2 monitors, 2 sizes

[silent knight]

Hi all. I currently have an asus 19" widescreen, which is a D-sub input.
Im on the verge of buying a new 22" monitor (dvi input) and wondered if
i can run both? obvioulsy for games id only run the 22" but for general desktop
or maybe graphic programs (photoshop/3DS max) use both.
Is this possible??
Im considering upgrading my GPU to a 8800gts 512 or GT. would they cope with both monitors? would they cope with the 22" for gaming?

 

[PhillyDee]

What res is the 22"? If its 1680x1050, then the GTS 512 or the GT would have no problem. If its larger then you might have to turn down some of the eye candy on the latest games.

If the graphics card has 2x outputs, then you can plug 2 monitors in. Whether or not the program supports dual screen or not is another matter entirely.

 

[mishima]

I'm doing something very similar to you soon. This week infact. I have a 19" and getting a 22". I have a 8800GT also, and it will cope with 22" fine in games. You can use both monitors with the card also, using two different DVI cables and getting windows to use both monitors, games will open on the desired monitor whilst in windows the desktop will be able to stretch across so that you can use both screens for apps etc.

 

[sir-les-mp]

yes it is possible
i used to run a 21" CRT insane resolution as well as an 18" tft set at 1200 x 1024
used CRT for gaming on my old agp 7600 gts and tft for other progs
as long as you set the 22" as your primary monitor then you will have no problems using it as your gaming screen.
Tip when you first connect both screens to your chosen video card first set resolution down to either 1024x768 or 800x600 refresh 60 MHz
from there you can then set the required settings via nvidia's control panel

 

[platinum87]

ofcourse they will cope.. only problem is due to different resolutions, you will need to have ultramon installed which allows you to have 2 different wallpapers (1 on each monitor). otherwise its going to be stretched

 

[MoRT489]

I am running 20" and 17" on 8800GTS. I use the 17" for applications like msn, coretemp realtemp, speedfan, GPUZ etc whilst in game on the 20" (same res as 22"). Both monitors run fine and the gfx card handles COD4 perfectly and crysis is playable for the most part on High with 2x AA.

ofcourse they will cope.. only problem is due to different resolutions, you will need to have ultramon installed which allows you to have 2 different wallpapers (1 on each monitor). otherwise its going to be stretched

shame nvidia no longer have the option to do this in NV control panel

 

[HangTime]

I used to run a 19" alongside a 14" about 7 years ago or so.

In the end I found it to be a bit of a gimmick, I was barely using the secondary screen and eventually it got to the stage where I couldn't even be bothered turning it on. It all gets a bit fiddly in terms of moving stuff around (due to the difference in resolution between the screens, and their physical positioning) and unless you definitely have a need/plan for the extra space I wouldn't recommend it.

I've toyed with the idea of setting up one or both of my 17" alongside my 22"WS, but I think it would likely be more hassle than it's worth.