I am returning to flight simulation after several years absence. I am planning on having a heavyweight system built to properly run FSX. My system would be more or less along the lines shown below:

• Core I7 overclocked to 4+ GHz
• 8 GB high end RAM
• Velociraptor drives
• NVidia GTX 580 with 1.5 GB or similar

I am trying now to decide on monitors. My preferred setup is use one graphics dvi port for a 27 inch monitor as the main FSX screen and other dvi port to drive a 21 inch or so screen where I run Electronic Flight Bag. My question has to do with resolution. I would love to run the main screen at 2560x1440 but almost all of the 27" monitors I see are 1920x1080 (to be TV compatible I guess). I am aware of the Dell Ultrasharp 27" at about $950 and an NEC at somewhere above $1,300.I have three questions:

• Does anyone on this board have experience with the Dell or NEC monitors mentioned above?
• Is the system I outlined above sufficient to drive a 27" high resolution at decent frame rates (assuming texture sliders pretty far to the right)?
• Can anyone share experience with their 27" monitor?

Thanks in advance for any help -- I need it.Dave

Your search is brand-limited. Check Samsung, LG and ViewSonic (in that order), they all make very good monitors.Cheers,- jahman.

Your search is brand-limited. Check Samsung, LG and ViewSonic (in that order), they all make very good monitors.Cheers,- jahman.

I don't have a problem with any of those brands ... I am just trying to understand the pros and cons of shelling out the extra coin for 2560x1440 vs 1920x1080 for FSX.By the way, I don't think Samsung, LG or Viewsonic make a model in the higher resolution.

I don't have a problem with any of those brands ... I am just trying to understand the pros and cons of shelling out the extra coin for 2560x1440 vs 1920x1080 for FSX.By the way, I don't think Samsung, LG or Viewsonic make a model in the higher resolution.

I use a Dell U3011 2560x1600 monitor--the higher cost of at least the Dell Ultrasharp monitors is due to use of IPS screen displays instead of the more common TFT panels on the more inexpensive consumer-grade stuff.The difference is MUCH brighter and truer colors, almost nonexistent color shifting when viewing from an angle, and the higher res makes the pictures a whole lot sharper than a similarly sized 1920x1080 big-screen. These monitors were intended for professional graphics artists/photographers etc that require precise color calibration.Some nice things I notice when using this for simming are lights that look much more like an illuminated bulb than the washed-out red/amber/green I get on my TFT displays...the magenta flight director bars are very bright as they are on a real glass display, etc.Note however, that the higher resolution does have an impact on frame rates. A 2560x1600 monitor requires your system to render almost double the number of pixels when compared to a 1920x1080 display...so I wouldn't recommend an SHD display unless you have a relatively fast system--including a very capable late-generation video card (i.e. nVidia 480/570/580).

I use a Dell U3011 2560x1600 monitor--the higher cost of at least the Dell Ultrasharp monitors is due to use of IPS screen displays instead of the more common TFT panels on the more inexpensive consumer-grade stuff.The difference is MUCH brighter and truer colors, almost nonexistent color shifting when viewing from an angle, and the higher res makes the pictures a whole lot sharper than a similarly sized 1920x1080 big-screen. These monitors were intended for professional graphics artists/photographers etc that require precise color calibration.Some nice things I notice when using this for simming are lights that look much more like an illuminated bulb than the washed-out red/amber/green I get on my TFT displays...the magenta flight director bars are very bright as they are on a real glass display, etc.Note however, that the higher resolution does have an impact on frame rates. A 2560x1600 monitor requires your system to render almost double the number of pixels when compared to a 1920x1080 display...so I wouldn't recommend an SHD display unless you have a relatively fast system--including a very capable late-generation video card (i.e. nVidia 480/570/580).

Thanks so much for this reply ... it is just the kind of information I was looking for.