new fun w/ dual monitors = bad.. need help

[Washuu]

Okay, so i bought a cheap second monitor (CRT) from my friend.. 25 bucks, old, its good for what it is.. i was running dual monitors and just sticking AIM and winamp there..

- now... when i were play a HL mod, i noticed a drop in FPS, i thought. np, its just the extra usage on video card, but after a couple hours of playing.. i noticed my CPU temperature, get a high load temperature then ever, even in high requirement games, it only gets maybe to 102F, now it was getting 105F..
- another day of counter-strike, and my whole computer instantly freezes, no more sound, the screen stays the same.. no warnings..
- i have an overclocked CPU and Video card, up till now, i havent had any instability problems, have alrdy done the 24hour prime 95 test, and i never get artifacts in any game on video card.
- i have alot of stuff running on my computer.. every power adaptor from power supply has been used..., its a 450w PSU, but its from some weird company... "PowerMagic"

- should i not run dual monitors until i were to get an extra PCI video card?, u think my computer needs more juice?...
ive alrdy got my vcore UP....
- computer is completely updated with drivers and harddrives defragged

 

[Asus]

That is not a problem with dual montiors.
Could be with your PSU but I doubt it.
My guess is a problem with OCing...

I run dual montiors off of my 9800Pro easy as pie.
Had them on my GF4 4200 before that.
I don't OC though but I do have agp fastwrite on.
I game and the 2nd monitor displays my desktop.
I have not noticed any FPS drop although I don't measure it frame by frame...
If it did drop a couple frames, the benifit out weights 2-4 fps. lol
There was no temp changes or instability problems when I went to dual monitors.
btw I have a enermax 420watt wisper PSU.
Adding an extra Harddrive would be more of a problem for your PSU than adding dual monitors.

I have not installed anything extra either. Just allowed Windows XP pro and the ATI drivers (currently 3.9) to sort it out. Works flawlessly.

*Try this...minimize all of your windows on the second monitor before you game.
Or at least turn off the visuals on winamp and make it a thin bar.

 

[Washuu]

so... its a overclock problem... bah, ill return my videocard to defaults.. but im not sacraficing 1:1 ratio with my ram!!!
- i was thinking PSU cause it was crappy, and maybe it was giving bad voltages to cpu or video card.. and caused an instability there..


- before.. i was always getting 60FPS all the time in hl1 mods... but it was staying more like 30fps with the dual monitors...

- and i know the wiring and electricity is basically perfect in my basement, so its not an issue there

 

[Asus]

Getting 30fps vs 60 is an issue with Vsync.
If you can't hit 60 FPS or more than it cuts it to half on the fly to keep vertical sync with refresh rate.

Doing any multi-tasking? A lot of programs running in the background, possibly with some harddrive access involved.

Instability shouldn't cause loss of FPS, either should poor voltage.
It would just crash.

I would just keep tabs on what you usually have on the 2nd monitor cause that can decrease performance. Look for visiuals on Winamp (the moving equalizer), flash from websites or animated gifs.

 

[Washuu]

so im overreacting! .. i do that when its about my computer...
- rgr, thx.