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Dual Monitors take more memory?

LeBlanc

Junior Member
I have a NVidia GeForce FX 5200 with two monitors. Does it take up more video memory to run both of the monitors? I am wondering if I can get better performance while playing games if I turn off the unused monitor, or would I have to unplug the monitor from the video card to get better performance?

Thanks for any advice,

Ian
 
Yes the second monitor's display takes memory but not much if it is just running the dsktop (2D not 3D). A 1280x1024 display uses 1.2 MB of video memory if not running a game.

So no, that extra 1.2 MB of memory will not make a real difference.

The fx5200 is just a very slow card for 3D games, if you need fast 3D you'll need to spend money ($100-200) on a faster card.
 
Originally posted by: Kensai
It takes a little bit extra, not that much though.
d'oh! yes, that's for 8-bit/256 color, 32-bit color would be 4.8 MB.

And the 6600GT is a great card, the Hot Deals forum might have a good deal on one or check at newegg.com. Be sure to buy an "AGP" card not "PCI-E" / "PCI-Express."
 
Oh, one more thing.......

I heard that my chipset only supports AGP 4x and not 8x. Does this mean that I have to get a video card that says 4x/8x on it?

And, I think my chipset is nvidia- does this mean that an nvidia board would be better than ATI on my system?
 
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