Dual Monitor setup question

[biohazard420420]

There is another thread with a similar topic but I don't want to "thread jack" since my questions are different than the one in the existing topic.

I want to run dual monitors on my new computer when I get it built, I do some gaming sometimes frequently sometimes not, as well as normal pc stuff email web surfing etc. I am looking to buy a fairly high end ATI card like an x1900xt or something close to that depends on whats in my price range when I acutally build my new rig. From what I understand since it has dual dvi output I can run monitors from the card. I will be running either 2 17" or 2 19" crt monitors on my new build. Please no "which is better" concerning either ati vs nvidia or crt vs lcd. I had used a dual monitor set up a few years ago, well about 4 to 6 years ago at a camp one summer, they had it set up so you could drag and drop windows, etc. from one monitor to the the other which is what I am going for. Here are the 2 questions I have:

First I have seen UltraMon mentioned a few places concerning multi mon set ups, will that let me just drag and drop windows from one monitor to the other like it is one giant desktop or do I even need that program.

And second, when I run games can I make it run on only one monitor? I have seen several posts about resolution differences between what the desktop is set and and what the game is set to causing the desktop to get shifted around. That is not a problem since I will most likely turn the second monitor off when I game as long as I don't have to go reset the desktop resolution when I stop gaming.

Thank you for your time and imput.

 

[I Saw OJ]

I use a dual monitor setup for WoW. My 22" widescreen is the "main" monitor as recognized by the computer. It has the desktop, taskbar and all that good stuff, also the game plays on this one. The other is a 19" monitor that acts as the secondary monitor, I can drag any window I want on to that monitor. I usually have WoW playing on the 22" and vent, EI, MSN and windows media player on the 19"

The two resolutions are completely different, the 22" is 1680x1050 and the 19" is 1280x1024. You just have to make sure windows recognizes your "main" monitor as the one you want to game with so their wont be any resolution issues.

 

[Skyguy]

I have the same setup, a 22" and a 19" LCD. No need to run UltraMon (though you can if you want for more powerful controls). Just go into your Advanced settings in your Display properties, identify which is your primary monitor, then click on the 2nd monitor and check "extend my desktop". And that's basically it. You can run each monitor at different resolutions if necessary. Ideally they're the same, but not needed.

Your 3D gaming apps will run on your primary monitor, and your 2nd monitor will still be visible. I do this ALL the time when gaming, my 22" is my primary, and my 19" is used for Teamspeak, Xfire, whatever else.

Outside of games, you can simply drag windows across the 2 monitors, maximize, whatever......just like it were one big monitor.

So you're good to go, it will do exactly what you describe without UltraMon....but you can use/buy it if you want. Not necessary though.

Good luck, I'll never to back to one monitor regardless of its size!

 

[Tifosi248F1]

I can't comment on how to go about running your setup specifically as I have no experience with ATIs multi-display abilities, but I might be able to shed some light on a few things. I use UltraMon, and no it isn't necessary to have. Your ATI drivers will most likely cover all the basics, I know my nVidia drivers let me throw windows from monitor to monitor and usually it saved which monitor you last opened and closed an app so it would open on that monitor again. All UltraMon does is add more options like having apps always load on a specific monitor, disabling one monitor when a certain app is running, etc. I use it to make sure my games always load on my CRT, saves me from having to worry about ghosting, native res issues and such on my LCD. I would advise seeing if ATI has a readme or something concerning the multi-monitor capabilities of their drivers/software and go from there. If you need more control over how things are handled, you can always look for a program like UltraMon. As for the difference in resolution going from desktop to game and back, it shouldn't cause any problems. You may notice the odd desktop on the second monitor like you said you read about in other posts, but everything should go back to normal as if you were using only one monitor. Hope I could be of help.

 

[letdown427]

I've used dual monitor on an ATI card (using it on nv card atm) and their drivers will do all you want, you have nothing to fear. Nothing you've mentioned in your first post needs to worry you, it will all work how you seem to want it to work without any special software.

A friend of mine has two monitors on an X1900XT, and it works fine. I've just been using 1680x1050 on one, and 1280x1024 on the other, just with Windows/nVidia software.

You'll hate single monitors after this, I promise, especially if you program