Dual monitors?

lolage

lolage

lolage

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Hi,

Just swapped my bedroom so i have a lot more space meaning i can finally get a nice big desk! :)

At the moment, i have 2gb ram, 2.0GHz e2180, 8800GTX and a nice samsung 22" monitor.

I'm debating on if to get 2 or 3 monitors. The only reason i want 3 is so that i can play First Person Shooters without the crosshair being in the middle of nowhere.

Technically wise, do i need to run the graphics card in SLI mode? I dont really understand. Does it have to be the same graphics card? Or can i just run 2 monitors off the 1 gfx card?

Cheers!
 
You can run two monitors off one card, best thing I ever did was use my tv as a second monitor (got a tv card). Never seen the need for 3.
 
I currently have 2 monitors and thinking of upgrading to 3, my current GPU has 2 outputs, but there are some GPU's that have 3, 1xVGA, 1xDVI and 1xHDMI (e.g. 4830,4850), this could work for both of us, but could im not sure if it works simultaniously, anyone know?
 
easiest way to do 3 monitors is to get a cheap card for the other monitor, that's how I run mine though i only game on the centre monitor. for gaming across all three a tripplehead thing is what most people use.
 
thanks for the advise!

what about a third monitor?? or do i DEFFINETELY need a second graphics card? I dont think my Motherboard supports SLI. :(

The third monitor would only be used for films/tv/music etc.
 
I really dont know why people use more than 1 monitor! , what could i do extra if i got another monitor? ive never tried this and have no idea about it.
 
lolage said:
thanks for the advise!

what about a third monitor?? or do i DEFFINETELY need a second graphics card? I dont think my Motherboard supports SLI. :(

The third monitor would only be used for films/tv/music etc.
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If for some reason you want a dvd playing while you are playing a game, I believe you WILL require a 2nd card - it doesnt need to be SLI or anything, or even that powerful, but to have two "overlays" simultaneously 2 cards are required (maybe put the basic card in a PCI-E x1 or x2 slot and keep the gaming card in x8/16 slot)

( this is based on knowledge from about a year or so ago so it might be different now with newer cards)

Leeroy123 said:
I really dont know why people use more than 1 monitor! , what could i do extra if i got another monitor? ive never tried this and have no idea about it.
Click to expand...

I swear by two monitors - especially if you have to monitor a lot of stuff, like servers plus your email plus actually do stuff productively like write user guides or other day to day tasks. Even at home I really find two monitors helpful
 
Leeroy123 said:
I really dont know why people use more than 1 monitor! , what could i do extra if i got another monitor? ive never tried this and have no idea about it.
Click to expand...

Screen space! Essential for anyone that uses multiple apps at the same time. Programming or web dev it's a god send.

Also it'll allow you to view other stuff whilst in full screen mode.

I occasionally have:

Monitor 1 - Full screen game.

Monitor 2 - MSN, HLSW, steam friends, and my vista gadget bar.
 
Right, cool - i wanted

When gaming;
All 3 monitors to be used for games

When not gaming;
Two monitors to be used for dual screen so extra work space, then the other one for music/film/tv.

Is this a good setup and will it deffinetely need a second GFX card? Will it work good with 3 monitors gaming?
 
Very few games (as far as I know) use three monitors - possibly flight sims and a few others, I would also suggest that if you want all three for gaming then you WILL need SLI or Xfire, but I am not sure how they cope with more than dual monitors (and even that is relatively recent addition)
 
I run an AGP card as i'm a bit old skool with my kit! It has DVI, S/Vid and VGA ports. Does this give potential for 3 or just 2? I know the S/Vid is probably only for a TV and i've heard the picture is gash.
 
Guys will older games like call of duty and the expansion United offensive run on dual moniters ?
 
Leeroy123 said:
I really dont know why people use more than 1 monitor! , what could i do extra if i got another monitor? ive never tried this and have no idea about it.
Click to expand...

Depends on the size and resolution of what you're using.

I don't need* a second monitor when I am at my desktop hooked up to the 24" Dell 2407WFP-HC. But at work, I can't manage with just the laptop's display (13"@ 1280x800) so I have a 17" HP LCD connected to the VGA port, with the desktop extended across the two. Makes working with documents much easier as I can open them side by side- one on each display.

* but I'd definitely like a second 24" LCD :D
 
Fell like ove had a limb removed at work cos im only on a single monitor. The moment you run anything full screen and have to alt-tab to see something else, thats the moment you need dual monitors.

To the OP - I think you can run 2 graphics cards independantly without the need for SLI. SLI limits you to only a single output anyway as far as i remember (i.e. 2 cards with 2 outputs each connected in SLI would only actually have one output). You could however run a second card to power other monitors.

Alternatively, you could use a tripple head to go thing that allows you to run 3 monitors off of one card. Effectively it tells the graphics card that you have say a 5040x1050 (3x22") monitor which it then displays as a single image, and then the device splits this over 3 seperate monitors.
 
Leeroy123 said:
I really dont know why people use more than 1 monitor! , what could i do extra if i got another monitor? ive never tried this and have no idea about it.
Click to expand...

Well I had a tv and then used that as my monitor (cost me £3 for an adapter) now I can watch tv on one monitor browse the forums on another.

When I game I can have my game loaded on one monitor then go to the other to webbrowse without having to minimize

For work I can have the documents on one monitor do research on the other.

If you have a spare monitor it's worth setting up dual monitors :P
 
I used to have two monitors and it was awesome. One monitor for a game and the other one to check tactics! You don't need SLi for 2 monitors.
 
dual monitors was the best thing i ever did, i could never go back to just one

im actually considering getting another and having 3

not for gaming, i still game on just the centre monitors
 
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