I am looking at upgrading my system but have a slightly different problem from that rehearsed here frequently. I want to use dual monitors with the panel on one & the "view" on the other.I assume that as normally recommended I want the best processor that I can afford & I assume the normally recommended 2x512Mb memory will still be the way to go but am unsure about both the graphics & the desirability of a dual core processor.Am I better to run both monitors from one dual monitor enabled graphics card or am I better with a PCI-e for the view & the panel on a separate PCI graphics card - if they are still made?What effect does having two monitors by either of the two different methods have on graphics card or processor load compared to the normal, all on one monitor, scenario?For now I intend that the view will be on a 1600x1200 19" Mitsubishi CRT & the panel on a 17" flat panel monitor to be obtained as part of this upgrade, although the next upgrade will be to replace the Mistubishi with something much bigger - either a plasma or projector.I am assuming the main card would be a X800Xl or 6800GT but would appreciate any comments.Would either dual graphics cards, or lots of "add ons" - scenery, traffic etc - make a dual core processor a good idea?Chris

I've tried both dual monitor options - single card dual output and double card single output. Both have about the same performance hit, which is basically zero as long as the 3D view is limited to one monitor.Gary

Thank you for that. I am most surprised that the panel isn't much of a load when rendered at the higher resolution levels. Not needing 2 cards will let me spend a biy more on the single card.

Even if you do later decide you want another monitor to display more 2D views and windows stuff, the extra video card doesn't have to be anything fancy at all. For a while, I was running a third (17") monitor off an old Voodoo 3 16M PCI card and, before that, a Riva 128 4M PCI card. Unfortunately, the monitor died and I haven't got around to replacing it yet, but FS performance on the primary display with either of these cards operating was just fine.Gary