doug2507

iTrader: (6)

Hi,

I've finally decided on the spec of my new lappy and after doing lots of research on the net i'm gonna go for an X2 4800 instead of the FX57. I think in the long run the dual will pay off and the benefit of the FX57 being better for games is more marginal than i thought. Infact, a dual 4800 will give a higher fps on quake than the FX57.

I was wandering if it would be possible to run an additional monitor with it? I know i can plug in an external but i want to know if i'll be able to run 2 programmes on 2 screens. I.e. a game/dvd etc on one screen, and itunes/norton etc. I thought it might be possible since the X2 will run a prog on each processor. Am i barking?

Cheers,
Doug.

D16GER

Dual screen has nowt to do with the CPU, it's the graphics card. If the graphics card does not support multiple monitors, then its a no-go I am afraid.

doug2507

iTrader: (6)

7800 GTX 256. Is it capable? And if i were running itunes on the external would it effect my fps/performance on the main? I wouldnt have thought so since i wouldnt be running 2 graphic intensive programmes at the same time.

jowl

All that in a laptop?

Hope you have asbestos pants and a portable generator

lightning101

It supports a dual desktop rather than two separate processes IIRC, so as long as you run your game in windowed mode rather than full screen, I can't see any problem.

Monkeh

I hope you have had kids already, because if you use this on your lap it will fry your *****... i bet that sukker wil get HOT !!!

doug2507

iTrader: (6)

lol! Its a Rock Xtreme 64. Its more or less the same spec as the Alienware Aurora, but £400-£500 cheaper. I cant get a desktop because i live between 2 places so i need something thats portable and i'm fed up being disappointed by highstreet laptop's that cant handle running games at there optimum settings. Thought i'd splash the cash for once!

Dont really think cooling's too much of an issue with them. If i did have it on my lap, it would run out of power before my ***** were even singed!

D16GER

One of these could come in handy

Iain Young

I've got a 4800+ X2 with 2x 512mb 7800GTX cards running in SLI in my desktop. The dual core is certainly very quick, however be aware that there are problems with the nvidia drivers and dual core processors. I know that some people have found that to get some games running they've had to edit the registry to force the cpu to use only one core. I think it's fair to say that they are really beta quality rather than the rock solid quality you'd expect.

Having said that, they are improving slowly. I just wish they'd fix the vivo which they broke with the last driver release

jbryant

My HP laptop at work runs across two screens - I simply use the laptop as one monitor and then run another one off the port replicator VGA port. (laptop is raised up on a monitor stand so it is at same level as second TFT screen. Then set up dual monitor in Desktop properties. You can just drag apps from one screen to the other, or spread them across both (eg. big XLS sheets)

Hope this helps. Depends if you are getting a replicator or not for your machine. If you're running dual screen I'd strongly recommend you fork out a few quid for Ultramon.


Cheers
Joolz

doug2507

iTrader: (6)

Ultramon? Whats that?

Iain- Wont be making the purchase till the end of April. Hopefully that will give some time to sort out any issues! I'll need to enquire about that when ordering. Still think it makes more sense to go for the dual rather than the FX. Anyone had experience with Alienware? Are they worth the extra pennies or are you just paying for the name?

Cheers guys,
Doug.

Iain Young

I've got an Alienware desktop and laptop. The desktop (the X2 4800+ with sli 7800s I mentioned above) is an absolutely superb machine.

However I was not as impressed with the laptop. Got very hot, was noisy, bad battery life, and really wasn't all that reliable. I use a dell laptop now and it's quite a bit better, both in terms of reliability and build quality.

I "think" their laptops have improved since I got mine, but I wouldn't buy another one.

D16GER

Apparently this can be done without editing the registry......

HTH

doug2507

iTrader: (6)

Well, thats what i thought. I've checked out a few forums and they seem to get a negative rating. I think Rock's will be the better choice. Thanks for the advice all.

Regards,
Doug.

jbryant

It's a small app that sits in your system tray and controls multi-monitor functionality. It adds a couple of extra icons to the 'Minimise, Maximise/Restore, Close' set of buttons in the top right of each application window, enabling you to swiftly switch apps from one screen to another or onto both/all screens. It also add's more right-click context commands to the apps in your task bar to do the same and sets up hot keys for switching stuff about. As a bonus it also manages your dual screen wallpapering functionality - something that Windows vanilla can't do at all well, and something you'll want to take advantage of as there are some really nice sites out there with wallpapers set up for high res 2 (or more) screen systems.

The Windows functionality works fine, but is a bit 'clunky' in that you can't drag maximised apps from one screen to another - you need to shrink them down a bit, drag them across to your other desktop, and then maximise again. It is workable however.

On another note you mention, I don't think you'd be able to play a game on one screen and do regular work on the other unless you were playing a 'pure windows game' i.e. one that has a standard windows interface and menu bars, etc. Not tried it myself, but I get the feeling that playing Doom 3 while browsing on the other screen won't work, but if you're into Minesweeper you'll be OK

Hope this helps - Ultramon is here for trial version and I think about £20 to register: http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

Joolz

doug2507

iTrader: (6)

Lol. Cheers Joolz. The main purpose is to have itunes running or a d/l prog. on one and have the other free to game with. (ut/quake etc wich are quite hungry app's!) It was just a thought, i'm fed up having to minimise when playing ut just to check on d/l progress etc and cant run itunes and have it in a window at the same time.

Iain Young

If you want to run itunes on an X2, you have to do a little fiddling around. (See my other thread for the solution)...