Seeking Advice on Dual Monitor or Widescreen

[Hylander]

I know this is a topic discussed rather often and I did read many of the threads, but I was hoping to get some more input to help with a decision I've been researching for a few weeks now.

Just a little background on my primary system:

* Windows XP Professional
* Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz
* ASUS P4P800 Deluxe 865PE motherboard
* 2048mb (4 X 512) PC3200 Crucial DDR
* ATI X800 XT All-In-Wonder 256mb DDR3 AGP Video Card
* Viewsonic Professional Series P95f+ Monitor (1024x768.32)
* Gateway EV700 CRT (1024x768.32)
* DirecTV D10-300 Receiver (S-Video)

I currently have a dual monitor setup, but they are not side by side as I have the EV700 CRT on a shelf to the left and above about 11 o'clock. I generally use it to put the DirecTV Video on while I work on my primary monitor.

What I'm looking to do is either upgrade my monitor to a widescreen format LCD or go dual 19in LCD. I've looked at the Dell 24in LCD, an ASUS 24in LCD, the Gateway 21" Widescreen, etc. I've worn out the newegg.com search engine! I "think" I've narrowed my decision down to either the new Gateway FPD2185W 21" Widescreen or Two Viewsonic VA902b Black 19" 8ms LCDs. Both of these solutions will run about the same price, give or take a few bucks. Although If I go with the 2 Viewsonics, I'll probably add two VESA mounting arms.

I do a little of everything on my PC. I game (BF2, CivIV, Madden 2006, COD2, Racing Sims (rFactor and GT Legends), HL2, etc) and I also do alot of work type activities such as Quicken, Stock Trading, MS Office, etc. Additionally, I do 'some' video and image editing and of course I watch my DirecTV feed which I have coming into my ATI X800XT AIW using the S-Video connection.

I seem to be stuck on which direction I should go. Here are some of my questions and thoughts and what I'm hoping to get some feedback on:

1) If I go widescreen, will my system be able to keep up with the gaming demands of a resolution that high in widescreen? I don't have the most cutting edge PC out there and I probably won't be upgrading until after VISTA (2006, 2007, 2008? <G> ). It holds its own with the games I mentioned above but I generally play at 1024X768 with eye candy cranked. I do realize that many games don't support the higher resolutions as well. At the resolution of the Gateway(1680X1050), will the stretching be that horrible?

2) If I go 2 Viewsonic LCDs, I can mount them on two arms. That way I can set them up next to eachother, but for gaming I could swing one to the side, and center the primary so I could game at the 1280X1024 native resolution which my current system could probably handle much better.

3) Its not a 'major' consideration, but I do like that I could swivel the Gateway 180 degrees for vertical requirements if needed. Additionally, I could plug my DirectTV feed directly into it (this thing has multiple connections: DVI-D, DVD-D, Composite, S-Video, Component, etc... although this would eliminate my ability to record using the ATI Recorder most likely. The monitor also supports HDCP Video Content Encryption Chip items (Which is lame, but who knows - could be handy down the line with VISTA). I may be upgrading to HD DirecTV in the near future as well - but I'm not 100% certain on that yet.

So, I believe that pretty much summarizes what I'm considering and I'm pretty much split 50/50 on which way to go. I've received about equal advice on both sides of the isle, so any personal experiences that may relate would be greatly appreciated. Every time I think that going dual is the right move because of my varied activities I use my PC for.... I find another reason to like the Gateway monitor. My wife keeps asking me what I'm going to do with all these monitors and I remind her that we have the 2nd PC plus our personal File/FTP server with the KVM switch. I'll think of something.

Thanks in advance for any advice and/or guidance. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[fbrdphreak]

One note: I never liked ATI's implementation of multiple monitors, NVIDIA's has always been better IMO. That may affect your decision right there.

Personally I say get two 2005FPW's. I have a single 2005 and it is nice, but I find myself wishing it were a little higher DPI. Also, the more and more I think about it, I would have to have two side by side so I can work on one, watch a video on the other or run a game on the other. I'm not entirely sure how the system will handle playing a game while displaying the Windows desktop on the other monitor, or even if that's possible, but it sure would be fun.

Keep in mind if you get a higher resolution LCD, like the 2005 or bigger monitor, you will feel the age of your graphics card even more. My 7800GT is enough to run just about every game out there @ 1680x1050 with some/all eye candy turned up depending on the game. I'm sorry to say your X800XT AIW will not. For your needs, sticking with two 19" might be better so as to stay happy with the rest of your rig; but ideally (at least from my perspective) two 2005FPW's makes sense to me

 

[n7]

I've used dual displays quite a bit with nVidia & ATi cards, & for me anyway, both worked alright.
I normally don't recommend dual displays over a single larger display, but since it sounds like you don't plan to upgrade your video card any time soon, i think running the two 19" LCDs might work better for games, since your card can handle that resolution well.

I can say that the Gateway is very nice, as i've used it at work.
I guess a lot of people are complaining it make a buzzing sound though, so that's not ideal i guess.

For your situation, i'd suggest the dual 19".
In like 90% of other situations, i wouldn't though.

 

[rgardner]

I was dual: 19" Sony normal + 23" Apple widescreen

I ended up getting rid of the sony due to constant headaches from looking back and forth between the two ...

If you want to go with 2 monitors, match them *exactly* to avoid eye problems.

Another thing I will note, with the 23" monitor right in front of me (keeping in mind that it is as wide as your keyboard!) putting another monitor off to the side is a LOT of real estate unless you have a wraparound type desk and you will end up with a sore neck looking off to the side all the time.

It sounds cool, but in practice all I ever did was pull stuff over onto the 1 that was in front of me directly ... typing while having your head turned off to the side all the time ends up being painful.

This is one of those practical issues, not a technical one.

 

[Hylander]

Thanks for the input. A follow-up question. In a dual-monitor setup, what kind of overhead does it put on the video card if you have a game running in your primary monitor and the second one is displaying the desktop? If you have the 2nd desktop showing with something like Ventrilo and/or Trillian Pro running... it's not that much of an overhead on the video card is it? I realize there is a small footprint in terms of system memory - but is it "significant" enough to affect your gaming experience?

I ask this after running a dual-monitor system for well over a year but I've never tested FPS with Fraps or anything with one monitor disabled/disconnected.