Upgrading to two monitors - need new graphics card

[simpo two]

Hi all, I need some know-how please.
I'm expecting my second Sony 17" TFT (father and baby doing well) so will need to get a graphics card that has 2 x VGA outputs (and different screens!).

My PC is 4 years old but going fine: Athlon 1800+ with half meg of RAM and running XP. Mobo is Asus A7N266 with integrated graphics (GeForce2).

I don't need the latest hairy state-of the art card, just a decent quality one that will work with the rest of the PC.

Thanks

[_Dobbo_]

Pretty much any NVidia card will now have both a VGA and a DVI output. You can buy a DVI to VGA converter which will then allow you to run two monitors from one card.

I wouldn't bet my life but something like this should do the job. YOu can see the two outputs on the card:



This was after a 30 second search, probably there's cheaper stuff available.

[malman]

Ther are some here with VGA + DVI and a couple of twin DVI

ATI clicky

NVIDIA clicky

if its just 2D (not 3D games type stuff) you are after I would think any of those lot should do. It would mainly depend on whether you want twin DVI for your LCDs

[_Dobbo_]

oh, and this here is the converter I think you need.

[simpo two]

Thanks very much everyone - looks like there are no twin-VGA cards then?

Clutching at straws I presume all the cards will fit in the AGP slot... Will the PC autodetect it or is it a BIOS job?

[ErnestM]

simpo two said:

Thanks very much everyone - looks like there are no twin-VGA cards then? Clutching at straws I presume all the cards will fit in the AGP slot... Will the PC autodetect it or is it a BIOS job?

You need to pull out your mb manual to make sure that the card is compatible (newer cards will give you problems with older AGP ports).

ErnestM

[TeamD]

Why not just bang another PCI gaphics card in the machine and use the onboard one aswell if you don't need the latest wizzy graphics adapter? I would have assumed it would be a far cheaper option than going out and replacing everything with a dual header card. You see, you don't need a two port card to have two displays (or more), just add another pci adapter and bob's your uncle, you should be able to extend you desktop onto it.

[Plotloss]

There are loads of twin head graphics cards.

You could get a PCI one though just to power the other monitor...

[Zod]

If you can afford it, the nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra has two DVI outputs.

[malman]

simpo two said:

Thanks very much everyone - looks like there are no twin-VGA cards then? Clutching at straws I presume all the cards will fit in the AGP slot... Will the PC autodetect it or is it a BIOS job?

Most cards tend to come with VGA + DVI. Alot come with a free DVI to VGA convertor, voila twin VGA

[simpo two]

Thanks all. Looks like we have two plans:

Plan A:

TeamD said:

Why not just bang another PCI gaphics card in the machine and use the onboard one aswell if you don't need the latest wizzy graphics adapter?...You see, you don't need a two port card to have two displays

Plan B:

malman said:

Most cards tend to come with VGA + DVI. Alot come with a free DVI to VGA convertor, voila twin VGA

Any recommendations for A and B?

[_Dobbo_]

For plan A - there are loads of cheap PCI cards on ebay. £1.99 seems about what you would expect to pay.

For plan B - the link I originally posted should be fine, along with an adaptor. Done for under £50.

Plan A looks a bit tempting now I bet!

[_Dobbo_]

Or get this one and run four monitors!

The only issue is whether an old PCI card can run a high enough resolution and colour depth for your requirements...

[malman]

_Dobbo_ said:

For plan A - there are loads of cheap PCI cards on ebay. £1.99 seems about what you would expect to pay. For plan B - the link I originally posted should be fine, along with an adaptor. Done for under £50. Plan A looks a bit tempting now I bet!

For that sort of price if you don't try plan A first you must be MAaaaaddd!

[simpo two]

malman said:

For that sort of price if you don't try plan A first you must be MAaaaaddd!

Ah - but would I be able to set the same res on each monitor? I hear that the PC might only be able to use its on-board capability OR the card but not both...

[TheExcession]

I run three monitors on my system - Dell Dimension 8300 running Win2K professional.

The primary is via an NVIDA GeForce FX 5200 which came with the box.

2nd is PCI Matrox Mystique from the first PC I ever bought circa 1997!

3rd is PCI Velocity 128 if found in a spares box a few weeks ago.

I run 3 IIYAMA monitors all at 1280x1024, 32 bit colour and around 85Hz refresh rate (probably could go a bit higher)

Anyway, the whole lot works a treat so if you have spare PCI slots go with the this as its much cheaper.

best
Ex

[dilbert]

_Dobbo_ said:

Pretty much any NVidia card will now have both a VGA and a DVI output. You can buy a DVI to VGA converter which will then allow you to run two monitors from one card. I wouldn't bet my life but something like this should do the job. YOu can see the two outputs on the card: This was after a 30 second search, probably there's cheaper stuff available.

I'm not sure I'd assume that you can have different portions of the desktop coming out of each of the connections of a DVI/RGB video card. Aren't the DVI syncs timed with the RGB ones? Even if you could do this, you'd have to run at half the resolution to get twice the desktop space. You only get one frame buffer.

I don't do it myself, but I think most people running two monitors have two video cards, no?

[agent006]

I've got a 32mb matrox millenium G400 dual head VGA. It's an AGP card and will happily run two monitors at 1600x1200 in whaterver colours you like. £30 from the wonderful ebay.

[simpo two]

agent006 said:

I've got a 32mb matrox millenium G400 dual head VGA. It's an AGP card and will happily run two monitors at 1600x1200 in whaterver colours you like. £30 from the wonderful ebay.

A dual head VGA!! I was beginning to think they didn't exist. I think I might get one.

[_Dobbo_]

dilbert said:

I don't do it myself, but I think most people running two monitors have two video cards, no?

Possibly - I know I can run two monitors on both of my GeForce 6600's at home so I could if I wanted run 4 monitors.

At the office several guys have GeForce Quadro cards which can run one monitor from VGA and another from the DVI with an adaptor.