AdamR28 Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 Evening gents,I've got a PC with a bog standard motherboard which uses built in GFX and I would like to add a second monitor to it. My guess is that I require a new GFX card (I have a few spare PCI slots) with two outputs... is that correct?If so, will I be able to over-ride the built in one? Is there a standard procedure to doing it or does it vary between motherboards? Does it depend on the model of motherboard? I tried this once before on my last PC and it wasn't having any of it... Otherwise, is there another way of configuring two monitors from just one output?Any help greatly appreciated Ads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 Yup, get a new graphics card. Assuming you have an AGP slot or a PCI-E slot on your motherboard (you will, but you need to know which one) then it should just be a case of sticking the new card in. The BIOS should recognise this and override the onboard one automatically. I'm guessing that your old PC was very old? If you can't get a new graphics card, you could always get something like this:http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/prod.../dh2go/home.phpWhich runs two monitors off a single VGA socket. BUT the resolution is still limited by your (onboard) video card's maximum. In your case this may be as low as 1280x1024. So having that stretched across two monitors would be rubbish. Plus this option is more expensive anyway - it's designed for laptops or other computers where you can't upgrade the graphics card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Aston Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 (edited) This is something i have recently done with my own pc. I to only had pci slots in my mobo with it being a cheap dell one. The graphics card i brought was only around 45 quid. http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?QuickLinx=4CQQ It was a pny Ge force 6200. It has a vga out and a dvi but it comes with an adapter so u can run to vga screens. It was relativity easy to set up i just got the card installed with one monitor installed just because i thought it would be easier. Then after the software that comes with the card enabled me to set up dual monitors. After you install the card plug your monitor into it boot up then install the drivers on the cd then go into control panel and disable your on board its dead simple. The dual screens are gr8 for just general usage i disable the second when playing games to get better fps.Hope that helped if you need any more info feel free to pm mejoe Edited October 22, 2007 by Onza Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Man this forum moves fast... haha. Thanks for the help so far guys My old PC wasn't THAT old... 4 years maybe? Still, it died not long after...Any recommendations for a half decent card? The one you linked to Joe (thanks) appears to be discontinued on Dabs and it's pretty pricey on eBuyer... All I need is something that I can stick 2 monitors into, I don't play games or even use CAD on this PC any more. Although... just checked and the only spare slots I have in the motherboard are standard PCI (like those for LAN cards, Firewire cards etc), no AGP slots... that's put a spanner in the works!?Cheers againAdam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Aston Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 (edited) Adam the card i linked in is a pci card. Im running it in my dell with dual screens and i only have pci slots in my mother board.joeEdit sorry just re read thought u said discounted not discontinued. Edited October 25, 2007 by Onza Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Sweet, cheers Joe... will have a hunt around for other shops selling it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
br3n Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 no agp slot from 4 years ago? hmm... that seams wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 no agp slot from 4 years ago? hmm... that seams wrong?Yeah - Are you sure Adam? What's the model of your motherboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted October 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Not sure what it was, all I know is that it was another cheapy bundle with built-in graphics.The one I currently have is the same - no AGP slot, just built in graphics. Well, I'm pretty sure that't the case... can get a picture if it's worth doing?CheersAdam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Yep, get a picture because I don't believe you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted October 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 We need a picture of the actual motherboard to see if you have an AGP slot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 lol yeah inside you mong Love you Adam In fact, an easier way would be to use this:http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-141.zipDownload and run it, and tell us what it says about your mainboard (Saves opening the case) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Sweet, cheers Joe... will have a hunt around for other shops selling it Have you tried Scan? I don't know their website, but they have an enormous, warehouse sized shop up at the Reebok Stadium. My gamer friend practically lives there, so they might be worth a look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted November 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Took PC apart today to clean out a few inches of dust and it does have an AGP slot (yes, I am a mong), but I'll have to butcher the case to fit a card in. Gay Aria.So, any recommendations for a pretty cheap card that will do the job? Obviously I could just go and grab a randomer but if anyone's had a particularly good/bad experience with a certain card it would be good to hear about Billy - good idea... might try them too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Garland Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Anything with 2 outputs will do really, I personally chose my ATI card as its got very good video decoding features, but basically unless you play games you should have no problems with any card from the x600 and above or the 6600 and above, even a 7300 would be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 If you never play games and never intend to, just buy the cheapest card you can. There's no point otherwise. I think pretty much all AGP cards will have two outputs, but just check. By the way, most cards will have a DVI and a VGA port, or just 2xDVI. It should come with a DVI adaptor so you can use 2xVGA screens so don't worry about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Awesome, thanks guys Ads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spode@thinkbikes Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Adam, I've got a couple of spare AGP cards. I can send one down to you if you like?If you have an ATI Chipset, it is possible to install an ATI card with dual output and then have triple head output. But I'm not sure many people bothered with this, especially as their chipsets weren't the best... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 That would be a beast Let me know how much you'd want for one dude, thanks!ATI chipset... no idea, don't think my brain could cope with 3 monitors though Ads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spode@thinkbikes Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 That would be a beast Let me know how much you'd want for one dude, thanks!ATI chipset... no idea, don't think my brain could cope with 3 monitors though AdsThey aren't anything special (3D wise) but perfect for what you need. Don't worry about it. Drop me an e-mail reminder and I'll ship it out this week.I've used dual displays for as long as I can remember. I'm using two Samsung 22" Widescreen displays at the moment. Love em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Garland Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Im on the dual 22" widescreen band wagon. Fantastic it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concussion Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 If I may but in here... what's the use in two monitors? Only thing I could use them for is to put my Photoshop pallets on one and use the other for the main picture... any other uses I'm not thinking of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spode@thinkbikes Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 If I may but in here... what's the use in two monitors? Only thing I could use them for is to put my Photoshop pallets on one and use the other for the main picture... any other uses I'm not thinking of?I like to have my PHP editor on one screen, and the browser on the right. Especially useful if you're dumping a load of arrays on to the screen and you're using the output to help decide the coding. I also like to watch programs on my right hand screen, when in non-work mode. Just generally, if you have a lot of windows open - Excel/Word/E-mail/Internets etc. it can be useful to spread them around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonMack Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Video editing too, very useful for having the timeline in one window, and the viewer in the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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