Dumb Questions about a Dual Monitor Setup...

[CrazyHelloDeli]

I just bought a Samsung 172X 17" LCD monitor with the intention of using it as a replacment gaming monitor for my Dell 19" P991 CRT. Ive been suffering from eyestrain and getting bad headaches reading text on CRT's regardless of refresh rate, and I think its just due to my 50 year old eyes. The Samsung is gorgeous and alot easier on the eyes when reading, but even with its 12ms response time I still get more bluring than I would have hoped in first person shooters(UT2K4 mainly). Which leads me to my questions:

If I hook up my Dell CRT to my 9700 Pro and go for a dual monitor setup, will I be able specify which monitor my games run on? For example, could I use my LCD for games that arent as quick, like RTS, and use the Dell for UT2K4?

Do the 9700 Pro drivers allow different refresh rates for different monitors, or is it one refresh rate used for both screens? What about different resolutions, like 1280x1024 on my LCD while running 1280x960 on my Dell?

Now I could just hook up my dell and see what it allows me to do, but my friend has it at the moment since his monitor died. I dont wanna gank it back from him unless it can do what I want. Thanks in advance.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: HelloDeli
If I hook up my Dell CRT to my 9700 Pro and go for a dual monitor setup, will I be able specify which monitor my games run on? For example, could I use my LCD for games that arent as quick, like RTS, and use the Dell for UT2K4?

I believe that fullscreen games (and anything using 3D acceleration/overlay, like DVD playback) will only run on your "primary" monitor. You can make either monitor the primary, but I'm not sure how easy it is to switch back and forth on the fly. I've also found that some games do not play well with a secondary monitor (or else something is out of whack in my configuration).

Do the 9700 Pro drivers allow different refresh rates for different monitors, or is it one refresh rate used for both screens? What about different resolutions, like 1280x1024 on my LCD while running 1280x960 on my Dell?

The two monitors are completely independent. You can set separate resolutions and refresh rates on each.