Best way to connect a GPU with a TV and Monitor Interchangeably

[Mandini]

Hello,

I've recently added a girlfriend to my living room, and I'm having issues with sharing the TV screen on which my PC is currently connected; hence, I took out my trusty PC monitor and set it at close proximity.

Now I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to connect my GPU (GTX 970 ftw) with both devices (monitor and TV) without having to switch cords all the time.

I should note that the two will probably not be used simultaneously, but interchangeably (as the TV screen is usually used only to watch movies and the PC for gaming/surfing).

I was thinking of connecting the TV through the GPU's HDMI port, and buying a displayport cable to connect the PC monitor through the displayport; however, I'm not sure on whether the GPU would have an issue with constantly having both ports connected while only one port is used at a time. Or if both devices are used simultaneously what would happen.

Any help/ideas would be great!

 

[-Fran-]

Like you said, leave the HDMI for the TV, since it's the easiest to find in every TV out there.

Depending on the Monitor you buy, DisplayPort and DVI are the best options you have.

Once you have that settled, the "switching" is trivial. You can do it from the "Screen Resolution" menu you get right clicking on your Windows Desktop. This works in Windows 7 at least. If you're using Windows 10/8, I don't know what is the equivalent. The second option is through the GPU drivers. You have nVidia, so I don't recall by memory where it is, but it shouldn't be that hard to find. Beware some TVs with nVidia can't be plugged on the fly, so you might have to restart if the TV is not recognized right away.

Cheers!