Running a dual monitor setup has become more and more common and most graphic cards come with several slots to connect multiple monitors too.
While they’re commonly found among musicians, gamers, streamers, creators, a two-monitor setup is convenient for anyone who’s doing a lot of multitasking.
In fact, a study showed that users who ran a dual monitor setup reported a 42% increase in productivity. The number of users who have changed from a single monitor setup to a dual monitor setup has increased by a staggering 70% in the last 20 years.
However, the graphic card has to work a bit harder in order to capture and display images on both screens – but does it slow down the computer?
A dual monitor setup will not slow down a computer with a modern video card unless you’re running demanding games and applications while watching videos on both screens, then you can expect to put a small additional load on the graphic card. This can, in turn, make the computer a little bit slower. The computer’s overall performance may be reduced slightly or moderately depending on the computer’s components. Modern computers shouldn’t be affected in any noticeable way.
Even older graphic cards (5-10 years) can run dual monitor setups when there are no fullscreen games and videos involved. That’s where the majority of the graphic card’s load is coming from.
Browsing the web, listening to music, working on documents, and doing other menial tasks shouldn’t require nearly enough resources to make the computer slower. If it does, then there’s probably something wrong with your configuration.
Does Having Two Monitors Affect the Computer’s Performance In Any Way?
Pugetsystems.com ran a benchmark test on a computer with a dual monitor setup with a Core i7 875K CPU and a GeForce GTX 570 GPU. The benchmark test included:
- Single screen by itself
- Second screen connected by empty
- Website on second screen
- Video playing on second screen
- Gaming on second screen
The benchmark test showed that a computer with these specs isn’t impacted strongly by running demanding applications on a second monitor.
In fact, the only time the test showed noteworthy differences was when the second monitor was running a game, but how often do you run a game on both your monitors at the same time? Almost never.
So, in order to actually notice a difference in performance or stuttering, you would have to run a demanding game on one screen while watching fullscreen videos on the other – PLUS having a bunch of other applications running in the background.
But if you’re experiencing lag, or dropped frames on a relatively new computer, then you’re most likely facing software-related issues.
I highly doubt that your setup isn’t strong enough to run a dual monitor setup. Let’s take a look at the things that could be causing a dual monitor to produce lag.
Fix Dual Monitor Setup Slowing Down Your Computer
Last year, the company I work for sold a thousand monitors to a large establishment in the town I live in. They wanted us to install a dual monitor setup on each office in their headquarter.
The monitors were connected to a docking station, which they then docked their computers in to get access to the monitors. Doing this job, I learned a lot about the different things that can interfere with a second monitor, making the computer run slower.
Being a gamer, I’ve also learned a lot about gaming with a dual monitor setup, and what you can do to get the most out of your dual monitor setup. Here’s what I’ve been able to gather over the years, but also what I’ve found on popular forums on the web.
- Set both monitors to the same resolution: Making sure that both monitors are set to the same resolution in Windows can reduce lag and make the entire experience more seamless.
- Change the monitor’s refresh rate: The monitor’s refresh rate tells us how many times per second the monitor can draw a new image, when multiple monitors are connected, it’s beneficial to set the monitor to a refresh rate that’s divisible by the other monitors refresh rate. This can, for instance, force you to reduce the refresh rate of your 144hz monitor down to 120hz. Paired with a 60hz monitor, a 120hz monitor may work better than a 144 hz one.
- Check your drivers: Updating or reinstalling your graphic drivers will fix corrupt or outdated files, which can slow down the computer.
- Use your IGPU: Your IGPU, internal graphic card, can be used to capture and display images on your second monitor. This will off-load the dedicated graphic card substantially, resulting in an overall increase in performance.
- Run games in fullscreen mode: Running the game in fullscreen mode will reduce stuttering to a certain degree.
Depending on what you’re experiencing, these things may or may not be the root of your problem.
If your computer is noticeably slower when playing games and running demanding applications on two monitors at the same time, then that’s nothing out of the ordinary as you’re using up more of the GPU’s resources in order to run all applications.
But if the computer is being slowed down regardless of what tasks you’re asking it to perform, then you’re probably onto something sketchy that can be fixed.
Doing menial tasks on your second monitor while running a game or a fullscreen video on your primary screen shouldn’t give rise to stuttering.
What I’m trying to say is that sometimes it may be a software-related issue that can be fixed from within Windows, other times it’s the hardware that isn’t powerful enough to run demanding tasks.
I do, however, recommend that you check my in-depth guide on dual monitor lag. You’ll find everything you need to troubleshoot your setup.
How Much Memory Do You Need for Dual Monitors?
The amount of memory on your computer and the ability to sustain a multiple monitor setup is somewhat unrelated. To run a dual monitor setup you need a video card that supports multiple monitors, the rest are just variables that boost the experience. Take RAM, for instance.
RAM, or random-access memory, is the computer’s short-term memory where information is stored, ready to be accessed by the processor when it needs it.
The computer’s RAM is used at the exact moment that an action is performed on the computer, unlike the computer’s primary data storage, the hard drive, where things are stored even after the computer is turned off.
Depending on what you’re planning to do with your dual monitor setup, installing more RAM may be beneficial. However, before you even consider purchasing more hardware, I think it’s worth noting that it’s baffling how far an average PC will take you these days.
Running a dual monitor setup with 16GB RAM is going to provide more than enough RAM needed to keep background applications and a game running seamlessly.
Then there’s video memory. Video memory is memory on the video card or motherboard that’s usable by the computer’s GPU and CPU.
The more video memory your computer has, the better the overall experience will be – as the computer will be capable of displaying complex graphics at a faster rate. Most modern video cards should be strong enough to support and run a dual monitor setup for both gaming and menial tasks.
Don’t replace or upgrade your equipment before you have established if it’s lacking or not.
But, again, when it comes to dual monitors, the main thing you may want to upgrade in order to get a better experience is the graphic card.
Can All Computers Support Dual Monitors?
Yes, almost all computers support dual monitors. Most modern computers are powerful enough to run multiple monitors at once. The only thing that’s needed to connect a dual monitor setup is a video card that has two or more slots and a second monitor.
Because today’s video cards come with HDMI, DP, VGA, and/or DVI ports, there’s rarely any problem finding support for two monitors or more.
You can check if your computer supports dual monitors. While most computers will offer you the possibility to run two monitors at once, you still have a couple of bad apples that just don’t support it. Here’s how you check if your computer supports dual monitors.
- Right-click on the desktop background
- Select Display Properties
- Scroll down to see if the Multiple Displays option is available. If it is, then your computer supports dual monitors.
What Do I Need To Run a Dual Monitor Setup?
Almost all modern laptops or pcs are powerful enough to run dual monitors, the only thing that’s needed is a second monitor. The second monitor can be connected to the video card if there’s a second slot on it.
If the video card only has one slot, which is rare, you can use an HDMI or DP-splitter to connect the monitors. VGA is also an option.
Updating your graphic card’s drivers to the most recent ones is also beneficial when running dual monitors. Outdated or corrupt drivers can become a hindrance to your dual monitor setup.