>> Can a monitor listed as a max resolution of 1280x1020 be overridden to display higher with a good graphics card?
Short answer. No.
The graphics card can do the resolutions but the monitor has to support them. In some cases a good monitor can do this. I've struck an old 14" which went up to an incredible resolution (probably 1280 by 1024 from memory) at the time when a good 14" was pressed to do 800 by 600 and 640 by 480 was the norm.
Check the brand of monitor you have on the Net and do a search for the specifications. That'll give you a start as to what it can do. It might go up one more stage from that. It might not. Depends on your testing. In some cases lowering the frequency can help. It might not.
