When plugging two monitors to a video card...

[Noema]

I own a 17" Viewsonic LCD and I'm about to purchase a 22" Viewsonic LCD. Obviously they have different native resolutions (1280x1024 and 1680x1050, respectively). I'd like to keep the Viewsonic and plug into my Video card to run a dual-monitor configuration and further boost my desktop realstate.

However...I've never done this before and have doubts...can each run at a separate resolution and still use them in the same desktop space?

And also...If I want to run a GPU intensive game...can I choose which monitor to run the game on? Is there a huge performance hit for running a game in one monitor while the other stays idle on the desktop?

My video card is a Geforce 7800GS 256MB AGP, with one DVI and one VGA output, BTW.

Thanks in advance!

 

[fastman]

Quick response; but I believe the video card software when enabled (dual monitor) will show the properties of each monitor and the capabilities you have to choose from.

 

[NatePo717]

Yes. I have a 7900GT and am currently running one at 1920X1080 and the other at 1680 X 1050 DVI/VGA respectively.

You should only really see a performance hit if you run a video or 3D application on the monitor you are not using as your primary while playing a game. Otherwise you may see a 2 or 3 FPS drop. Nothing you will really notice.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: NatePo717
Yes. I have a 7900GT and am currently running one at 1920X1080 and the other at 1680 X 1050 DVI/VGA respectively.

You should only really see a performance hit if you run a video or 3D application on the monitor you are not using as your primary while playing a game. Otherwise you may see a 2 or 3 FPS drop. Nothing you will really notice.

Excellent. I'm planning on using the 17" to play games at 1280x1024, since my current rig is not beefy enough to play new games at 1680x1050.

Thanks for the replies