New monitor. . .what should I do?
|
|
Lindal Kidd
Dances With Noobs
Join date: 26 Jun 2007
Posts: 8,371
|
05-18-2009 08:34
From: DancesWithRobots Soyer Ok. . .so I'm leaning towards the twin 22's. But I wonder how my single video card, which currently handles SL running balls to the wall, will handle the more than double the pixels. Granted, most of the action is going to be on the SL screen.
I KNEW I should have held out for a 280. I have a system similar to yours. Single video card, NVIDIA 260, I think. Dual 24" Dell monitors. I normally run SL on one monitor, and use the other for Photoshop or my web browser. However, I can stretch SL onto the second monitor just fine. I'm going to go against the crowd, though, even though I *have* dual monitors. If I were to have a machine built ONLY for an optimized SL experience, I'd go with a single 30 or 32" monitor.
_____________________
It's still My World and My Imagination! So there.
Lindal Kidd
|
|
RemacuTetigisti Quandry
Diogenes Group
Join date: 3 Jun 2008
Posts: 99
|
05-18-2009 10:05
From: Void Singer you don't have to run them in SLI mode though, so it IS switchable (although there were supposed to be some third party drivers that enabled dual monitors for Dual SLI under XP but I haven't looked at it till the new 280 gets bought.) Again, I *am* running dual monitors on this system, but not in SLI mode (I've been doing so since I first got this machine a year or two ago) . . . and I do switch to running SLI on a single monitor, especially when I'm playing games like Half Life 2. It's a nuisance. I really had hoped to be able to consistently operate in SLI mode and not have to do any switching at all. So I am interested in hearing more about those third party drivers you mention. If you can remember who's developing them, please let me know. Meanwhile, I'll do a google search to see what I can scare up myself. From: Void Singer so the scenaro is that you could run them separate, with two cards (one on each) and then switch on SLI for single monitor for apps that make use of the SLI support Actually, according to the documentation, both monitors have to be on one card, even though this is a two-card setup.
_____________________
--- Rema 
|
|
RemacuTetigisti Quandry
Diogenes Group
Join date: 3 Jun 2008
Posts: 99
|
05-18-2009 10:07
I have the word from nVidia support . . . and I quote: "Thank you for contacting NVIDIA Customer Care. I apologize however NVIDIA's SLI Multi-monitor technology is only supported under Windows Vista and Windows 7. Due to to the Windows display driver model for Windows XP, it was not possible to bring this feature to Windows XP users." Sometimes I really hate being right. 
_____________________
--- Rema
|
|
Chosen Few
Alpha Channel Slave
Join date: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 7,496
|
05-18-2009 13:01
I didn't realize dual monitor support had been added to SLI at all. Thanks for the heads up, guys. This is exciting.
_____________________
.
Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.
|
|
Void Singer
Int vSelf = Sing(void);
Join date: 24 Sep 2005
Posts: 6,973
|
05-19-2009 00:04
was in october of last year when I got the new machine, it may have only been rumor but people were wondering why the new 180 drivers wouldn't support XP for dual monitor in SLI and what could be done to tackle that. I hadn't really looked since nov? maybe no one took a look at it.
_____________________
| | . "Cat-Like Typing Detected" | . This post may contain errors in logic, spelling, and | . grammar known to the SL populace to cause confusion | | - Please Use PHP tags when posting scripts/code, Thanks. | - Can't See PHP or URL Tags Correctly? Check Out This Link... | - 
|
|
Tod69 Talamasca
The Human Tripod ;)
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 4,107
|
05-19-2009 04:20
22" widescreen LCD FTW!!! And my Nvidia GTX275 runs FRICKIN SWEET!!!!  I "sort of" run Dual Monitors. When I replaced the 20" color TV on my desk with a 22" LCD TV, the 19" Dell CRT just didnt fit in so it was replaced by an LCD. Got em both hooked to the video card
_____________________
really pissy & mean right now and NOT happy with Life.
|
|
Feline Slade
Hatstand 2.0™
Join date: 19 May 2007
Posts: 201
|
05-19-2009 04:39
From: Shirley Marquez Maybe you should buy a new 22" or 25" and keep the 19" as a second display; you don't have to have two matching monitors. When my 20" widescreen monitor died a few weeks ago (rest its pixel soul after all the hours we spent together!), I replaced it with a 22" and a 19". I got a good deal on a nicer-quality 19" than the 22", so I jumped on it. And I'm sorry I did. I wish I had bought two 22" monitors instead. Not for the space, but because certain things -- like a single desktop image -- won't span two monitors that have different resolutions. And to optimize performance, a 19" widescreen and a 22" widescreen need different resolution settings. So I recommend factoring in two monitors that will run the same resolution. I find that SL runs well on the primary monitor but develops an unhealthy flicker if I try to span monitors. Normally that's when I drag the window out of the way to get to something on my desktop and, out of habit, move it so that it sticks into the second monitor. The flicker may be the result of the two resolutions of the monitors, I'm unsure. The only downside to me of my larger monitor is actually that it doesn't have as much clearance on the desk, which means that any clutter there (read: sleeping or bathing cats) tend to interfere with my view of the lower portion of the monitor. My PC speakers are currently laying down because the two monitors span the whole smallish desk, leaving is nowhere to put them that isn't in front of the monitors.
_____________________
Forum Cartel inworld events calendar: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=forumcartel%40gmail.com
Send me a PM here or IM inworld to get write access to add events or to have your events added.
|