Two mirrored monitors - double GPU load?

joxang · 2 May 2011 at 00:49

Interesting situation - say I have a 1080p monitor and a 1080p TV connected to a GPU using different outputs (say a DVI and an HDMI), and the displays are mirrored.

If I play a game while both displays are running so the gpu has to output the game via two separate ports...does this double load on the gpu (and half the frame rate)?

d_brennen · 2 May 2011 at 00:52

Wouldn't think so, the signal would just be sent to both

oliver2601 · 2 May 2011 at 05:55

brennen is right, the signal would just be sent to two different devices, while the GPU doesn't do any extra work.

Think of it this way, if you put two pizzas in the oven, it doesn't need to use any more energy than one. (or at least I hope it doesn't)

joxang · 2 May 2011 at 11:16

Cool - thought it wouldn't but had to make sure before I swapped my monitor for a 1080p one so I can mirror with my TV

.

Tomsk · 2 May 2011 at 11:31

oliver2601 said:
Think of it this way, if you put two pizzas in the oven, it doesn't need to use any more energy than one. (or at least I hope it doesn't)

Actually, cooking two pizzas would use more energy than one.

The graphics card would need more power as it now has to drive two monitors, but it only needs to create the image it's sending once. The extra power needed to drive two monitors is negligable compared to the power that the GPU is using.