Hi Guys (and gals if there are any here
)
I missed you all while I was away, but now I'm back and ready to rip. My wife and I had a really good time out on Vancouver Island. We also made a circuit of a few relatives on the way out, "killing many birds with one stone", so to speak.
Anyway, in response to the question about dual monitor video cards, there are likely many that you could choose from. I seldom buy top of the line hardware when it is first released because I feel it is a poor investment, but if you buy 2nd or 3rd older generation, that seems to be a good balance of dollars with functionality.
I am also a bit of a FPS gamer (FPS="first person shooter" for those who are not initiated), so I always appreciate a video card that can run a fancy game at a decent framerate.
Since ATI seems to be really kicking butt with new fast video and excellent video driver support, it was a no-brainer to go with an ATI card. I picked the 128meg R9500Pro. This was about $185USD back when I bought one off an Ebay seller, but I don't want to know what you can get them for now
The real top of the line is R9700 or R9800 now, but they are still quite expensive. I'll maybe look at getting one of these eventually, after the prices have tumbled a bit more.
But a lesser card will also serve, although I can notice the difference in redraw speed sometimes. I have a second computer with an ATI Radeon 7000 series, which is now quite an ancient card, but it had dual monitor support.
There is a difference between the ways that the older dual monitor cards run with windows, compared to the newer ones. The R7000 requires Hydravision software to divide your screen properly, and to recall your favourite settings for window positions for a particular app. Your desktop actually gets stretched across the two monitors, and most apps would otherwise run in this stretched mode. This is annoying because it puts the center of your window right at the left and right edges of your adjacent monitors. Hence, Hydravision is used to remember your resized windows, which you drag around and make fit your monitors properly.
The newer cards, like the R9500, behave a bit differently, and automatically direct the app to open on one monitor or the other, no additional software required. In fact, Hydravision will not work, and will give you an error if you attempt to use it in such instances.