Two monitors

..What would it take to have two monitors up and running, one displaying a game, the other displaying web pages, video, and DVD movies?

Would I be able to do this with a regular rig set up or would I need other hardware/software?

Just two outputs on your GPU, and you're all set

It is very easy to set up multiple monitors. Its as simple as plugging in the second monitor into an available port and the computer most of the time will recognize it and run it as a second monitor. If you rt-click on the desktop and go to Screen Resolution (or your video card's config program) you can move and configure the monitors for your setup. (the primary monitor has the start-menu.)

..Sweet. Thanks a lot for the expert information.

My first priority is to make a great command center for my gaming and Internet addiction.

Second priority to to make my wife think she married a total geek. =D

sounds like a plan, If you have a high end monitor you can run AMD (Eyenfinity) or whatever the NVidia alternative to that is. It allows you to run both monitors as one single resolution (start menu all the way across all the screens) and games will be split between both monitors. I have 3 17s and my resolution for games and such is 3840x1024.

(WoW at 3840x1024)

..My idea is to have my game up, but also have the other monitor up for utility. For some reason, eyefinity and the like does not I interest me.

I think that the three screens would be overkill and take away from the game experience.

Am I wrong?

I don't know I guess it is just up to personal preference. I love having that high of a resolution because it allows you to see more and keeps the game playable with windows such as maps, bags, etc open. Plus I am running a 6950 that can handle that kind of load. Once you try it at that resolution it is hard to go back eg. I occasionally play on my macbook pro (13) it is hard to get used to the "small" screen size.
Plus, while I am playing I usually have my laptop on my desk for email, web, and netflix.