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Dual monitor output

Have just bought a new monitor.

The PC has a Radeon graphics card (third party, fitted myself) and so has two VGA slots - one provided by the card and the other presumably from the built-in OEM card on the motherboard.

New monitor works fine replacing the old one.

I wondered if I could plug the old one into the motherboard VGA output and have both. I must just be imagining this, because I had thought that I had done that before on a previous PC.

With this one only the new one is ever detected. The system is aware of another "VGA output" but is unable to send anything to it.

Does this need a special graphics card to replace the one I have now?
 
Hi Mark,

If you need to run dual screens then you will need a graphics card with dual outlets. The built in graphics on the motherboard will only work on its own, as soon as a PCI graphics card is inserted on the motherboard it cuts the onboard graphics off.

Regards Paul.
 
The built in graphics on the motherboard will only work on its own, as soon as a PCI graphics card is inserted on the motherboard it cuts the onboard graphics off.

Unless it's one of those newer Intel i5/7 or AMD chipsets with hybrid graphics, in which case the on-board and external GPU sort of work together for the best power efficiency and performance :) .

Otherwise though Paul is correct, you need a graphics card with two outputs.
 
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This makes sense now. I upgraded the motherboard on my old PC with an aftermarket one which did indeed have the word "hybrid" in the name (vague, isn't it - was a while back - quad core AMD hybrid something or other) and that may explain why it did work on the old one with that same Radeon graphics card.

That PC died and I ended up having to go and buy a new one off-the-shelf because I was in a hurry. So it's not an option with this one.

Never looked at these things all that closely but a quick search reveals cards which cater for 2 or 3 displays, time to upgrade. The trick may be finding one which works with Windows 8 which I have installed (dual boot) but haven't moved to because that doesn't support the current one and so only renders at 1024x768.

I shall go shopping :)
 
Hi Mark


Never looked at these things all that closely but a quick search reveals cards which cater for 2 or 3 displays, time to upgrade. The trick may be finding one which works with Windows 8 which I have installed (dual boot) but haven't moved to because that doesn't support the current one and so only renders at 1024x768.

You may have to wait until Win 10 before they get round to 1980x1020.
 
talking of gfx cards you can get some nice ones with three outputs these days (VGA, DVI and HDMI) which would technically allow three outputs. its pretty simple to setup as well given the right card.

FYI if you did decide to do dual monitor output as long as you get a card with either 2 vga ports or a vga and dvi port you can get converters to convert a dvi port into a vga output as lve done it before.
 
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On closer inspection the current card has three outputs. It's quite old... this is the card:

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Productinformation/Sapphire_RADEON_X1550__6615544

The product spec says:

1 x VGA - 15 pin D-Sub (DB-15) ¦ 1 x TV-out ¦ 1 x DVI-I - 29 pin combined DVI ¦ 1 x HDTV output ( with adapter )

Is there any way in which I can use this in the meantime - I'm assuming that the large socket on the back of it whch is not the VGA one into which the new monitor is currently attached, is the DVI-I 29 pin one.

This thing looks like it might work..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-DVI-I-Female-Male-Adapter/dp/B000FO6I84

Doesn't solve the Windows 8 issue, but might get the second monitor up and running in the interim... any thoughts?
 
theres no reason that shouldnt work, its exactly the kind of setup l had going when l was using dual monitors.. only issue now is my current board found my old card to be buggy with drivers and with the way we pay for electric now (pay as you go key) CRT monitors just eat waaaay too much power.
 
From what I can gather on that card I don't think you are going to get it to work on windows 8.
You could try an advanced boot ad disable signature verification but that would be a long shot.

If you were thinking of buying another card that's cheap can fully recommend this for working well with Windows 8 on dual screens. (Not for gaming obviously) On 8 the dual screen functionality is dead simple from devices in the charms.

Can't remember for the life of me if the card ships with a DVI-VGA adapter or not.
 
Thanks all - have ordered new card + DVI/VGA adapter in case it doesn't come in the box, the product detail on Amazon isn't clear on that. The Asus GeForce ones all seem to work on Windows 8, good tip.
 
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lol after looking at this thread again lm reminded of a friend who used to run a comp shop, he had a 9 monitor setup as a kind of video wall was pretty cool :D
 
Gosh not sure I could run 9 monitors and the PC, printer, router etc. all off that one power circuit :). In any case my desk can only hold 1 so it's a moot point.
 
Gosh not sure I could run 9 monitors and the PC, printer, router etc. all off that one power circuit :). In any case my desk can only hold 1 so it's a moot point.

it was more a video wall/side project, besides running a computer shop it was more to show off imho what better to draw customers in than to show them something impressive. had many days of fun when the shop was closed with flight sims as the shop owner is a close friend.
 
The adapter arrived today but the sockets are the wrong way round, so I'll pop out this afternoon and pick up the correct one.

In the meantime I have the new card in - quite a surprise as I wasn't expecting any real difference, but the display is noticeably sharper with greater colour contrast.
 
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On the basis that it's nice to get feedback when you've made a recommendation...

Assus GeForce card installed, picked up DVI > VGA cable from Maplin, and it's all working now.

Really demonstrates how the old monitor had "worn" - the difference in contrast and colours is striking. Tempted to buy another monitor now to replace the old one and have them both the same.

Thanks all.

dualdisplay.jpg
 
really wish l had a economical tft ld still be on dual monitors lol.
 
If you're in the market for a new monitor then make sure it's an IPS display as, despite the tech having been around awhile, they've only just started to make some headway into the market and the difference is very apparent.
 
wouldnt mind getting myself a new 32" monitor mine still works but the button has stopped working so lm always having to power with my remote :p
 
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