I am curious to know which resolutions you use on your desktop and which resolutions you use when you play a game if you want you can say the type of monitor you use and the refresh rate you use for your monitor
To check your monitor refresh rate - right click on your desktop > properties > settings > advanced > monitor
I use a lcd 19 inches samsung syncmaster 931b, i have it since at least 3 years and its still working just like when i started using it
Refresh Rate - 75 Hertz Desktop - 1280 x 1024 In-Game - 1024 x 768 in most games unless i need more fps so i lower it
I have a 24 inch imac, and I usually run games at the highest resolution they support (up to my native 1920x1200).
The only exception to that is games that require extremely precise aiming: I ran CS at 800x600, and I run team fortress 2 at a medium range (1200ish for the width, I don't know exactly what the resolution comes out to).
1366x768, for everything, on a 32" Vizio Widescreen. Was concerned about the low resolution on a rather large screen at first but I have no problems and everything looks great still.