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Computers & Hardware => PC Hardware => Topic started by: jid on December 23, 2008, 05:26:22 PM

Title: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on December 23, 2008, 05:26:22 PM
Seasons greetings :)

I am in a bit of a dilemma here...

As some of you will know, I am having a new 19" monitor shortly. However, I would like to run my existing 15" monitor in a dual monitor situation.

Now, I have found that I can only do PCI 32bit on my machine (it is quite old lol) and VGA only.

I did look at a FX5200 256mb on ebuyer which had two ports, 1 vga and one DVI, including a DVI-VGA adaptor.

However, I have now found that the card doesn't do 1440*900 res on Vista...great!

So I thought, would it be possible for me to buy this:-
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=218226&&source=14&doy=23m12

and then connect the 19" to the on board graphics and then connect the old monitor to the new gfx card.

Would it be possible to do this?

Any advice is most appreciated

Jamie

 
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: Imagine. on December 26, 2008, 09:51:18 PM
Just looking at that am I seeing things ?? 5200FX for 44.99 ?? *rip off*

take a look at this http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ZOT-52256P

as for running 2screens you just need to go into the provided nVidia software and the settings will be available from there.

as for using the onboard  graphics as well as the new card that might cause some hardware conflicts.

Merry christmas and a happy new-year :)
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on December 27, 2008, 12:02:37 PM
Ok thanks for that

So I would need to go for a graphics card with two outputs on then wouldn't I?

Therefore, I will look around and see what I can find.

Thanks for the advice :)

Quote from: Imagine. on December 26, 2008, 09:51:18 PM
Merry christmas and a happy new-year :)

The same to you too ;D
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 10, 2009, 07:18:10 PM
I have found a card that will do everything I want:-
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139026

£37 but the only PCI card I have seen that will do Vista Aero!!!

Reviews are all very good and seems to be a great card!

Could someone give me advice on how to install it? Do I disable on board gfx in Device manager first then shut down, put in new card and boot or what?

Cheers

Jamie
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: mr_chris on January 10, 2009, 07:25:29 PM
Don't disable in device manager, instead you should go into your BIOS setup and try to disable on-board graphics. If it's not there, look for your motherboard manual, and see if there's a jumper on the motherboard you can move to disable the on-board graphics.

If you still can't find out how to do it, just pop the card in anyway, connect your monitor to it anyway, and chances are the BIOS may have detected it and disabled the on-board graphics automatically.

Looks like a decent PCI card and the reviews are excellent. I'd definitely go for it myself if I needed a PCI video card :)
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 10, 2009, 07:36:44 PM
Quote from: mr_chris on January 10, 2009, 07:25:29 PM
Don't disable in device manager, instead you should go into your BIOS setup and try to disable on-board graphics. If it's not there, look for your motherboard manual, and see if there's a jumper on the motherboard you can move to disable the on-board graphics.

If you still can't find out how to do it, just pop the card in anyway, connect your monitor to it anyway, and chances are the BIOS may have detected it and disabled the on-board graphics automatically.

Looks like a decent PCI card and the reviews are excellent. I'd definitely go for it myself if I needed a PCI video card :)

I will have a look through the BIOS and manuals tomorrow and see what I can find. The BIOS is very limited on this PC so odds are it doesn't have the option but you never know!

I know,  I couldn't believe it, Windows logo is Certified for Vista and works with Aero, I didn't think it was possible of a PCI card!
Title: A Quick Favour.
Post by: jid on January 11, 2009, 10:14:40 AM
I had a good look through the Bios and Manuals yesterday but there is nothing relating to on board video?

Hopefully it will just recognise and disable the on board stuff - if it doesn't should I install the new card and then disable the on board in Device Manager?

And....
A final small thing, I have been trying to download drivers for the card from PowerColor's website, and the speed is real slow! Like 3kb/s, so would someone see if when they try to download it is the same?

http://www.powercolor.com/eng/support_driver.asp?CategoryID=1&SeriesID=3&ModelID=454

It is the first one I need ie Vista. It comes from an FTP server so am wondering if Tiscali are slowing it down? >:(

Kind Regards

Jamie
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: Floydoid on January 11, 2009, 10:19:22 AM
It probably just is an incredibly slow server, I had a similar problem the other day - it was more painful than dialup.
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: oldfogy on January 11, 2009, 10:33:15 AM
Yes it is a sloooow down load, I cancelled it eventually. (estimated time 1Hr +)
Yes, disable it in Device manager.
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 11, 2009, 10:41:59 AM
It is currently estimating 1hour 34 so will keep it going and see.

It should download eventually... ::)
 Cheers Floydoid :)

Ok, shall disable it in Device Manager when installed :)
 Thanks OF. :)
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: oldfogy on January 11, 2009, 10:48:47 AM
I just re-booted my PC and when I came back online I just happened to notice that your file was still downloading "obviously I had not cancelled it" estimated time now 2.5 hrs and that is with BB.
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 11, 2009, 11:23:58 AM
Quote from: oldfogy on January 11, 2009, 10:48:47 AM
I just re-booted my PC and when I came back online I just happened to notice that your file was still downloading "obviously I had not cancelled it" estimated time now 2.5 hrs and that is with BB.

I have 6meg throughput and it is currently:-
Quote
13.mb of 52.9mb ( 3.3KB/sec)
Estimated time: 2hours, 43mins
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 11, 2009, 12:52:31 PM
The download has timed out.

Left it running and has left an empty .zip folder on my desktop? :no:
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 11, 2009, 01:18:03 PM
According to Free Download Manager, there is a 521 error- too many users!
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 11, 2009, 03:11:11 PM
Quote from: jid on January 11, 2009, 01:18:03 PM
According to Free Download Manager, there is a 521 error- too many users!

Downloaded it now! Took 2hours!
Title: Good News!
Post by: jid on January 11, 2009, 06:13:55 PM
I have managed to find the settings in the BIOS.

It was within Boot Options - didn't think of looking there! ::)

There is a greyed out setting: "On Board VGA" which is set to Auto, so I am guessing that is all OK and it should recognise it -maybe when the card is installed, it ungreys and allows it to be manually set?

Thanks for everyone's help

I will let you know how I get on, just need eBuyer to confirm whether it has a DVI-VGA connector included!
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: oldfogy on January 11, 2009, 11:19:31 PM
Yes, to possibly avoid any conflicts it will be better to disable when the new card is installed.
But you may to to setup the new card before disabling it.
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: mr_chris on January 12, 2009, 12:22:29 AM
Yep, I would definitely disable the on-board VGA, but there's no need to set up the new card before doing so.

The best course of action, to keep Windows happy, is this:


Good luck :)
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 12, 2009, 03:55:52 PM
Ok thanks Chris.

Well I have just ordered it so I will be receiving it Wednesday.

Will let you know how it goes.
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: oldfogy on January 12, 2009, 04:26:37 PM
Quote from: oldfogy on January 11, 2009, 11:19:31 PM

But you may to to setup the new card before disabling it.

Thanks for the reminder Chris, I forgot windows will initially use a generic set of drivers.
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 12, 2009, 09:11:13 PM
What do people think of this for cooling?

Main reason for asking is that gfx card will push more heat into the case

[pic attached]

All help and advice appreciated

Many Thanks

Jamie

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Working Very Well!
Post by: jid on January 14, 2009, 05:24:34 PM
Thought I would let everyone know that everything is working great and Aero is running nicely :)

Dual monitor setup was very easy :)
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: UncleUB on January 14, 2009, 05:50:27 PM
Nice one Jamie.  :)
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 14, 2009, 05:59:00 PM
Aero is a pretty neat interface.

Is hungry for RAM though...

But I have 2GB of it and PC is currently only using 1.05!
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: UncleUB on January 14, 2009, 06:19:39 PM
Quote from: jid on January 14, 2009, 05:59:00 PM
Aero is a pretty neat interface.

Is hungry for RAM though...

But I have 2GB of it and PC is currently only using 1.05!
Very greedy,I also have 2 GB,I think you would struggle with just 1GB
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 14, 2009, 06:40:23 PM
I only just put a new one gig stick in as I originally only had 1.5gb of RAM and thought I may want to update in the future so luckily I did as it would have struggled with that!

I have just seen on Windows Update a Reccommended update for the GFX so will install those later on. I had some trouble installing as I had to manually install the drivers from the file I downloaded of PowerColor site and they obviously aren't most recent.

My Windows Experience is now 3.6 instead of 1.0 so that shows how bad my old system was!
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: Imagine. on January 15, 2009, 06:09:19 PM
I see your on Vista hope you enjoy DX10 for games and other such apps that use Direct3D  :)
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 15, 2009, 06:52:23 PM
Quote from: Imagine. on January 15, 2009, 06:09:19 PM
I see your on Vista hope you enjoy DX10 for games and other such apps that use Direct3D  :)

If I am honest I don't do a lot of gaming, but I may purchase one of the extra Expression products to go with Web2

They only support WDDM drivers and I didn't have them before.

I know that DX10 is used by Aero but other than that I wouldn't have the slightest idea!
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 15, 2009, 08:13:10 PM
I have noticed that the new card doesn't seem to allow the changing of Acceleration settings, and it seems that it uses the CPU more than its own GPU.

I obviously havent got the Catalyst control center installed as I couldn't get it to, but I can't seem to see a way around it, I have already noticed much higher cpu usage than normal.

Any ideas on forcing windows to show the acceleration options?
Title: Re: Adding a Second Monitor
Post by: jid on January 15, 2009, 09:29:36 PM
Quote from: jid on January 15, 2009, 08:13:10 PM
I have noticed that the new card doesn't seem to allow the changing of Acceleration settings, and it seems that it uses the CPU more than its own GPU.

I obviously havent got the Catalyst control center installed as I couldn't get it to, but I can't seem to see a way around it, I have already noticed much higher cpu usage than normal.

Any ideas on forcing windows to show the acceleration options?

No worries, found it was something to do with Visual Basic and a server it installs?

Anyway it mucks up the .Net stuff.