Dual games on 1 computer.

[StevenNevets]

Is there anyway to hook up 2 monitors/keyboards/mice to one computer and have them each successfuly read them each as a set?


I'd like to play BF2/CS:S and others with my friend but his computer sucks so this would be a good thing.

 

[YoungGun21]

I don't know about the keyboard/mouse situation but I think you'd be able to run 2 games at once if you had multicore... just set them both to run on one core and I'd think you'd be able to set one monitor for each.

But then again this is just an idea I don't know if it would work...

 

[StevenNevets]

I've got a X2 3800+.
Guess that helps but I don't want to bring down all the stuff until I know it can be done.

Good idea on that, now ti find out about the keyboard/mice

 

[YoungGun21]

I know they make KVM switches or something like that where you can plug multiple keyboards/mice into them but I'm pretty sure it only picks up one at a time.

Something to look into though...

 

[StevenNevets]

If 2 on 1 is even possible I think it would be realy hard.
How about 2 computers but somehow power the crap one with the good one (so they can both run the game)

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: YoungGun21
I don't know about the keyboard/mouse situation but I think you'd be able to run 2 games at once if you had multicore... just set them both to run on one core and I'd think you'd be able to set one monitor for each.

But then again this is just an idea I don't know if it would work...

This question has been asked before in here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1980047
Excuse the roasting the OP gets for his ways, but your "answer" is in there.

To run both games off the one PC would require a complicated setup involving two monitors and software and hardware to handle two keyboards' and mice input. Needless to say your graphics card would then effectively run them at half the framerate it normally could, even if you had a dual-core CPU and had no problem running the two games at once.

To "share" processing power from one PC to the next would also be very difficult to set up (and the latency would kill you) and to be honest I wouldn't know where to begin.

 

[humanure]

there are devices that let you expand one pc into multiple stations like this.

i've seen a device similar like this at best buy, you could connect up to 10 pc's to it, each acting as a separate pc. I can't remember who made it at the moment, i'll try to find out, or maybe someone else remembers what it's called.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: humanure
there are devices that let you expand one pc into multiple stations like this.

i've seen a device similar like this at best buy, you could connect up to 10 pc's to it, each acting as a separate pc. I can't remember who made it at the moment, i'll try to find out, or maybe someone else remembers what it's called.

But remember that the CPU usage, RAM and hard drive accessing and video card processing done by each of those pseudo-terminals are all shared. Running games like that would cripple most computers.

 

[Bowsky]

I would say no go. Not only would you need a dual-core CPU, you would need dual GPUs (one per session), and double the normal amount of RAM. In addition with data transfer required to run two games at once, I would not be surprised if the buses get quickly saturated to the point where both sessions become unplayable.

 

[Matthias99]

To run both games off the one PC would require a complicated setup involving two monitors and software and hardware to handle two keyboards' and mice input. Needless to say your graphics card would then effectively run them at half the framerate it normally could, even if you had a dual-core CPU and had no problem running the two games at once.

Two video cards FTW. With a DC CPU and a few gigs of RAM you could easily do it (at least with less demanding games, or not at the highest possible settings), if you had a solid way to deal with multiple keyboards/mice and direct the inputs to the right programs. That's the real trick, since Windows doesn't really have proper support for multiple keyboards/mice.

 

[StevenNevets]

I have:
X2 3800+
2 GB DDR2 667
X1900XT


amazing - no... good - yes


But honestly if it's realy complicated or expensive I won't bother... I'll just try a gaming cafe

 

[bamacre]

It would probably be better financially for your friend to buy a new PC.

Refurb Dell E521 plus an X1950 Pro would be a good budget rig with some good power.

 

[StevenNevets]

Originally posted by: bamacre
It would probably be better financially for your friend to buy a new PC.

Refurb Dell E521 plus an X1950 Pro would be a good budget rig with some good power.

funny thing is we were looking at your PCs on Ebay a few hours ago!

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: StevenNevets

Originally posted by: bamacre
It would probably be better financially for your friend to buy a new PC.

Refurb Dell E521 plus an X1950 Pro would be a good budget rig with some good power.

funny thing is we were looking at your PCs on Ebay a few hours ago!

The Precision 390's seriously rock, if he can afford one.

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: humanure
there are devices that let you expand one pc into multiple stations like this.

i've seen a device similar like this at best buy, you could connect up to 10 pc's to it, each acting as a separate pc. I can't remember who made it at the moment, i'll try to find out, or maybe someone else remembers what it's called.

I believe the company you're thinking of is NComputing, they have several resource sharing terminal type setups you can buy. I think they all use gig-e, and even then they only support 1024x768 @60hz 16bit color. It could be a huge $ saver in a cheap internet cafe where you just want internet access, but for gaming, forget it.