Dual Monitor Gaming

[dylskee]

Hey guys, new to this multi monitor gaming and i'm in need of some help. I'm running two GTX 285s with two 22" wide screen monitors and I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit. The games I play the most are BF2 BF2142 and BF bad company2 and I was wondering how to extend them across my two lcds? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Yui]

1. Don't extend it to two displays (Crosshair will be in the middle of the monitor bezels).
2. You have to get the new generation GPUs from Nvidia or ATI to extend the display.
3. You have to have 3 monitors to fully optimize the experience.

[suiken_2mieu]

Well I don't ever recommended using even numbered displays, but there's a couple ways you can do it.

Try playing in windowed mode and use either you mouse, or something like ultramon to extend the window across the whole desktop.

You can try the new SoftTH (2.0), it automatically makes a configuration for your system.

You can install XP and use the SPAN mode on nVidia cards, but that seems like a hassle.

[BHawthorne]

There are 3 options:

#1: Revert back to XP. XP has horizontal-span mode.

#2: Buy a Matrox DH2G.

#3: Use SoftTH and set one of the outer displays to -1 in the config file.

The only one I'd really recommend is DH2G, because the other two options are really a bad compromise.

[tricky]

Get a third monitor! This way the center screen is the, well, er, center screen.

[thales100]

Get a third monitor!

this :wink:

[Delphium]

2. You have to get the new generation GPUs from Nvidia or ATI to extend the display.

No you dont, nvidia surround is backwards compatible with the GF200 series :) - however it is only enabled once you have 3 monitors hooked up to your cards in a SLI configuration.

+1 to an extra monitor... depending on what you get, you can often pick up a cheapish monitor for roughly the same price as a Matrox DH2G (currently around £115).

[BHawthorne]

+1 to an extra monitor... depending on what you get, you can often pick up a cheapish monitor for roughly the same price as a Matrox DH2G (currently around £115).

Very true. If I already had 2 matching LCDs and my option was get display #3 or a DH2G I'd get display #3. This would only be my pick though if I had a 200 or 400-series nVidia card though.

Really, dual-screen gaming is a PITA. Your center view is cut down the middle. It's why people always game with odd number of displays....1, 3 or 5. Just as some of the posts mention, there are ways to do dual-screen gaming, but no matter what you do, there are downsides.

[suiken_2mieu]

[quote]+1 to an extra monitor... depending on what you get, you can often pick up a cheapish monitor for roughly the same price as a Matrox DH2G (currently around £115).

Very true. If I already had 2 matching LCDs and my option was get display #3 or a DH2G I'd get display #3. This would only be my pick though if I had a 200 or 400-series nVidia card though.

Really, dual-screen gaming is a PITA. Your center view is cut down the middle. It's why people always game with odd number of displays....1, 3 or 5. Just as some of the posts mention, there are ways to do dual-screen gaming, but no matter what you do, there are downsides.
Not unless you use matching projectors, where the only downside is dealing with projectors.

[dylskee]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I appreciate it. Looks like I'll go the 3rd monitor route when I get a few extra bucks.