I was thinking about getting a tablet or something like that to use for PFPX flightplans, charts, stuff like that. But now I am also starting to think about 'simply' getting an extra monitor to put the extra stuff on. With a 2nd monitor I don't have to worry about networks (never worked with those) and copying stuff from the PC to the other device.

 

Now I was wondering what I need to do to get that done. Is it simply a matter of plugging the monitor into the second connector of my GTX780 and then... that's it? Will Windows show me the desktop on the other screen and P3D fullscreen on my main screen? I don't want P3D to also run on that other screen! Or do I have to setup something in the nVidia CP and in P3D itself?

 

I was also wondering if adding an extra screen hurts performance. Of course running other programs my hurt performance a little but since the effective resolution of the Windows desktop gets larger (I presume) does that also hurt performance...? Or doesn't that matter because P3D will be running on one screen in 1920x1080 anyway?

I tried both solutions, 2nd screen vs.networked laptop, for GPS etc. display. Details may vary in depence on system(s), however, I experienced a noticeable performance hit when connecting a second screen. In a situation where I fight for any additional fps, I was not willing to take this and settled for the network solution (again), even though Initial setup can be a bit of hassle indeed.

 

Kind regards, Michael

Ok, thanks, I'll forget about the extra screen then. ^_^

I'll second Michael's suggestion; in an ideal situation you want your main 'sim rig' to be 100% dedicated to running the sim and nothing else.

 

My main screen is a Benq BL3200pt (32" 1440p) and I did run a second screen for a while, a Dell U2412m in portrait for displaying Aivlasofts EFB. Whilst I found no significant performance hit I had to run P3D in "real" windowed mode to allow the second monitor to be usable during flight - with the sim in fullscreen mode the second screen goes black. (running from a GTX 780 btw)

 

I went out and bought a cheap desktop tower, a very ordinary spec machine (second hand for £180) and I now have that running ASN / OPUSFSI / Aivlasoft EFB / Navigraph desktop charts via network with my sim rig and displaying on the dell U2412m.