Dual Monitors and whats best for gaming?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by michael78, Jan 7, 2007.

  1. michael78

    michael78 Terabyte Poster

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    I'm thinking about buying 2 TFT monitors to setup as dual screens and my PC. Am I correct that I could have say explorer open on one of them whilst playing a game on the other? Also is there any slow down using one card to run both mnitors?

    My second question is what is best for gaming widescreen or a normal monitor? I'm looking at these to do the job.

    Any thoughts much appreciated...:D
     
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  2. Raffaz

    Raffaz Kebab Lover Gold Member

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    Yeah its correct that you could have one application on one screen, and something else on the other. As for the widescreen question, i think it just comes down to personal preference. Also you dont have to have them side by side, you could have one on top of the other. That LG looks nice, im currently running a 17" LG, had it for about 3 years now, and never had any problems with it. I think Dell do some nice monitors aswell.
     
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  3. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

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    You need to make sure you've got two video outputs on your graphics card (or you can buy a Matrox Dual Head but that's a different story).:D

    With regards to playing games, you will experience a small drop in frame rate. I bought a copy of Ultramon for about £20 which, among other things, puts an icon in the system tray that will enable/disable the secondary monitor when you click on it so I just shut down the second monitor to play games.

    I like your choice of monitor, I can't believe how cheap LCD monitors are these days.:D

    Not all games support widescreen ratios though. I don't know how widescreen monitors cope with 4:3 ratios. My TV just puts black bars on the sides of the screen to keep it all in proportion, I don't know if that's what monitors do though.
     
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  4. michael78

    michael78 Terabyte Poster

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    Cheers for the info lads. I've ordered the monitors...:D
    I agree with how much TFT monitors have come down in price. I paid £350 for my current 19" TFT about 3 years ago...:x
     
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  5. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    bear in mind your frame rate is not likley to drop ALL that much with dual displays, infact its often an insignificant ammount (card dependant)

    also remember that most full screen games lock the mouse to that window, removing your ability to click into the other screen
    those that dont often minimize the game as soon as you select something else as the active window, so the usage of dual screens IN games isn't as useful as it first sounds, however it does allow you to immedialty pause games to respond to urgent emails/ims, have a webpage open with perhaps a play guide/map

    ultramon gives you numerous benefits from a window management perspective as well, including simple movement of windows between screens (more use when you have 2+n than 2 as it can cut down time spent on window management.
     
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  6. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Mate your onto a winner with dual screens...me for example am starting to run out of space with the two I have...so I will be buying another two this year...and it does help that the prices have come down indeed...for gaming tho I would have gone for a normal screen...I couldnt do widescreen...but go for it...no harm in that mate...:D
     
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  7. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    Phoenix is right about playing games, but what I have done is I have set just one monitor on to play games when I am Media Centre and as I have two graphics cards I have enabled Crossfire (both are ATI) and that only works for one monitor...but when I am on either Vista or XP Pro I go back to normal dual screen mode...in the end with games I only need one screen anyway...and ultramon is a mint program for multiscreens...:biggrin
     
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  8. michael78

    michael78 Terabyte Poster

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    I was a little worried about buying widescreen for gaming but from what I've read people say it's a better playing experience than a normal screen. Plus I will switch to Vista when it comes out and it's designed for widescreen monitors in mind.
     
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  9. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    I currently have 2 Dell 2407 24" monitors and one of my old 20.1" monitors in portrait form for web browsing
    it is a swanky setup when im workign on my digital photos in vista and i cant wait to pick up a 30" monitor, hopfully some time this year!!
     
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  10. noelg24

    noelg24 Terabyte Poster

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    I suppose this would be a good idea if Vista supports widescreen...so I may get one widescreen monitor and have 3 normal ones...:biggrin
     
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  11. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    After you get that 30 incher, let me know if you want to get rid of one of those 2407's. I know a worthy... uh... charity. :p heheheh!!
     
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  12. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Even if Vista is designed for widescreen monitors, the games themselves have to support widescreen as well. Some simply do not. I know there is a widescreen gaming forum out there that can usually help resolve gaming problems on widescreen monitors, but unfortuntaely, I don't have the link (I've got a non-widescreen 19" LCD for gaming, myself).
     
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  13. Phoenix
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    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    its my experiance that most games run fine in a non ws format, as i have often found games that dont support specific resolutions

    this however has changed somewhat in recent years

    Um.. sure Mike, im sure we can come to an arrangement, if i ever get one going spare that is :)
     
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