System strain with dual monitor and heavy rendering

[MattJay]

My question pertains to a setup of
ATI Radeon HD 5850 with extended displays:
DVI out to a LCD ASUS at 1920x1080
HDMI out to a Sony LCD TV at 1360x768

(further more, Windows 7 64 bit with Intel's i7 860)

I have researched and I'm well aware my graphics card can handle most dual monitor use without much performance lag but I often do very heavy 3D rendering. Some renderings can take up to an hour or more to complete.

So my question, does having my graphics card dual output slow down performance during these long renderings? Meaning, as my 3D models get larger and rendering becomes even more intensive should I migrate off the dual monitor setup which isn't necessary, just convenient. Or does my CPU take over most of this load? Furthermore would adjusting resolution have much of an effect? Really hope this isn't a dumb question!

Cheers,
MattJ

[tony_j15]

It entirely depends on the program you use, and whether or not it utilizes the GPU for rendering or only uses the CPU.
Adjusting the resolution will have an effect. Having an 800x600 resolutions means only pushing 480k pixels, while a 1920x1080 display pushes 2.07 million pixels. I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make to your rendering program though.

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