Double Monitor Question ^^

[xJedix 0]

Alright, I got 2 monitors currently and I found that my brother left his old graphics card at my house. I was wondering if I would be able to run dual monitors with this. I don't know like anything about running dual monitors. Do you just need 2 monitors and 2 graphic cards? If thats the case, my current graphics card is a 32mb geforce2. My brothers old one I believe is some 16mb card. Will these work? or will their be conflicts because I believe they are different brands and also have different mb capacity? Also, I'm running windows 2000 pro. Will my os work with it?if thats not the case, what else do I need? Thanks in advance

[farmer 0]

I'm not an expert on this but, no, I don't think so.I have 2 monitors but they are supported by my ATPI graphics card which is designed for dual monitors or using a tw set, etc.I believe you would have to have such a card or perhaps there is software that can make that happen.However, as I said, this isn't my field so I'll be watching for a better answer.

[xJedix 0]

hmm, thanks for the reply.... Just a little more info, maybe it will help. My current card is a 32mb NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400. The software thats installed with it talks about dual monitors. In some settings, there is one check box saying "Enable Dualview(Treat multiple outputs on an NVIDIA GPU-based card as seperate display devices)." And the software supports like multiple desktops that I can switch between.Thanks again, and tell me if you need any more info to assist me in this.

[savge17 0]

From what I know it really only takes 1 graphics card, but the card has to have 2 slots for the monitor. Also using two monitors for games isnt such a great idea because it reduces the frame rate and equlaizes them throughout both of the monitors, otherwise for buisness or video production purposes it can be a great alternative.

[DogEater008 0]

actually.. .you need you buy two graphic card. .and a motherboard has to support it. .For example. .you need a mother board that has 2 AGP slots. Then most likely.. that mother board supports dual graphic card...wait.. nvm. .that isn't right. .sorry for the wrong info.dual graphic means it uses two graphic card (one to process the upper half of the screen and the other one process the lower half)... But the cheapest way you could get dual monitor is.. to buy those spliter box that they used in stores to preview their mointors.. .The dual screen view you're talking about is.. for a tv-out.. Graphic cards these days usually comes with either an a/v port or a s-video port out port. You could then plug it to your TV and use it as a second screen or extention to your desktop. This means you could drag window media player over to the TV screen and watch movies while chatting or browsing on your main screen. But make sure you have a fast computer so it doesn't lag whatever you're watching. I have never seen a graphic card that supports more than two screens at the same time. Like my brother has a laptop that has a monitor port and a s-video port. You can only have two screen (including the laptop screen).

[fffanatics 0]

Well i actually am pretty sure that you can run both monitors using two graphics cards as long as the cards themselves support dual monitors. Most graphics cards do but they sound old so i would say just try it and see what happens. You never know you just might have the right kinds

[rvalkass 5]

I have a Radeon X600 from ATI, and in the Control Centre I have this screen (click here). I am sure that nVidia has something similar. It works by using two of the monitor ports on the back of the PC, one on the graphics card and one connected directly to the motherboard, using the integrated graphics. You then use the Control Centre to chosse what sort of monitor each one is, and set the settings for each one. You then have choices on what to idsplay on each one, and where they are positioned. For example, you can spread one image across both displays or have each monitor show entirely different screens and act like separate PCs. You can also tell it where each monitor is, if you split the image, so you can make an extra tall or wide desktop. nVidia's Dualview is something similar to the screen above, but it requires you to have two monitors attached to the same graphics card, using a splitter. If you have integrated graphics as well as a graphics card you should be able to use the method above. The integrated monitor port often has tape or a rubber bung over it, so you don't use it accidentally.

[Inspiron 0]

I don't think it is possible to connect 2 monitors that both uses the standard monitor port. You will need a monitor that supports S-Video input to work on multiple monitors simultaneously because your graphic card only can have 1 monitor plugged in as it cannot accept the other of the same plug.I'm using a Dell notebook now that has an S-video output. Dell provided me with a S-video cable that splits into the typical red, yellow and white video and sound ports which can be connected to a normal television, a monitor that accepts video inputs or even a projector. I've tried connecting to my home television and watched a movie on it. I could have the movie displayed on both my notebook screen and the television simulanteously. In fact, whatever I am doing on my computer did showed up on the television when connected. That is one of the way where people are using to give presentations on projectors as it works the same way.If you don't have a S-video port on your computer, then I don't think it will be possible to use your second monitor. The screenshot that rvalkass gave will work and configure when you have both your monitors connected to your computer. Otherwise the configurations like what the screenshot show will not render the usefulness because it's basically configures nothing.

[Joe2Chance 0]

I run 3 monitors at work it has one ATI dual VGA card in an AGP slot and one ATI single VGA card in a PCI slot, at home I'm running 2 monitors with two completely diferent cards and i don't have any problem with that, i think if you try you will be sucessful, just don't forget to set preferences for your new monitor in the Display control panel.Ps: Did you know that Windows support ten monitors on a single PC? Just had two single video cards + one dual video card + two dual video cards!! Just imagine, TEN MONITORS!!!! :angry:Stay well.

[Inspiron 0]

Like what Joe2Chance said, each monitor is supposed to be connected into one monitor port. Hence for his case, he had more than 1 graphic card, which each graphic card support 1 monitor. Hece he could have multiple monitors running simultaneously.Otherwise, you will have to use the S-video method which I've posted earlier if you got only 1 graphic card, which is usually the case for most people.

[Galahad 0]

Well, most of the people already covered all the alternatives, I'll just add my two cents here...Besides S-Video, and Composite out, you can buy a card with additioal DVI port... I have Ati Radeon 9250 on work, and it has one standard VGA port, one S-Video port, and one DVI port... DVI is the one you plug LCD monitors into... But, there are DVI-to-VGA converters, they are tiny boxes, and are probably priced under 3 dollars... You plug it into your graphics cards DVI port, then you plug your analog (standard VGA) cable into this converter, and voila! You have an instant two monitors... Those were my two cents :angry:Now, as for your inquiry, wether 2 graphics cards will work together, the answer is yes, they will. Without any additional software I believe... We used Xentera's for our projects, and we were looking for a cheaper seolution (Xenteras are graphics cards, that provide 8 separate VGA ports, and cost roughly arround 2000 dollars)... So, we tried 4, dual head graphics cards, and we got the same result, even better in some situations... And I believe it worked perfectly without any additional software, all was natively supported in Windows XP... Since there are no cards with two AGP slots (or at least not widely available), we used PCI cards... The age of cards should not matter, they are supposed to work together, no matter who made them... Just plug them both in, boot your Windows, install drivers for your "new" graphics card, and you should get those two monitors in your display properties... Then just set them up, and you're all set...I use two monitors for work, and they are great advantage when you have a lot of things to do, use one as workspace, other - place all the tools there, and you have a great increase in viewable work area...

[antwill 0]

Wow i never knew that i could use two monitors but according to you i can, thanks. But i think you may be wrong about the dual graphics cards. I may be wrong but i believe that you need a motherboard that supports that. The sli type motherboards supports them. But i may be wrong although i am fairly certain that im not as i had previously asked a friend about this subject a month ago when i was looking at a new computer.

[Inspiron 0]

Galahad had pointed DVI and Composite port which I've missed out. They are too the alternatives. However, they are built on different technologies which suppose to work together in terms of working with multiple monitors simultaneously. Hence you will need to know how they work before plugging them and configuring to work together..

Here I'm found some help which you will definately like to look into.
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
http://www.ehow.com/video_13829_connect-two-monitors.html

[kylelnsn 0]

nope i dont think so you need a grhpx card that support dual monitor and that it is all compatiable, sorry

[Helium 0]

My GeForce 5500FX has three output ports, standard monitor, digital output and S-video. All I have to do is plug in a second monitor (flatscreen) or s-video device, reboot and play around a bit with my nvidia drivers...