[NOOB QUESTIONS] dual monitors

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Mr_Fanciestofpants
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Tue Nov 19, 2019 8:46 am

Let’s start with a confession. I’ve been gaming on home computers since 1986, on PC since 1993, and I have never used more than one monitor. Now that I’ve had a pretty good gaming PC for a few years, it’s time to make it into a proper battle station. My media consumption also shifted very much to PC, so having a second screen is slowly becoming necessary and that’s where I need your collective advice.

I’m currently using a 27” 1080p 60 Hz monitor and would like to upgrade my main screen to at least 1440p with higher FPS with a secondary screen horizontally next to it on a dual mount. Since I’m a literal noob in this area, here’s what I don’t know:
1. Am I assuming correctly that there is no point in having a second gaming monitor just to watch twitch and youtube and have a browser open?
2. If this is correct, it has to be feasible to combine let’s say a 1440p and a 1080p screen into a single desktop, right?
3. If looking at two different resolutions, would it have to be two similar monitors to keep the optics coherent, right? And small bezels to keep the desktop clean?

You may just as well tell me that two identical monitors is the way to go, and I will still be grateful for providing me with any kind of feedback. So thanks in advance.
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WartedKiller
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Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:29 am

1. If you want to have a high refresh monitor (144+ Hz) as your primary and a 60 FPS or 30 FPS as your secondary, you will notice the difference. While you don't NEED a good secondary monitor, if your budget permits it, buy a good 2nd monitor. The thing you have to also consider with refresh rate and resolution is the cable you use. Not all HDMI can do 4K 60 FPS. Make sure you have the right cable to get the best resolution and refresh rate you can get.

2. If by the same desktop you mean make the computer think it's 1 screen, I don't know but I wouldn't combine different monitor resolution to make 1 wider screen. You can have one big desktop with multiple screen where each screen serve as their own desktop.

3. You can combine different resolution monitor. I have a really weird setup where I have (from left to right) a vertical 4K monitor, an horizontal 1080p UltraWide and an horizontal 4K monitor all at different refresh rate. The only thing that is frustrating is, since 1080p is half the height of 4K, if I want to move my mouse from my 3rd monitor to the middle one, the cursor needs to be higher than half of the screen. Same thing on the other side.

I'm thinking about changing my whole monitor setup to have all 1440p monitor with the same refresh rate because it bugs me so much that the refresh rate and resolution is not the same but that's my preference. I'd say keep your current monitor as a secondary screen, buy a good gaming monitor, try it and if it works then fine. Otherwise, buy another monitor.
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Belyal
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Mon Apr 11, 2022 10:23 am

on more thing to note, if you are going for a 1440p+ Rez monitor with 100+ Hz refresh, you NEED a VESA Certified cable (HDMI 2.1 or DP). If you do not have the right cables, you will not get the higher Refresh rates especially if you are running Multiple Displays.
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