HD LCD monitor has 1680X1050....is this equal to 1080p? 1050p?

21 in. HD LCD flat-panel display, Gateway® FPD2185W provides 1680X1050 resolution...is this good like 1080p?

am i getting a high def picture through my DVI connection?

why do i not see 1080 in my display settings resolutions list? do i need an HD graphics card to get max potential from this monitor?

i currently have a radeon x850

No.

HDTV resolutions are 16:9 aspect ratios, most LCD monitors are 16:10 aspect ratios.

1080p is 1920 by 1080. So you are 240 pixels too narrow and 30 pixels too short.

To display unscaled 1080p on a computer monitor you need to get one with 1920 by 1200 resolution, and then you get 60 pixel high black bars above and below the image.