Dual Monitor Setup on a 6800GT

[Allen]

OK, setup as below:

XP-M 2500+ (2.2GHz)
1GB PC3200 Corsair RAM
DFI LanParty NFII Ultra B
XFX GeForce 6800GT (using 66.00 drivers at the mo, will update with next Windows re-install to latest drivers)
19" Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930sb
17" Dell (can't remember which)

OK, so I setup my system for dual monitor and it works fine as an extended desktop, but I can't use the 2nd monitor very well. Everything runs fine on the first monitor, but if I was to drag say PowerDVD over to the 2nd monitor, it would run very, very slow, like a slideshow.

I can play games full screen on the 1st monitor and have things open on the 2nd which can be helpful, but obviously, any interaction will cause the game to minimise.

Most people say something is setup wrong as they can run them fine, and I would love to watch DVD's on the 2nd monitor whilst doing other things on the first.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Butcher]

I've never been able to get stuff running fast on the second monitor by dragging, with any GFX card. I think it's a limitation of directx or the windows driver architecture. The only way I've seen to get things running fast on there is if the app is multi-monitor aware and starts up on the second monitor. Most aren't sadly.

[scotty6435]

I've got an aOpen 6800GT and it runs fine with a DVI and VGA dual TFT setup. I can run webpages etc on the first and DVDs/vids on the second with MSN. Games are a different matter though and although it's useful to see if people are logging in/out it does indeed minimise the game to interact.

You need the latest graphics drivers mate, no question. Also, if you haven't updated motherboard/sond drivers do that. I can drag WMP or powerDVD (version 5) accross with no problems, just a millisecond of slowdown. NOTE: I can't run video split accross the two screens in powerDVD.

[ANZAC_ELITE]

What Scotty says, what driver are you running? 66.00 ???? mate Noah used those on the ark, you don't need to wait until windows reinstall, just delete drivers from add/remove in control panel, run driver cleaner, then try the latest whql or if you're feeling adventurous try the 76.50, I have been running them for a month now with no problems. I have dual crt's on my Ultra (2x dvi adaptors) and everything runs fine on the second monitor. I am presuming you are using dual display in the nvidia control panel (if the 66.00's allow it, dunno I have never been that far back in history lol)


Update today

Cheers

[Allen]

Originally Posted by ANZAC_ELITE

What Scotty says, what driver are you running? 66.00 ???? mate Noah used those on the ark, you don't need to wait until windows reinstall, just delete drivers from add/remove in control panel, run driver cleaner, then try the latest whql or if you're feeling adventurous try the 76.50, I have been running them for a month now with no problems. I have dual crt's on my Ultra (2x dvi adaptors) and everything runs fine on the second monitor. I am presuming you are using dual display in the nvidia control panel (if the 66.00's allow it, dunno I have never been that far back in history lol)


Update today

Cheers

Easy mate, calm down!

I am using the 66.00's because they are well know for being stable over-clocking drivers, these one's were from some 3D site or something. It's been a long time since I was into overclocking and I never got round to replacing them coz they worked fine.

Anyway, I know you don't have to wait till a system re-install to update any drivers, but since I am going to very soon (to help other problems and coz it's LONG overdue) I thought I would just wait, rather than mess about removing drivers, cleaning up and installing new ones. Too messy, I have little time outside of WoW as it is!

[ANZAC_ELITE]

LMAO, I have recently lost a mate to WoW, never see him now. Totally addicted.

OK, you can get the 76.50 from guru3d downloads, it's stable, and a good overclocker to boot. (see sig)

Sorry if my post seemed to come on a bit strong

But I fall to perceive what your problem could be, I can drag any player to 2nd monitor and it runs fine, you might try holding shift key when you close your player on the 2nd monitor, that way it "should" open on the second monitor next time ergo negating the need to drag it there. I do get corruption and a short lag if a dvd/mpeg etc is running when I drag, but pause, drag, play fixes that. A long shot with the shift key but worth a try.

Another long shot, are your monitors running the same res / refresh rate? I don't see how it would really affect things as I can run them at disparate rates and all is fine, but you never know.

When you say "extended desktop" do you mean dual view or horizontal span??

the difference being, horizontal span is a stretched desktop, i.e. the taskbar extends across both monitors, dual view is two seperate but connected desktops, i.e. the taskbar is on the primary display only.

Cheers

[Butcher]

Just checked on this comp running 61.77 and a GF4 Ti4600 - can drag videos and games from monitor to monitor without slowdown. I have had issues with some things in the past, may have been due to older drivers or such though.