Dual monitor gaming

[strife1013]

Hey guys, I've been away for awhile. I just recently built a new computer and set it up using a dual monitor system. I am looking to set it up where I can play games using both monitors in SLI mode. I have only been able to play a game in windows mode and have the other screen available for other window based applications. I have each monitor plugged into the first video card, one HDMI to mini HDMI and the second HDMI to DVI. I am unable to span games across both monitors. I have tried Shogun 2, Mass Effect 2, Medieval Total War 2, and Dragon Age 1 & 2 and of course Stainless Steel 4.3. Anyone have any suggestions? I am about to give up on tackling this issue.

System Specs:
Case: Antec 1200 V3
Monitor: Samsung S27A550H 27" x2 (Dual Monitor)
MB: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe B3
CPU: Intel i7 2600k 3.4GHz (OC'd @ 4.4GHz) & Corsair Hydro H60 CPU Cooler
HD: Crucial C300 128GB SSD (System) & WD Caviar 1TB 7200RPM x 2 (Storage)
GPU: EVGA 460GTX 1GB SC EE X2 SLI
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600MHz
PSU: Corsair 850HX
Sound Card: HT Omega Claro Plus+
Speakers: Logitech 5.1 X-530
DVD Burner: ASUS DRW-24B1ST
Blu-Ray Burner: ASUS BW-12B1LT
OS: Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

[Ichon]

Not many games support dual monitors and even those that do don't work very well. I've gotten Oblivion and Supreme Commander to work in Win 7 without anything extra but if you really want to use 2 monitors that large with games that don't natively support dual monitors you can try this...

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/pr...ctTabs=1#specs

The display port is probably the best option though you'd need to buy adapters as well. It'll cost you around $200 US for the adapters and the Matrox at the best prices I've seen. I've been thinking about getting 1 myself but not really sure I need that much space for a game. I have 2 monitors setup now with SS in windowed mode and running desktop on the other which means I can watch Netflix or do something else while just by moving mouse over to the right off the SS screen onto desktop.

[Andytheplatypus]

I tried dual moniters with M2tw before. Didnt work out that great.

[strife1013]

Ichon
I'm starting to think dual monitor isn't really worth it in gaming after doing some thinking and reading, having that extra window open to check email and stuff while waiting for turns or battles is a very nice option. One more question, I run sli and was wondering since I am not not going to run dual monitor gaming but will have two monitors running at the same time should I have each monitor hooked up to each video card instead of having two monitors hooked up to one card. As I have It right now I have hdmi to mini hdmi and hdmi to dvi, would be better to have hdmi to mini hdmi for each card, I think ill change it when I get home to each monitor running on each video card.

[Ichon]

You have 2 27' monitors so it would probably be better to run 1 each from a card since the resolution there is fairly high. Frame rate wise I don't know if it will make much difference if you had nicely scaled SLI cards but it should be easier on your hardware.

There are very few games that having 2 monitors is an advantage. Its too much screen. Easy to get information overload. I've found for shooters that I do best at 800x600 because it is easier to aim and pay attention to what is nearby. With a good mouse and speakers you can use the audio clues and do snap turns and get better ratios. Sometimes I still turn it up to max res just for the visual but if I'm playing multi I usually turn down the graphics.

Most of the time I prefer split screen dual mode but SS works well with stretched desktop. Have SS in left side of screen monitor and have something else running on the right. Drag mouse off of SS onto the right part of the desktop and then back on and it works no problem. I did change hotkeys because with left side of the monitor with no edge moving the view around requires keyboard but that is much easier to use in battles as well anyway. I just mapped W- up, Q- rotate left, E rotate right, S- down, mouse scroll to height, etc.

I also use KVM to go to a 2nd computer that is only for certain applications and SS will experience fatal graphics error if the res between the desktops is set differently and SS is on top. If you ALT TAB SS beneath a browser or even open system Window then its fine.