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This is less of a question, and more of an observation.
I run (as I've said quite a few times; I should put it in my sig...) a ViewSonic VX2025wm alongside a Samsung SyncMaster 997MB CRT. I've noticed something that seems a bit odd, but should be noted to others getting into the dual-monitor 'scene.'
In most games, running dual monitors while gaming on one harbors no performance penalty for the game. Perhaps a small amount, but nothing worth noting. A great example is World of Warcraft, which I used to have going on my main screen, with a browser or iTunes going on the other. It worked wonderfully, and was just a useful setup on the whole.
However, this is not the case for all games! Take Quake 4, for example. Since incorporating dual monitors, I've been suffering 15-20 FPS in it, whereas with a single I averaged 45-50. This is, of course, a huge performance drop, and for a while I just couldn't figure out what the problem was. Trying different driver installations, reformatting and reinstalling WinXP twice, tweaking, and overclocking, I just couldn't get my old framerates back. It even got to the point that I decided I must have been remembering wrong, and that I should just look into upgrading my hardware!
Finally it dawned on me, what if some games are affected by having two monitors running, and some aren't? Thus I temporarily disabled my secondary monitor, fired up Quake 4, and, lo and behold, the game's playable again! Same deal with the nVidia tech demos. Programs that I once thought I just couldn't play at all, were suddenly fixed and operating flawlessly.
Hence, if you have poor framerates in games, make sure to try disabling your secondary monitor! It can make all the difference at times.
I run (as I've said quite a few times; I should put it in my sig...) a ViewSonic VX2025wm alongside a Samsung SyncMaster 997MB CRT. I've noticed something that seems a bit odd, but should be noted to others getting into the dual-monitor 'scene.'
In most games, running dual monitors while gaming on one harbors no performance penalty for the game. Perhaps a small amount, but nothing worth noting. A great example is World of Warcraft, which I used to have going on my main screen, with a browser or iTunes going on the other. It worked wonderfully, and was just a useful setup on the whole.
However, this is not the case for all games! Take Quake 4, for example. Since incorporating dual monitors, I've been suffering 15-20 FPS in it, whereas with a single I averaged 45-50. This is, of course, a huge performance drop, and for a while I just couldn't figure out what the problem was. Trying different driver installations, reformatting and reinstalling WinXP twice, tweaking, and overclocking, I just couldn't get my old framerates back. It even got to the point that I decided I must have been remembering wrong, and that I should just look into upgrading my hardware!
Finally it dawned on me, what if some games are affected by having two monitors running, and some aren't? Thus I temporarily disabled my secondary monitor, fired up Quake 4, and, lo and behold, the game's playable again! Same deal with the nVidia tech demos. Programs that I once thought I just couldn't play at all, were suddenly fixed and operating flawlessly.
Hence, if you have poor framerates in games, make sure to try disabling your secondary monitor! It can make all the difference at times.