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Gaming with 2 displays

Ezyryder

Ezyryder

Ezyryder

Soldato
Joined
17 Jun 2005
Posts
3,333
Location
Cambridge, UK
Guys,

I am thinking on getting 2 displays for gaming but I was wondering if its really worth it or if you need 3 at least to make a difference. Funds are not unlimited but 2 is probably the confortable choice money wise. I currently have a Gigabyte 460 with copes well with my current monitors resolution (1920 x 1080). I imagine that if I was to upgrade to 2 monitors I would need a better graphics card... is that the case?

Also, is it really worth it gaming on 2 monitors? don't you need 3 for eyefinity? and is it really worth it? or would I be better with a bigger monitor (27") instead of two smaller ones (23")?
 
3 monitors is where its at, 2 might be useful in games like supcom etc where you can have your map on the second screen but for almost all other senarios (as said above), the bezel will sit right where you need to be seeing.

If you were thinking of 3 screens on an NV card you would need to consider sli as this is the config required to run nv's equivilant to eyefinity.
 
Need and want are two very different things, I run an eyefinity rig and can honestly say that apart from gaming eyefinity is pretty useless. When im working or trying to be productive its always two extended desktops, one left and one right.

As for needing an ATI card, well you don't "need" one if you can run 460 sli, which to be fair is a pretty formidable setup. If you have a capable board that is. Other than the cost associated I absolutly love gaming on 3 screens with a steering wheel for a bit of F1 or Rally action.
 
I only have a Q6600 (so SLI is not an option)but I have seen a really good deal for 3 Dell U2311 which is really tempting me. I could upgrade to a 6870 for little money to be able to run eyefinity though.
 
Im running 3x 1920x1080 on a 5850 @ stock, to be fair all the games I play work perfectly well with a few settings turned down (mainly aa and af) I also have a q6600 @ 3ghz and am a very happy man since buying the 3 samsungs.

There are a few niggles but buying 3 identicle monitors means that you can use bezel correction to cater for the bezels... an absolute must if you do get it is a steering wheel, a fridge full of beer and 10 or so mates for an F1 timetrial (I think its even called timetrial party) in game.
 
I have 2 * 1680x1050 - the inch gap between the 2 screens would get right on my **** if I was playing games. As it is, the first screen gets all the gaming on it and the second is used for day to day productivity. I think a better choice for alround use / gaming would be a larger higher res single display.
 
I am the same as the above, 2x22"screen setup great for web browsing/having loads of windows open, however when it comes to gaming, only use the one screen.

Maybe when i have a bit of loose money laying about i may get a 3rd, but tbh i am more likely to get a bigger screen to replace as opposed to use as well as.

Got to stress the 5870 out somehow :p
 
If the displays are ungrouped you will be able to have applications on the second screen however moving the mouse over generally ends up with your game being minimised. So basically unless your running monitoring apps on the second screen its pretty usless.
 
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a lot of games can be run in windowed mode, set the window to your screens resolution and it'll look like full screen but wont minimise when swapping screens like a fullscreen app would.

Problem here is that windowed games don't use xfire (or sli?) as they aren't seen as 3d apps by the drivers, or is there a way around this?
 
Nbolo said:
a lot of games can be run in windowed mode, set the window to your screens resolution and it'll look like full screen but wont minimise when swapping screens like a fullscreen app would.

Problem here is that windowed games don't use xfire (or sli?) as they aren't seen as 3d apps by the drivers, or is there a way around this?
Click to expand...

You could force clocks in afterburner but to be honest you still wont get any use out of the second screen if gaming...
 
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