also trying to get info if there is any Dell Employee in my friends contac so that I can get the monitor in cheaper price.


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## spikygv (Aug 2, 2008)

^^ u can get a good price reduction if u go through a dell employee.

17.2 is not much greater than 16.6k , so y not directly get from dell ? that way , u'll leave the middleman out.


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## emmarbee (Aug 2, 2008)

sagargv said:


> ^^ u can get a good price reduction if u go through a dell employee.
> 
> 17.2 is not much greater than 16.6k , so y not directly get from dell ? that way , u'll leave the middleman out.



sagargv, its not a middle man - that would be his friend working at dell, which is really a good thing. of course 600 INR doesn't matter, but if he does thru dell employee there is possibility of getting more discount.

@acewin - have you seen those discounts on "DELL" U.S site, at some special ocassions, they offer some great discounts. And they give discounts even with coupon/discount/promotional codes. SO if you  catch a dell employee, you can ask him when will the next discount period comes (or) you can ask him for those discount codes (or) you can ask him to buy him the monitor at cheap price straigh away.

P.S - IMHO, TN Panel s****! Though my monitor is good, I can't get the feel that I've got in my CRT. So it's better, you ask some one of your friends who is at U.S to get you a Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP ($599 - US price, in our site it's 51k ).



sagargv said:


> no , VLC player does not support dxva . If u want to use purevideoHD , then u have to use one of these.
> 
> purevideoHD works equally well in vista and XP now.
> ****** upgrade to latest nvidia drivers ******
> ...



Hats off sagargv! You were right. The Purevideo HD solves all the problems. I didn't try it after reading your post, in fact at first I didn't understand what you were trying to say. But then I google up with the keyword "Hardware accelratation" and ended up with installing Purevideo HD. I thought only some of the players like Powerdvd, WinDVD, JRMedia center supports Hardware acceleration, but its not like that. After installing purevideo HD, I saw significant decrease in the usage of CPU for playing HD videos thru MPC and Neuview. Now I'm contended with my D930 & 9600 GT combination. And ya, you must probably write a tutorial on this.


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## spikygv (Aug 3, 2008)

glad to be of help. If i find time , i'll post a few images and make a tutorial.


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## emmarbee (Aug 13, 2008)

desiibond said:


> ^^ ah. didn't know that. The SW overclock that came with my gigabyte mobo was pretty good.
> 
> Anyways, haven't used Intel proccy for years now.




It would be nice if someone suggest me with a good 5.1 Speakers. 
Current Speakers - Creative Inspire 5200

My budget: 4,000 - 20,000.


Requirements: I will be using it for multi purpose. I've got around 30 GB of music files including many FLAC and 320 KBPS. Also have many audio cds currently using on my KEF+MARANTZ stereo system. So the audio quality in stereo mode should be atleast acceptable but need not be great. 
But 5.1 sound and movie/games effects like gun fires/bullets should be top notch.



What I've chosen so far.

Altec Lansing VS3251 with wireless remote. Price: 3650 INR
Logitech X540 no wireless remotre. Price: 4900 INR
Logitech Z 5500 with DTS/DOLBY decoder. Price: 18250 INR

Is Logitech G51 better than Altec Lansing VS 3251? (It might sound surprising to compare both, but according to DIGIT Apr '08, both performed more or less in a same way.

If there are some better options please let me know.

P.S
A week ago, I was with my friends, who were about to purchase speakers. One of them bought Altec Lansing VS 3251 because of my suggestion and another bought Logitech Z 5500 due to everybody's(me and many online reviews) suggestion. 

I heard Logitech Z 5500 by myself. The SUB was GR8. But since my friend had not set up the speakers in their exact positions(all speakers were more or less in the same place), I didn't get impressed by the performance of Logitech Z 5500.
I didn't get a chance to hear the Altec Lansing speakers by myself, but my friend told that it was not at all good. The sub woofer was very soft and light, and he said sometimes he forget the presence of the sub woofer. He also added that the sub woofer accompanied with my Creative inspire 5200 was far better than HIS. So now I'm left with Logitech Z 5500 and Logitech X540.


I'm also looking out for a sound card. Is it really necessary? Is the on-board audio of 945 GNTL better than creative sound cards?


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## desiibond (Aug 13, 2008)

Go for Z5500. It just rocks 

Go for Z5500. It just rocks


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## emmarbee (Aug 14, 2008)

desiibond said:


> Go for Z5500. It just rocks
> 
> Go for Z5500. It just rocks



What about X-540 and G 51? Cause I don't have such a big house to handle the full power of Z 5500.
Moreover what about sound card? Is the on board audio enough or should I have to go in for X-fi series?


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## desiibond (Aug 14, 2008)

^^ onboard will not be able to send Dolby/DTS signal to Z5500. If your house is not that big, go for Z5300. should cost around 8k. 250W RMS and THX certified speakers. Hard to find these days. 

Yep. Creative X-Fi is lot better when compared to onboard audio. 

For a 20k budget, get Z5300 and Creative X-Fi Platinum or X-Fi XtremeGamer

Don't buy X-Fi XtremeAudio or X-Fi 5.1 they are rebranded Live! soundcards.



costs 7.5k

M-Audio card+Z5300 should be a great choice.


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## emmarbee (Aug 14, 2008)

desiibond said:


> ^^ onboard will not be able to send Dolby/DTS signal to Z5500. If your house is not that big, go for Z5300. should cost around 8k. 250W RMS and THX certified speakers. Hard to find these days.
> 
> Yep. Creative X-Fi is lot better when compared to onboard audio.
> 
> ...



My friend is having Digital Audio Output in his motherboard. He is going to use the DTS/Dolby decoder of the speakers for decoding by taking the output directly from the mobo thru a optical cable. Is it better than the software decoding like in (AC3 filter, FFDShow)? Cause even if I buy Z 5500, I wont be using that digital out, I'll be using the normal software decoding only. So the digital out on the sound card is not necessary, I only need the comparison  of the quality of on-board audio ad sound card.


I don't think so I can get a Z 5300 anywhere. Also M-Audio 5.1 24/192 card is not for vista (of course the drivers are available in their site, though . . .)

Desiji, I would like you to tell the percentage of amount that I have to invest on sound card.
If I buy a 10k spks, will a 2.5K (35%) sound card be a better combination or do I have to go in for a higer range card?

And again, suggest me some spks other than z 5500 (reason - powerful sub for my room), Z 5300 (availability)


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## m-jeri (Aug 14, 2008)

hmm....

let me break it down to you....

as off the shelf dexktop pc speakers category...z5500 is the best out there.....none can do anything...

but there are lots of custom solutions..where u choose ur own spks and try mix matching....

i bought z5500 for 20k... price in kerala..  .... now i am going for X-Fi. fatality....
thght abt elite pro... well only diff between two is a 30 diff in snr and diff i/o module...
i yhink i can live with that.... so.... calculate the total i spend on sound solution... for getting the best....

in ur case... avoid M-Audio...unless u do lots of recording and stuf..... or try xonar or prelude if ur budget is limited...well not that difference.... 

or simple yet..just the z55 now and when u get the dough go for the sound card....period....

z5300 is history.....AFAIK..unless someone have old stocks...whch being abt months is highly unlikely...

so post after the decision...

make the diff of snr as 7 .....   	
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)  		116dB       109dB

hehehe..nice...


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## desiibond (Aug 14, 2008)

^^ If you live in Bangalore, you can get it from SP Road. Enquired at Ankit Infotech and they have stock.

Coming to soundcard, onboard will not have dolby/DTS decoding capability and to get the most out of your speakers while watching a DVD movie, you do need a soundcard with Dolby/DTS capability. 

A cheap Dolby/DTS soundcard is of no use. Get atleast Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer

Even when the dolby is off, you will notice lot of difference in sound quality.

Sound will be louder and clearer, lower load on CPU which means you can use the cpu cycles for other tasks.

For a soundcard, get the best that you can pay 
For a home theatre setup, THX certified speakers + dolby/DTS soundcard adds lot of weight and will be worth every penny.

Moreover, the onboard soundcards have max of 16-bit audio sampling and all the current creative soundcards have 24-bit sampler.

Take a look at X-Fi XtremeGamer features: *in.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=208&product=15853&nav=0

Now, compare the features of your mobo onboard audio.

If you can't find Z5300, get X-540 or G51. I would pick x-540 among these two.

Techgage says: 



> These speakers seem to have an untamed upper midrange, however, which can cause them to sound 'hashy' on complex instrumental passages where lots of things are going on at once in the music, causing the subtle details to get somewhat lost. At high volumes, this 'hash' can become ear-fatiguig. The subwoofer can also begin to struggle to keep up with the satellites' volume at high levels, leading to distortion in the bass range characterized by an apparent loss of low bass extension.



Few other sites are saying that bass is muffled when there are too many sounds and if you turn down the bass, the loudness is lost. You better listen to G51 before making a decision. It's lot louder than X-540 but X-540 is a proven winner and suites those who never crank up the volume. 

I would pick either X-540 or Z5300, Z5300 being my first priority.


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## emmarbee (Aug 15, 2008)

madjeri said:


> hmm....
> 
> let me break it down to you....
> 
> ...



I'm not going for mix matching. I'd rather go for z 5500. Here, in chennai, it is 18.2 k. I'm still not sure about sound card. Of course I do want to have a better sound quality (In fact my on-board audio s***). But after selecting the 24-BIT mode in my on-board audio, i think its sustainable. 

I'm not sure about those SNRs and DBs, I'm not so strong technically. But If I had to buy a sound card, should I buy a sound card WITH A digital out, so that I can use optic cable to let the speakers decode DTS/Dolby or buy a sound card WITHOUT A Digital out and use the DTS/Dolby decoding of application.





			
				desiibond said:
			
		

> Coming to soundcard, onboard will not have dolby/DTS decoding capability and to get the most out of your speakers while watching a DVD movie, you do need a soundcard with Dolby/DTS capability.



On-board audio might not decode, but the applications will decode them right? and I can get the output through my Center+LFE, FL+FR, and RL+RR present in my on-board audio? 
The above will have the same effect as the one decoded by z 5500 right? Of course the quality might differ, but decoding is the same right?



			
				desiibond said:
			
		

> A cheap Dolby/DTS soundcard is of no use. Get atleast Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer
> 
> Even when the dolby is off, you will notice lot of difference in sound quality.



As you said I will look out for this Xtreme Gamer sound card in my area.



			
				desiibond said:
			
		

> Sound will be louder and clearer, lower load on CPU which means you can use the cpu cycles for other tasks.



CPU usage lowered? Whoa! I'm gonna love it.




			
				desiibond said:
			
		

> Moreover, the onboard soundcards have max of 16-bit audio sampling and all the current creative soundcards have 24-bit sampler.


My on-board audio has 24 bit 48khz sampling rate.
And my friend's on board audio (who is having the z 5500) has 24 bit / 192 khz with a digtal out.



And as for the speakers, I'm still very much confused. Either X-540/G-51/Z 5500 or Z-5300 if available. I'll google for the comparison and will let you know soon.


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## emmarbee (Aug 18, 2008)

A little help here would be appreciated!


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## m-jeri (Aug 18, 2008)

AVOID Extreme gamer....not worth it...unless u on grid lock budget ..... they are just rebadged audigy or something....a card user himself said this... so ...i dunno for sure...

Tell me ur budget first....how much u gonna spend for the card....then we talk...thats good..so that if xtrme is the one u can go then let it be...


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## desiibond (Aug 18, 2008)

^^ Actually, it's X-Fi XtremeAudio that was rebranded SB Live! 24-bit and not XtremeGamer.

Also check this page:

*www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/07/01/creative_x-fi_xtremegamer/3

XtremeGamer copared to XFX 680i SLI.

XtremeGamer has

1) 2MB onboard RAM
2) X-Fi processor.
3)  eight channel digital to analogue converter rated for up to 192KHz, with a dynamic range of 114dB and a -100 dB THD & Noise rating.


emmarbee, what's the model number of your motherboard.


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## m-jeri (Aug 18, 2008)

hmmm.....

anyways...emmar bee whats ur budget...


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## emmarbee (Aug 18, 2008)

Guys, sorry for my belated reply. My dataone broadband is gettnig disconnected frequently, like @ 10-15 disconnections / min. So I only get few seconds of connection at a stretch, within which I have to load the page and post it.

Anyways, 



madjeri said:


> AVOID Extreme gamer....not worth it...unless u on grid lock budget ..... they are just rebadged audigy or something....a card user himself said this... so ...i dunno for sure...
> 
> Tell me ur budget first....how much u gonna spend for the card....then we talk...thats good..so that if xtrme is the one u can go then let it be...



madjeri, I don't have budget constraint. This doesn't mean I'm rich guy to buy a 9800GX2 instead of 2x8800GT. As I've mentioned in my first post, my budget is from 4k-20k. even 25k. But the thing has to be worth it.

At present am having Creative Inspire 5200 for Intel 945 GNTL on board audio (24bit/48Khz), I wont tell them as the worst speakers. They do sound good sometimes, in fact at many times I get satisfied with performance of the speakers especially the SUB woofer. My friend who had recently bought an Altec Lansing VS3251 based on Digit's review often mentions that mine is better than his, atleast for the performance of the sub woofer, but I personally haven't heard it once. 
I don't know why the creative speakers (each & every model) have been rated low by DIGIT. Of course sometimes I get head ache due to the sound from my speakers. That is the reason why I'm thinking of changing it.

So the new spks which I'm gonna buy should be the price worth it. I'm ready to spend 18k for Logitech Z 5500 straight away, but it must be 4 times better than my speakers. If its not gonna be, then I'll go for G51 / X 540 again which must be thrice/twice better than my current speakers.

And one more thing, to utilize the DTS/Dolby decoding of logitech z 5500 I must have an optical/coaxial output on the board, which I don't have. So again I have to spend another 5-6k for a new P35 board or sound card, which means my total cost would rise up to 24k. So will it be 6 times better than my speakers???




			
				desiibond said:
			
		

> emmarbee, what's the model number of your motherboard.



Its Intel 945 GNTL. And ya, I can't overclock my CPU with this (we had a talk over this few days back   )


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## desiibond (Aug 18, 2008)

@emmarbee, am pretty sure that XtremeGamer will be lot lot better when compared to the onboard audio.

Go for it along with the best speaker set that you can buy.

If I were you, I would go for Z5500 

Z5500 is lot lot lot  better than Inspire 5200.

X540 will be 2x better than 5200.

Z5500 will be 4x better than X540.

I would not bring G51 in here as it has bass related issues.

Advantage that Z5500 has over 5200:

1) THX certification, which is like a mark for premium sound quality
2) Dolby® Digital, DTS®, and DTS®, 96/24 soundtracks Hardware encoding. hundred times better when compared to software encoding
3)  62 watts RMS for 4 satellites, 69W RMS for center speaker, 188W booming sub.(6wrms for your current satellites and 18w rms for your current sub)
4) Wireless remote
5) Decoder box. Similar Dolby/DTS decoder from creative costs 10k+ and is not avialble.
This means that you can convert a digital audio signal to surround DTS.

First get Z5500D. 

Get digital audio cable and plug it to your onboard audio and check if dolby/DTS decoding is happening. If it works and if you are satisfied with the audio quality, forget about XtremeGamer for now.

But you do need XtremeGamer for ultimate audio through your speakers.

Yes, you may say that you will not utilize the full potential of Z5500D. Who will??? 

But they sound amazingly clear. You can take a demo of these at HomeTown store (if you are in bangalore).

I heard them once and my hands started itching to get my wallet but I stopped as I recently bought 2.1 speakers.

there it's price was some 14k+tax.

Note: Logitech manufactures lazer mouse. iball also manufactures lazer mouse. But you can't say that iball is better though it shows more dpi. It's the quality that matter and not the spec. The same is with onboard vs dedicated hardware.


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## m-jeri (Aug 18, 2008)

emmarbee said:


> Guys, sorry for my belated reply. My dataone broadband is gettnig disconnected frequently, like @ 10-15 disconnections / min. So I only get few seconds of connection at a stretch, within which I have to load the page and post it.
> 
> Anyways,
> 
> ...



tish tish tish..... ....

Foremost...dont think of the onboard craps....

1. dont think if u pay 3 times more u get 3 times more performance.... or anything like that
2. ur budget is 25k r8... for both spks and card....
3. buy z5500D.... 18.5k that leaves 6.5k in ur hand...
4. u got 2 options... buy a high end second hand card... or
5. buy the max card that u can afford for 6.5k...

its all subjective... ..u budget..ur better off w ith a prelude or xonar or X-Fi(one u can afford the most)for that budget...

and post what u decide...


----------



## emmarbee (Aug 20, 2008)

desiibond said:


> @emmarbee, am pretty sure that XtremeGamer will be lot lot better when compared to the onboard audio.
> 
> Go for it along with the best speaker set that you can buy.
> 
> ...



OMG! Are you sure that G51 has some bass related issues? If its gonna be like that, then i won't even speak of those speakers ever.

man, You've done a very simple job up there by comparing z5500 with 5200. You should've hit your head for doing this right? 
Anyways, I'm sorry to compare my spks with existing ones, but all I want is spks that are lot better than mine. And you've said that it is so.

You told me to connect a digital cable on to my board, but I don't think there is a digital out in my board. If there is or if you know how to do that, let me know.

_*"Yes, you may say that you will not utilize the full potential of Z5500D. Who will???" *_

I didn't understand what you were saying there . . .

And BTW desi, you are saying that hardware decoding of DTS/Dolby is hundred times better than software decoding (even powerDVD etc.,). But how do you say that? Can you feel/hear the difference physically or is it just some theories proving your statements?





			
				madjeri said:
			
		

> tish tish tish..... ....
> 
> Foremost...dont think of the onboard craps....
> 
> ...



I'll surely post what I had bought/decided. But before that I have to come to a decision right?



Madjeri & Desibond, here's one more requirement for the spks from my side.

The speakers that I'm gonna invest in should live atleast after my next two PC upgrades. I mean would be changing all the components but the speakers, is it possible with z 5500 (not the sub, I'm talking about the satellites)?

PLZ take a look at this thread, 

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?p=914860

I've started it a week back and now only the sugestions are raining in.

Desibond and madjeri, can we please continue this discussion in that thread?


----------

