Multiple Monitors & Gaming

The 2nd screen will not go blank it will (depending on they way you are using it in your OS) usually it'll continue to show an extension of your desktop even while playing a full screen game on the main monitor. So for you, leaving up your IM windows and other misc browsers will be useful as you can see the persistent incoming IM's or read from a forum while still playing. Only thing is to actually go over and type replies or scroll down etc. you will have to 'alt+tab' out of your game. Which will minimize your game to allow you onto both screen's desktop areas. 2 screens is nice, but huge advantages aren't there for me. I use a laptop next to me for small things like IM, guides, vent so that I can manipulate them and play without having to alt+tab all the time. As for performance running 2 monitors isn't a huge strain unless your doing 3d graphics on both monitors. Back in my WoW days I had been known to run at least 2 instances of the game from time to time and you will see large drops in performance there. But browser windows and IM chat will be very negligible.

no your mouse is locked in the current screen when your playing fullscreen games. Until you alt+tab