2 LCD's: One video card only, or add a 2nd PCI card?

[virkelie]

I have a P4 3.4GHz EE, 2GB memory, winXP (SP-2), with the ATI x800xt PCIe video card.

The video card has 1 DVI and 1 VGA output.

My current LCD is connected via DVI.

I intend on buying a second LCD for a dual monitor set-up - which means I could only use a VGA connection.

Which is better - to use the VGA connection from my current video card for the second LCD, or to purchase a 2nd video card with a DVI connector ?

This 2nd video card would have to be a regular PCI slot card (my computer has 1 PCI express, and the rest are plain PCI slots) - so this second card would be an inferior card.

In other words, will the picture quality in the second LCD be better with a VGA connection from a superior card (x800xt), or would the picture quality be better using a DVI connection from a second but inferior PCI card (eg ATI 9200 128mb)?

Thanks.

 

[elecrzy]

Use the VGA connection for the 2nd LCD. The image quality difference between DVI and VGA is negligible.

 

[virkelie]

Using only one video card for 2 monitors - would that slow down my system?

The reason I ask is that it is advised to disable the second monitor in a dual setup, if you are going to play games.