Will Second 2560x1440 monitor slow down my iMac?

Question

I have this iMac:

http://www.hoxtonmacs.co.uk/collections/imac-27-inch/products/imac-27-inch-core-i7-3-4ghz-mid-2011

It has 32GB RAM, and I use it to edit videos in Final Cut Pro X and make music with lots of tracks in Logic Pro X. These are probably the most intensive tasks I perform on the iMac. If I buy a second 27" monitor at the same 2560x1440 resolution, will the performance of my iMac decrease? I want a second monitor for my video editing.

Also, I don't edit videos higher than 1080p, so that's a plus!

Answer 1

The AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Should handle both monitors with little or no noticeable difference for doing 2d work. It will take a performance hit. However it should be negligible for your described task. Don't expect that iMac to handle 4k though. Even with just 1 monitor.

Answer 2

The simple answer is 'yes'... but it depends on how much 'work' the monitor is having to do.

Static image or simple 2D like using it as your 'TV' monitor for FCP, then not much impact at all. Trying to play a full-rez 3D game on each obviously a much bigger hit to performance.