mkjaekmi

Hi, i'm thinking about buying another monitor for dual monitoring. A few questions I have to ask is, what do i need to connect the monitor?

Also, once it's all connected and I start to play a game, will the game be covered on both screen? If so that might be a bad idea don't you think?

pip1011261

You will need a graphics card supporting more than 1 monitor. All adaptors should come with the graphics card, if not just make sure youknow the plug types you need.

Read a few of the other multi monitor threads here and it will help answer some key points.

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sniperchang

Infact we were just talking about Spanning games in this thread

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Multi-display Q&A Thread

mkjaekmi

Seems everyone is confused.

What graphic card do I need to support multiple monitoring? will a certain graphic card only support dual? and certain graphic card only support trio?

Will the gt8800 support dual monitoring?

What happens when I play a game/ takes up both screens, correct?

sniperchang

Ok I'll explain.

Chances are that a gt8800 has dual-head (Two DVI connections) wich support dual-monitors. Infact most modern graphics card have dual-head. (Meaning two connections for monitors and support for dual-displays).

Unless you change settings with your graphics card's software, when you have a multi-display system, windows is extended to other monitors. If you go to Display properties (Assuming you have windows XP: Right-click on destop, properties, settings tab) you will see two (or more if you set-up for it) monitors which are numbered.

One of these monitors must be the "Primary Monitor" in which your full screen applications will run (So in this mode, you games do not expand on all monitors). Windows see the two screens as two screens. So your windows are not maximized to your entire desktop, but in the screen your window happens to be in. If you have any other questions just ask.

Now if you have monitors connected to a single card, chances are you can set them in SPAN mode. This mode makes windows believe that the monitors connected to the video card is one big screen. So in this case your games do take all screens, and maximized windows take the entire desktop like it truly was one big screen.

And then there's CLONE mode, which just copies the same desktop on both monitors (BORING!)

I hope that clears things up.

EDIT: Most cards support two monitors. Special card can support more. Or you can also install two graphics cards (Not in SLI or CROSSFIRE modes) to achieve multi-display capabilities.

By the way, multi-monitors is f*ck*ng awsome. Once you go multi, you'll never go back! Trust me!

__________________
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Skt939 Toledo @ 2.4Ghz
Motherboard: Asus A8V-E SE
VidCard(s): eVGA 7950GT DDR3 256MB PCI-E; eVGA 6200 PCI (Secondary)
Mem: Corsair 2x1 gb TWINX C2 PT XMS
HardDrive: Western Digital 8m Cache 250GB 7200RPM
Monitor(s): 2x CRT 17" Phillips 107B5/107T6 and LCD 22"wide Samsung 226BW (Triple Display)

Multi-display Q&A Thread

mkjaekmi

So let me clear this up a lil. If I have 2 monitors, I HAVE to make 1 as a priority correct? What happens if I don't?
Also, once I play a game, it'll only show up on my main screen correct? What happens If I scroll over to the next monitor?

Thank you

sniperchang

Windows automatically assigns one monitor as your primary monitor. This is the monitor in which full screen programs will appear. Most likely when you first plug both your monitors, only one will be active. If you go to display settings, you can activate your second monitor and/or set the second monitor as primary.

That won't happen.

Under normal circustance that is correct, unless you set your card to SPAN mode, then, if your game alows for widescreen gaming, it will stretch across the full array of monitors. A company that made a multi-display software has loads of information in this FAQ-> (click here for the different modes section of the FAQ)

If you scroll your mouse while in a full screen program (like a game), nothing will happen unless you click something. The game loses focus and minimizes. There's two things you can do about that. One thing is set your graphics card to SPAN mode like I was saying. Also, with a program called Ultramon (This program is very usefull for multi-monitor systems) You can set a shortcut to temporarily disable your second monitor if you click on it. (Some games your mouse won't escape to the other screen anyway, so it's not much to worry in that case)

For example if you play an old game like Starcraft, you need to be able to scroll by moving your mouse to the edges. But with a secondary monitor active you'll lose your mouse in the other screen. By setting the Starcraft shortcut to automatically disable that screen (thanks to Ultramon), this problem is eliminated. Then, when you exit Starcraft, Your second screen will automatically re-activate.

My pleasure! I love letting people know about the multi-display world

By the way the Ultramon (click here) program I was talking about can also add taskbars to other monitors (Windows doesn't), you can also manage your desktop image and screensavers properly in a multi-display configuration. It even adds usefull buttons to windows: One to move the windows to the next screen, and one to maximize window to the whole desktop.

__________________
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Skt939 Toledo @ 2.4Ghz
Motherboard: Asus A8V-E SE
VidCard(s): eVGA 7950GT DDR3 256MB PCI-E; eVGA 6200 PCI (Secondary)
Mem: Corsair 2x1 gb TWINX C2 PT XMS
HardDrive: Western Digital 8m Cache 250GB 7200RPM
Monitor(s): 2x CRT 17" Phillips 107B5/107T6 and LCD 22"wide Samsung 226BW (Triple Display)

Multi-display Q&A Thread

Marcuz

Cool, interesting! I am wondering does it might work if I play 2 accounts on MMORPG on Dual monitor or need 2 PC?

sniperchang

Well did you try doing that by running two MMORPG and just alt-tab with one monitor? It would be the same thing except you won't have to alt-tab...

__________________
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Skt939 Toledo @ 2.4Ghz
Motherboard: Asus A8V-E SE
VidCard(s): eVGA 7950GT DDR3 256MB PCI-E; eVGA 6200 PCI (Secondary)
Mem: Corsair 2x1 gb TWINX C2 PT XMS
HardDrive: Western Digital 8m Cache 250GB 7200RPM
Monitor(s): 2x CRT 17" Phillips 107B5/107T6 and LCD 22"wide Samsung 226BW (Triple Display)

Multi-display Q&A Thread

Marcuz

I did try that, but it made slow down black screen until pop up.

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