2 Screens Or One?

[azyreangel]

my dad has said he will pay £200 for a monitor for me when i get my new pc. All good.

But, seeing as i cant get a decent 19" screen near 200 which i am happy with, i am thinking about getting 2 17" screens and using them.

They cost around £130 inc. VAT but my dad can get them exclusing for his business. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo...roductID=478288

Currently i am getting an http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111198

can i use two screens with this Graphics card or will i have to get an SLI setup?

If i did, i would get two of these cards since they are such good value. They seem to be good enough to run any game at 1280*1024 full settings.

If i didn't have to buy two cards i might buy a better card, in the £200 range to use for both screens. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....rodid=GX-067-HT

My main reasoning for getting two screens is for gaming on one, and browsing the internet on the other. If anyone can suggest a good 19" or 20.1" screen that is around £200, then please do.

So, in total i have a few options:

2 Screens, 2 Graphics Cards

2 Screens, 1 Graphics Card

2 Screens, 1 Better Graphics Card

1 Better Screen, 1 Better Graphics Card.

Opinions please ^^

 

[strangestranger]

the 17" and 19" both have the same resolution so apart from size you won't fit anymore info on the 19" than the 17".

also, that gfx card will allow 2 monitors connected at the same time. i shouldn't think have a 2-d picture on one would affect the performance in games.

ironically, with SLI you cannot use 2 monitors at the same time as both cards are used for producing and image on one so if you had 2 gfx card you would have to diable SLI to use 2 monitors.

an interesting seetup choice but if you want to view a forum like this or watch out for messages and play at the same time without alt tabbing it should work fine. hell, if you use an extended desktop and use a windowed game you wouldn't even have to close the game to surf, may be wrong though as i don't ahve too much experiecen with that kind of setup.

 

[azyreangel]

sorry for the bump, i still think its relevant.

I've seen setups where people have been using both screens at once, with a game maximised (not windowed) and browsing sites and stuff as well. Of course, this could be me being stupid.

One thing i could do is connect my existing laptop up to an old CRT, and use that....but that would mean having 2 keyboard+mouses on my desk.

The debate goes on....

 

[strangestranger]

well, unless i get proven wrong it is impossible to maximise something and use the screen for anything else.

by maximised what do mean?

 

[azyreangel]

might there be a hack or something for winodws to stop that?

 

[stefx]

yep, AFAIK game has to be windowed if you want to use the other screen at the same time.

I'd go for the 19". 17" is too small