Monitor recommendations?

I found a deal where the price difference isn't much.
Dell UltraSharp



or

HP Pavilion 21.5''



HP Pavilion 20"



I also do quite a bit of work on a CAD, so I wonder if a higher resolution might slow things down? I'm currently using a 17''.

My specs are as follows:

Core i7
1.2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon 2600 XT HD
Best,

Is the border actually clear or what? Because you’ve got that Dell UltraSharp 2443 version for the red size $533 new.

Morgan Moore37 said:Is the border actually clear or what? Because you’ve got that Dell UltraSharp 2443 version for the red size $533 new.

There is a limit...😁
I'm mostly wondering if a CAD program will lag on a 22'' monitor.🤷

It sounds like your AutoCAD is choking because you're working with such a tiny amount of memory. Honestly, you might have better luck trying to find some secondhand sticks of 1GB RAM on eBay if you can manage it.
As for the monitor, switching to a 22" screen won't actually slow down your AutoCAD performance at all—well, sure, it might feel different for gaming, but this is strictly 2D work, which doesn't rely nearly as much on your GPU, resolution, or monitor size.

So, what’s the deal here? Are we talking about 400 MB of RAM or 800 MB, or am I looking at whether I should just switch over to DDR4 or DDR4 instead?

Morgan Moore37 said:So, what’s the deal here? Are we talking about 400 MB of RAM or 800 MB, or am I looking at whether I should just switch over to DDR4 or DDR4 instead?

400 MB DDR😉
2x512MB
and 1x256MB

Take a look at the hardware marketplace here on this forum and over at PC Expert—you might just stumble upon some sweet deals from Gigabyte (or maybe even find a 512 😉 module). Honestly, your life will be a whole lot easier once you upgrade to more memory 🙂

It’s definitely an Intel Core i7.

Look, I guess it might just be my opinion, but it seems like your rig is getting a little outdated.

Finding the cash to upgrade the RAM might be a bit of a struggle for you, but I suppose you should probably try.

How many memory slots do you actually have? If I recall correctly, there are only three, right?

I'm not entirely sure if anyone even makes 2GB sticks for that specific setup. Finding 2GB modules would likely be pretty tough, so maybe just aim for 1GB instead. You really ought to grab some memory that actually works, otherwise, you're just going to end up with more headaches than you started with.

Morgan Moore37 said:It’s definitely an Intel Core i7.

Look, I guess it might just be my opinion, but it seems like your rig is getting a little outdated.

Finding the cash to upgrade the RAM might be a bit of a struggle for you, but I suppose you should probably try.

How many memory slots do you actually have? If I recall correctly, there are only three, right?

I'm not entirely sure if anyone even makes 2GB sticks for that specific setup. Finding 2GB modules would likely be pretty tough, so maybe just aim for 1GB instead. You really ought to grab some memory that actually works, otherwise, you're just going to end up with more headaches than you started with.

I'm aware of that.😁
If I come across any extra RAM, I might pick it up.👍
The processor is a 3.0 GHz LGA 775 on this motherboard.

So, look, a 775 system isn't exactly ancient, and since you've got four RAM slots, you're looking at a maximum of 4GB of memory, which I guess is fine. You should probably hunt down some extra RAM and a different graphics card, especially since I noticed you're running on PCI, so that’s pretty much the limit there. You'll likely end up spending roughly $467 on the graphics card, $533 for a monitor, and maybe $267 for the memory.

Morgan Moore37, come on now—don't talk nonsense. What kind of $467 graphics card is he even looking at?
For AutoCAD, there isn't going to be any noticeable difference whether he uses that specific card or an old Radeon 4890.
Honestly, it’s just not worth pouring money into this machine—unless maybe he picks up a stick of RAM or so. Anything beyond that is basically throwing cash out the window; it won't give him any real performance boost.

rapidfox27, if I were in your shoes, I’d personally go for the Samsung—mostly because the screen size makes everything so much easier on the eyes when you're working. If you can find some extra memory lying around, grab it, but in my opinion, buying it brand new 🙂

Something from Apple

Casey Long2 said:Morgan Moore37, come on now—don't talk nonsense. What kind of $467 graphics card is he even looking at?
For AutoCAD, there isn't going to be any noticeable difference whether he uses that specific card or an old Radeon 4890.
Honestly, it’s just not worth pouring money into this machine—unless maybe he picks up a stick of RAM or so. Anything beyond that is basically throwing cash out the window; it won't give him any real performance boost.

rapidfox27, if I were in your shoes, I’d personally go for the Samsung—mostly because the screen size makes everything so much easier on the eyes when you're working. If you can find some extra memory lying around, grab it, but in my opinion, buying it brand new 🙂

Okay, the 2600 HD I think has 512MB, so if that's the case, it might be better to just pick up something stronger and higher quality. Personally, I'm leaning toward the most powerful option since AutoCAD needs memory and both options provide it.

I'm not sure why you'd say investing in good components is a waste of money. You can just move a graphics card from one PC to another regardless of whether it's new or old. I think you might be overstating things a bit.
A high-quality, powerful graphics card is actually the best investment because you can carry it over to a different build, whereas a motherboard or processor is pretty much stuck if the socket changes.

Casey Long2 makes a fair point.
Even if they pick up a 5870, that card will be obsolete in two years, making it pretty pointless to bother moving it to a new build.
Graphics cards don't stay relevant for long. Maybe 18 months tops before they feel outdated...

Well, I guess I'm calling it quits. I'll just go ahead and pick up the RAM and the monitor myself.

Look, I’m not saying high-end graphics cards are a total waste of money across the board, but for running AutoCAD, there’s really no point in jumping to anything more powerful than this 2600 model. Your processor and overall system architecture won't even be able to scratch the surface of what a beefier card can do—it'll just end up sucking down extra power without providing any noticeable boost to your workflow in AutoCAD. At the end of the day, AutoCAD isn't really a GPU-dependent application.

http://www.amazon.com/electronics/monitors

I’ve heard some serious buzz about these monitors—I actually went out of my way to do some digging a while back because the brand wasn't ringing any bells for me. Turns out, plenty of people I talked to were swearing by them and claimed they were incredibly satisfied with the performance.

The Dell Monitor featuring an IPS panel and $550 its price point makes it hands-down the absolute best pick if you're looking for a new monitor in the 22" category...

It’s honestly ridiculous how the cheapest 24" IPS panel ends up costing more than double a 22" one. 😵