Adding a third monitor.

Ian D J

Ian D J

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Ian D J
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Knowing some of you are dab hands with all things computer-related, I'd like to ask a computer-related question. :naughty:

I've happened across a lovely little 17" Dell LCD monitor at a boot fair for a bargain £7, immaculate working order, etc, and would like to use it as part of a 3-monitor set up on my main PC.
The trouble is, the graphics card on the PC only has dual monitors outputs, both used up by my current dual monitor set-up.
the PC itself is a dual-core Vista-based affair and the graphics card is an Nvida GT9600 PCI-e. The motherboard has no second PCI-e slot to fit in a second card, nor has it has an AGP slot.
But I was "told" that adding one of those old skool PCI graphics cards will provide me with the third output, as there are a couple of spare PCI slots on the motherboard.
It's just a little cheap and cheerful PC project I wouldn't mind trying out. I've seen cheap PCI cards for sale on Amazon and eBay but I won't bother if I find out adding such a card will cause my PC to throw a hissy fit.

Any answers will be most gratefully received by me. :)
 
Have you not on on-board graphics? You could just enabled this, whilst continuing to use your pci-express card
 
aligibbs said:
Have you not on on-board graphics? You could just enabled this, whilst continuing to use your pci-express card
Click to expand...

Oooo, clever thinking. There is a covered socket in the back of the PC. I'll take it off and see what's behind there. Probably cause a conflict where once the onboard graphics is enabled then the PCI-e card is turned off . . . but I'll give it a go.



Cover removed . . . and indeed it does reveal a spare VGA slot. Here goes . . .
 
Take it off- we use the on-board + pci graphics all the time at work :) (might be worth changing the amount of ram it will steal to a low figure as well)
 
Hi, back again. Well, I've lifted the bonnet up and got the BIOS to enable the onboard graphics, and once I did that, the third monitor winked into life, but because the PCI-e slot is forced to be disabled at the same time, the original two monitors didn't come on.
There doesn't seem to be any way to have the onboard AND the PCI-e running at the same time. The BIOS menu has that "tick" option where I can only have one OR the other but not one AND the other, if you know what I mean.
I've tried looking at the Nvidia control panel to see if it does identify a third monitor, but no such luck there. When I had it running off the onboard graphics, only the intel's own graphic software is seen (and no sign of the Nvidia).
A pity really as that did sound a very good idea . . . unless I'm missing something. But thanks for your reply though!
 
We do manage to run both at the same time here- though I admit depending on the bios etc, its a bit fiddly. PCI card should work in much the same way.
 
This is it, I think BIOS options does vary from one PC to another. The one on mine's did look very basic.
I think it's something that's best left alone, save myself the time and effort and be grateful with my current dual monitor set up! :D
 
With the majority of PCs as soon as you plug another graphics card in to them, this will override the on board graphics. I have yet to find one which hasnt, anyways you have a few options.

You can get a USB to VGA adapter which will support a maximum res of 1280*1024 which should be more than enough for your 17"

You can get a wirelss adaptor which does the same thing but a lot more expensive

of you can buy another graphics card with 3 or 4 outputs on it. Some graphics cards come with HDMI DVI and VGA output, and can be had from aroudn £60 upwards
 
Dylanlewis is correct.. Once you put a card in the chances are you wont be able to use the onboard head as well..

You can get graphics cards that have 3 or even 4 heads though. that would solve your problem
 
Stick a cheap pci graphics card in if you have a spare slot and use it that way.
 
Dylanlewis2000 said:
With the majority of PCs as soon as you plug another graphics card in to them, this will override the on board graphics. I have yet to find one which hasnt, anyways you have a few options.

You can get a USB to VGA adapter which will support a maximum res of 1280*1024 which should be more than enough for your 17"

You can get a wirelss adaptor which does the same thing but a lot more expensive

of you can buy another graphics card with 3 or 4 outputs on it. Some graphics cards come with HDMI DVI and VGA output, and can be had from aroudn £60 upwards
Click to expand...

Hello Dylan. :wave: I'll have to look into that USB thing as it does sound like a very easy and mess-free option! And the Dell monitor has a native resolution of 1024 x 768 so it should be alright. :thumbs:

Slicker said:
Dylanlewis is correct.. Once you put a card in the chances are you wont be able to use the onboard head as well..

You can get graphics cards that have 3 or even 4 heads though. that would solve your problem
Click to expand...

Hi, Slicker. :) Won't that mean giving up my beloved GT9600? It's a crackin' little card, lots of raw processing power for little bucks (being able to play Painkiller at high res and maintain a steady 60 fps the whole time is very easily achievable with this card).
Speaking as a FPS gamer, a card with 3 or more heads will need to come with plenty of processing juice and I can't imagine they'll be very cheap . . . which defeats the object of my little project as I want to do it on a very low budget. :naughty:

Steep said:
Stick a cheap pci graphics card in if you have a spare slot and use it that way.
Click to expand...

And hi Steep. :wave: I brought that up in my original thread, and I'm pretty sure it will work. But well, we are talking about Vista here. :naughty:
After a bit of research, it suggests that it does work but chances are that the cheap low-powered PCI card may create a system bottleneck as Windows favours the PCI card over the faster PCI-e. I'm sure a fiddle about with BIOS settings will solve that . . but if it doesn't, I can imagine the novelty of a tri-monitor set up will wear thin as windows becomes slower. :suspect: :geek: :)

But thanks for all your advices, hints and tips, though! :thumbs:
 
I must admit I have enough trouble working with two monitors :)
 
Ian, PM me your addy and I will send you a pci graphics card- I am sure I have a couple lying around I don't need :)
 
aligibbs said:
Ian, PM me your addy and I will send you a pci graphics card- I am sure I have a couple lying around I don't need :)
Click to expand...

That is very kind of you and will take you up on your offer! Have PMed you! :clap: :thumbs:
 
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