I don't really know the answer to #1, but I can tell you that the monitor looks great.
As for #2, you'll be able to play new games. It has 4GB of RAM, a Core 2 Duo, and, as you stated, a 512MB graphics card. I would guess that they should run without a problem on at least medium settings. You'll be able to run Crysis - that's kind of the benchmark game as of right now. Get that game if you want to see what your PC can do :D
--Andrew
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