In home streaming-multitasking

[Lt.FuzzyStuff]

Ok so this may be a dumb question, however im going to ask in hopes of a indepth answer of why not or how too i have a Alienware Alpha top teir, i use it on a big screen but my wife uses it for streaming movies or watching dvds and such, i wanted to use in home streaming to my laptop but it acts like a straight remote desktop almost, So i was wondering if there was a way to get it to see the TV and the laptop just like having two monitors and playing on one and working on the other. So can i watch a movie on the tv somehow and play a game on the laptop while streaming? ??? :D also windows did not show me having two monitors, hence im asking anyone more experienced.

[MasterMind]

Technically yes you can, if you have at least 2 screens setup, TV and Desktop, you can watch a movie on the TV and stream the desktop so u can game or whatnot...only problem is, you won't be able to seperately interact with the 2 screens at the same time, basically anything your wife wanted on the TV would have to be done by you seeings how the stream takes over the input....however there is a solution for this, it's called Aster V7, its a multiseat software for windows that will split your pc into 2 or more desktops, given that you have 2 monitors, 2 keyboards, and 2 mice hooked up...it works amazingly well and should work well for what your asking, i'm not sure of any other way to do it...good luck

[MikeSharpeWriter]

As it is, it's not going to be possible, as Steam In-Home Streaming takes over the host PC. The way I see your problem being done is via Virtual Machines. Virtual Machines makes a "fake" envoriment on your PC you can run steam in one, and run a Movies as another. The issue is that even with a good CPU, which I assume your PC is, performace in game will take hit, as the CPU is now running two PCs and jsut about two of everything. You know old question of "Will it run Cyrsis?" it could be the case here if not set up right, I'm meaning Crysis on Minium, not Max at 4K. Also the ideal setup requires hardware that supports stuff like Virtualzion. And it's not easy to turn on or off in a hurry.

As for running two Monitors: Almsot every Graphics Card and many Motherboards has support several monitors, your Given the Brand I suspect PC should support this. Option 1: Plug both monitors in your Graphics card, this will be the one some distance away from the USB ports and keyboards. You may need to buy an adaptor to plug it in. Option 2: Leave the Second Monitor in your Motherboard, Go in to the BIOS and enable the Intel GPU. Once you've done one of the two options, both monitors should show something, when booting up. Find the Display settings and alter the screens to how you like. Perosnally I use Option 1.

Personally, I'd recommend getting ChromeCast or a similar device for the TV. Apps like netflix use it and you can control it from your iPhone or Andoid phone.

[MasterMind]

Just research Aster V7 and DON'T use a virtual machine...Aster V7 uses all host resources natively, 2 user accounts actively connected, better than any virtual machine...I've had lots of experience using it, I could help you set it up it's easier than running a virtual machine. And best of all you get full use of system resources evenly spread between desktops depending on demand...native graphics card capabilities...u could game on both if you had a good enough rig...or if the games are low end enough, either way research it and let me know if you need help...virtual machines suck for multiseating now adays...IMHO you won't get hardware accelerated anything lol....your choice man...

[[masni] CYKA CLEANER]

Mastermind you talk bullcrap.

[[LINUX] Schotty]

Mastermind should be spot on. I deal exclusively on the Linux front, and thats how one would do it on that front -- setup the machine to multiseat. I have never used the Aster software, but if it is multiseat software its exactly what he wants/needs.

[Greg]

IMHO you won't get hardware accelerated anything lol....your choice man...

Apparently you've never heard of PCIe/VGA passthrough.

[Lt.FuzzyStuff]

alrighty well, it would seem i either need extra software and/or some hardware to link the TV and laptop/ as two screens. So as on one computer with two monitors i could run a game, and then have a movie playing on the other while being on one OS, i would need to upgrade to an SSD and add an extra 4GB or ram to go the VC route; im trying to do this as one computer. I suppose the only other way to do this easily would be to just run the games in windowed mode and her movies? =/ kinda lame but unless i go buy one of their laptops that can handle these games as well i suppose i need wires/hardware or programs and or VC's >.< ALSO thank you all for taking the time to reply.