Advice on Aspect Ratios and response times, etc.

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a new LCD Monitor and it seems this is a good place to ask some advice.

Ok so I've just got a new PC, top of the range with Vista, and I need to get a good new LCD Monitor for it. I've been looking at some good ones from Iiyama, but I need to know a bit more about some technical stuff before I decide which one to buy. (I'm looking for a gaming monitor).

First of all, Aspect Ratios, should I get a Wide Screen? I've never had widescreen before, just 4:3 CRTs and I'm not sure if I should go down that road. For one thing, is it true that if my games don't support widescreen (which most of them don't), that they will be horizontally stretched?
I really don't think I could stand that, being stretched would make them unplayable for me (or is there some way around that?).

Also, Iiyama seem to offer a lot of 5:4 ratio monitors, what are these like? Will there also be problems with them?

Finally, Response time, how important is it? Initially I was going to go for only 2 ms, because I know that's among the best, but there are other good ones with 8 ms. Is there really a big difference? How will these affect my games?

Ok, that's about all I can think of to ask for the moment, hope someone's got some advice. Thanks.

i would go with wide-screen b/c it seems to be the new standard for monitors. as far as brands, i've never used iiyama monitors--only samsung. as far as response time, the lower the response time, the better the monitor will perform with games. if you're not totally into gaming, then 8ms would suffice; but, if you are an avid gamer, get a monitor with a 2ms response time.

Ok, but you didn't really address most of my questions, I know everyone's getting widescreen now, but what are the disadvantages? Will everything be horribly stretched?

Also, is there a difference between 16:9 and 16:10 ratio widescreens? I don't what to get one and then find out it's the wrong one.

Most of the widescreens I've been looking at have a 1680 x 1050 native resolution, is that good? Or is that some non-standard size?

Thanks.

That resolution is good for around a 20-22" screen.

I agree with Sand Man, try and go for widescreen it is becoming most common and looks really good for when you do get newer up updated games that support it.

As for the gaming with older games, I think it is more a question of what res your game will work with your graphics card and what are your graphics cards features. Some cards let you choose a 4:3 ratio and maintain the aspect ratio so it does not distort when it plays on the screen (does what is called pillarboxing - black bars on the edges). So if your card can do this then before you play a game that does not support it just switch screen res, you card control panel will probably allow you to set a hotkey combination to do this easily.

IMO it is more important to buy something that will last for as long as you can get a useful life out of it and 16:9 will work with the newer games and hopefully your other games may eventually have updates/patches or hacks to support widescreen, or you are able to use the method I suggested above.

Hope some of this helps you in your selection process.