can i have dual monitors?

[ScreamingJesus]

umm k probably a dumb question but i can't figure it out...
right now my video card is a x800xl. I've got a crt monitor, but I also got a 19" proview hdtv for my xbox a while back. I barely play the xbox anymore, so I'm wondering how I would go about setting up this tv with my computer..and would I be able to have dual monitors like 2 different things goin on at once or would it only be able to display whatever is on my monitor on the tv as well? (like i saw my friend do, he was playing cs on his comp and hooked it up so it was on his tv but he wasn't able to run 2 seperate things it was just him playing cs on the tv as well)

thanks.

 

[alaricljs]

If you want to be playing games and displaying something else on the 2nd monitor you're gonna suffer a big performance hit. Other than that it's as easy as hooking the 2nd screen to the 2nd output of your card. The only issue being whether your TV can accept that input format.

 

[zylander]

Originally posted by: alaricljs
If you want to be playing games and displaying something else on the 2nd monitor you're gonna suffer a big performance hit. Other than that it's as easy as hooking the 2nd screen to the 2nd output of your card. The only issue being whether your TV can accept that input format.

Thats only if your card is a dual headed card. If not, you need to use a program like Ultramon to enable the second monitor and configure it. You can use nvidias nview with newer nvidia cards, I dont know what the ATI equivalent is though.

You can play a game on one and display something, like a window on the second. But you wont be able to run a game on one and like a vide on the other. You also cant switch back and forth while playing a game because one you switch the second monitor the game will minimize.