1 PC, 2 Boxes, 2 monitors with FPS Issues.. What am I doing wrong?

Hi guys.

I'm not too new to this dual boxing thing, but it's just recently I've started taking it a little more to the next level and actually actively playing the two accounts together.. In the beginning I would usually just use it for boosting myself (2 PC's the other character passively on follow), and for enchants on non-enchanters etc.
However, as I transferred to a new server, I transferred one of my lvl 70 characters to my 2nd account, and thought I'd see if I can't make it more fun.

Right now, I'm almost finished with my macros etc (did a lot of that before I started dual boxing as well, so I'm not new to that), and have started testing the setup.
I am running single computer, dual screen, and my main issue is that I have a consistently low FPS when having both accounts open.

The computer I'm running is a Dell Inspiron, Core 2 Duo, 2.44Ghz, 3.5GB 5600 speed ram, Asus GeForce 7600GS, 7200 RPM 160Gb SATA drive (and 2 500gb drives), Running fully updated Windows XP Pro, with all latest drivers and updated DX9.

What happens is that as soon as I launch my 2nd wow, the framerate drops quite heavily on my main account, and the 2nd account starts up at a low level.
When running single box, my main account at max graphics has around 60 fps
When running 2 boxes on same screen, both accounts are swaying around 20 fps
When running 2 boxes on 2 screens, both accounts are swaying around 10-14 fps
All the above readings are in low populated areas, if in shattrath, remove about 5-10fps from all of the above.

I want to play on 2 screens, both fullscreen, where my main character has as good graphics as possible, and the alt account is running on minimum. But even if I reduce the graphics on the main account to a surviveable minimum (leaving only view distance and terrain distance high, putting the rest on minimum), I don't notice a significant change in the loss of framerate. (Maybe 5-10 fps up if I'm lucky)

What am I doing wrong?

Unfortunately, there's nothing you're "doing" or "not doing" wrong. It's the nature of the beast when running NVIDIA cards with dual monitor outputs.
You're using an older NVIDIA graphics card... roughly 2 generations behind current, which is one issue, mainly because (I'm assuming) you're running the two monitors out of the same card (both DVI ports) and using NView to manage multiple monitors.

That's how your framerate is dropping so drastically. Most people (including myself) have noticed a drop of around 50% of the normal (ie single account running full screen) frame rate. There is an issue with using the "span desktop" function in NView. Couple that with the drop in framerate you'll get when switching from full screen to windowed (that's the only way I've found to get the games showing up correctly, although I have a 22" widescreen and a 20" normal screen that I use).

I don't have any answers for you, as I just built up an old AMD 3800+ system for my clones to run around on... but I was having the same frame rate issues as you were, using an AMD 5000+ BE overclocked to 3.1GHz, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, and an 8800GTX video card. I could run all day maxed res/graphics and never hiccup. I added in the 20" monitor and it was slower than my integrated graphics card on my work laptop. Go figure.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but I figured this way you won't go nuts trying to fix something that isn't broken or set up incorrectly.

Well.. I've been reading up and down posts on this page, and finding many little things that could help me if they worked.

I tried the processor affinity thing when I came home from work just now, and it didn't change anything, I've also tried the "Desktop extend" thing, without any luck.

I reduced the multisample to 1x on my main account (Just always kept it on top, didn't really think any more of it), and I think I gained 2-5 fps. :P

I am planning to replace my graphics card soon (I recently got my 7600GS as a replacement for a X1300Pro card as a cheap and easy temp upgrade), does anyone have any suggestions as to which card I should aim for then? Preferably one that supports running on 2 screens better than my current one.

I also read somewhere that the major reason for this issue is a problem with Windows XP and Direct X running 3D on 2 screens.. Could it be worth any consideration to upgrade my computer to Vista?

Yes, the major reason is how DirectX and Windows (maybe NVIDIA as well, only cards I ever use) treats 3D on the two screens. Unfortunately as I don't run Vista I can't say what would or could be gained by upgrading. DirectX10 isn't supported by WoW (or Age of Conan, which was promised on release) so that's not going to help much in the way of performance by using any of the new bells and whistles from DX10.

I would see if trying to run 2 windowed WoW screens at a standard resolution (say 1280 x 1024 or so) by setting them up in the Video options of the WoW in game menu.

If you're only using one instance (directory) for WoW then you only need to do this once, otherwise, you'll have to set them up individually. By using the "Desktop Extend" you "should" be able to drag one of the game windows to your second monitor and hopefully improve your FPS somewhat.

That's what I'm doing now..

At the moment I've got my both my wow's on one screen, where one runs 21 fps (Main wow with max graphics) and one runs with 31 fps (2nd wow with only view distance set to max, everything else is down to the bottom. Both wows are on 1280x1024 because that's the default resolution of both my monitors, and it looks smoother that way.

But I've decided to just run them together for now, and find a program similar to keyclone (Don't wanna pay for something like that right now), and have my alternate wow in the background, with default follow keys etc..

I'm using Netherwing dailies for practice, so the place isn't too crowded..