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GTS 8800 and 2 Monitors

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Hi,

I am currently running 2 monitors (span mode) on my GTS 8800 640 MB video card and I am noticing some real sluggish performance when running a game on one monitor and a movie or other graphic involved program (ex. itunes visualizer) on the other monitor. If I turn down the game settings it helps but I didnt really want that to be the solution. I have both 22 inch monitors running at the same resolution, I have a Core Duo cpu, and 4 gb of RAM.

I'm assuming it's my video card that cant keep up with the load but I wanted to get some feedback. If it is my video card, any suggestions on cards that can go "all out" handling graphics intensive stuff on a dual monitor set-up?

I was thinking of just using two video cards but searching the forums, it didnt seem like that really works well.

Thanks for your help!!

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I have an Intel Core2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz I wasnt sure if that also might be the issue. But before spending all sorts of money on upgrades, I thought it was best to get some input from others.
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Graphics card Authority
Monitor Expert

yea overclock the cpu
the higher resolution requires more cpu usage, and you have two monitors so I think it's more of cpu bottleneck than the card since itunes is not graphically intensive :) 

ok, thank you. Would a quad core cpu at the same speed (2.4 ghz) make a difference or is it the actual processing speed that would cause the problem? In which case oc'ing it would possibly solve the issue in either scenario...

Also, when I go in to the BIOS to overclock, is there anything specific I need to know so I don't cause any damage?
Graphics card Authority
Monitor Expert

When you overclock you should start off with better cooler.\

Aftermarket cooler keep the overclocked chip cooler thus extending its lifespan, well its more about the core speed in your situation since your playing games then the count of cores (I have q6600@3.4ghz)

So don't overclock until you get a aftermarket heatsink. After that you should overclock it to 3.4ghz and I will help you with that.

Actually, it's more about number of cores than clock rate, since what you're doing is basically multitasking. The game runs fine when nothing else is running. Of course, ocing will still help. But before that, open up task manager and see if cpu utilization reach 100%.

Yeah, the game runs great by itself. When I have only one monitor enabled, I can have the game running with all settings turned up, have a web browser open, and have itunes streaming radio going... Of course, I have to hit the Windows button if I wanted to switch between programs whether to do a quick web search or change the radio station but no problems...

It's once I enable that second monitor and run my PC TV or have a DVD playing while I game playing that causes the slow down.

I did do a task manager check one time and saw the cpu pushing close to the max but I wasnt able to determine if it was both cpus at the max or just one.

Oh... and one more item to mention... yes, itunes (the program) itself isnt graphics intensive but if you have the visualizer running it can be... When I have the itunes program running on the second monitor there is no problem but once I turn on the visualizer (which is very cool!!) it sucks the energy from game playing.
Graphics card Master
Monitor Expert

Your original post has the clue, I think. If you lower the graphics settings, things get better. I would conclude from that that the vga card is at least a factor. If you have the capability to install a second vga card that will do DVD's well, you will certainly help the situation. I don't know why you get the idea that a second card would hurt. You may be thinking about sli which does not handle dual monitors.

To check on the possibility that the cpu is contributing. open up the task monitor and see how busy the cpu is when gaming alone, and also while running the video. If you see both cores above 65%, then a faster cpu would help. Unless the game uses more than one core, I doubt that a quad would help.

Yeah I originally thought popping in a second video card would solve my problem but I've been reading that if you run 2 monitors, each on separate video cards, that you can't expand the desktop to the other monitor. If that is the case, I'm not sure how I would access all of my programs to send them over to the other monitor.

I will check my task manager tonight
Graphics card Master
Monitor Expert

super11074 said:
Yeah I originally thought popping in a second video card would solve my problem but I've been reading that if you run 2 monitors, each on separate video cards, that you can't expand the desktop to the other monitor. If that is the case, I'm not sure how I would access all of my programs to send them over to the other monitor.

I will check my task manager tonight


I have considered doing this, when I next upgrade. Can you point me to where you saw that discussion? If there is a problem, I want to know about it now. In the past I used a second pci video card to power three monitors, and I don't recall any problems. I think the rule is that all the video cards must be supported by the same driver.
Most of the discussions I see are related to using two vga cards in sli/crossfire, not two independent video cards, and two independent monitors.

Ok, I have both monitors up and running the following:

Monitor 1:
City of Heroes (Idle at the moment)
Web Browser

Monitor 2:
PC TV program
Windows Task Manager

CPU usage is listed at 100%. PF usage is 2.36 GB I also open my nvidia monitorview and GPU is running at 65 degrees but does not specifically state a usage %. From the graph, it looks like 3/4 of the power is being used. If I start playing the game it will be slightly sluggish but still playable... So, what do you think? CPU processor speed?

Oh I forget to mention that both cpu usage graphs are top lining so yea it looks like it is the processor speed. So wouldnt a quad core solve tihs problem? My pc is not crashing so I also question the cpu usage being at 100%
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