Video Card

It's that beige box on your floor. In 1999.
dochielomn
Posts: 216
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:16 am

Video Card

Post by dochielomn »

So Kevin suggested I post this here, so here goes:

Back in early June of 2011, I decided to buy a new desktop. I ended up ordering a Dell Inspiron 570 MiniTower with Windows 7 Home Premium. Here are some of the specs that came with it (some I probably tweaked at the time to meet my needs)

Processor: AMD Athlon II X4 635 (2.9GHz, 8MB)
1 TB SATA 3Gbps 3.5-in (7200RPM)
16X DVD +/- RW Optical Drive
Thermal Module Heatsink, 95W
6 GB DDR3 ECC SDRAM 1333MHz (3 DIMMs)
System Chipset AMD 785G
Video (integrated) ATI Radeo HD 4200
External Connectors (Video) 15 pin VGA, 19 pin HDMI
(and other specs can be found at ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/Common/inspi ... _en-us.pdf)

So here's the problem/question- when I bought this computer I had my old CRT monitor as my only monitor (connected via the VGA) and I was able to connect the HDMI port to my TV so I could use the TV as a 2nd monitor and make it into an extended desktop. Thus allowing me to send video/audio to the TV and play or stream video/audio. However, now I finally got around to upgrading my main monitor situation and got an ASUS PB238Q 23 in. This new monitor has an HDMI, DVI, Display, and VGA ports. So now my current configuration is HDMI from the computer to the ASUS monitor and VGA from computer to CRT monitor. But I'd still like to be able to send video/audio from the computer to the tv (since it's bigger than the monitor and the tv is connected to a surround sound system so the audio is also better). So, my solution at the moment was to buy an HDMI splitter (for like $20) that I connected to the HDMI port of the computer and allow the signal to go to both the TV and the ASUS monitor. But, now the tv is a clone image and I'd rather it be extended (and thus making it like a 3rd monitor).

So, after all of this, the question at hand is in order to make the tv into a 3rd monitor, should or can I buy a new video card for the computer. The potential new video card would have to come with at least 3 ports, HDMI, VGA, and either DVI or a Display port. Or should I just be happy that I can send video/audio to the tv as I have it connected now and just live with it being in cloned mode?

Thoughts/suggestions?

Berman
Adam
Posts: 2240
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Video Card

Post by Adam »

dochielomn wrote:So, after all of this, the question at hand is in order to make the tv into a 3rd monitor, should or can I buy a new video card for the computer.
For 3x displays you would need to buy an additional video card for that machine. It has an internal PCIe x16 slot, so pretty much any video card will fit. However, your power supply may not have enough capacity/additional power connectors to drive the card.

Of all the cards that are capable of driving 3x displays at the same time, almost all of them require one of the displays to be driven via Display Port.

Your best (and safest, and cheapest) bet may be to get a low power PCIe card and use it and the on board chip to drive the 3x displays.

This one is cheap and doesn't require an aux power connection (also no fan):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814121439

Some people complained that the DVI-I port shown in the pictures is actually a DVI-D port. Shouldn't matter to you, though.

Also, Kevin let you buy an computer with an AMD processor?!? I have no problem with them.
dochielomn
Posts: 216
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:16 am

Re: Video Card

Post by dochielomn »

Thanks for the reply Adam. Knowing me, I'll probably end up buying this at some point in the near future.

As for Kevin, maybe since it was 2011 he didn't have an issue with AMD processor....
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Video Card

Post by kevm14 »

That card looks good. I love the fan-less design. How can you tell it supports 3 displays? Because of the "Eyefinity" branding? Is that incontrovertible evidence?
Adam
Posts: 2240
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Video Card

Post by Adam »

kevm14 wrote:That card looks good. I love the fan-less design. How can you tell it supports 3 displays? Because of the "Eyefinity" branding? Is that incontrovertible evidence?
It might not support driving 3, but between it and the on board chip, they could do three.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Video Card

Post by kevm14 »

Oh. I have no experience with combining discrete GPU with IGP.
dochielomn
Posts: 216
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:16 am

Re: Video Card

Post by dochielomn »

So, just to resurrect this a bit, you think if I bought the video card on newegg that you suggested, i could just install it (and the proper drivers) and then have 3 active video out displays that work? Or would this turn out to be a trial and error type task where I buy it and just see what happens (or what the comp allows to happen)?
Adam
Posts: 2240
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Video Card

Post by Adam »

Yes, if you got the additional video card between it and the on board one you would be able to get 3 video outputs. Are you looking for them all to be clones or separate desktops?
dochielomn
Posts: 216
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:16 am

Re: Video Card

Post by dochielomn »

Looking for extended desktops on each "monitor (since 1 would be an actual monitor and the other would be a TV). One to the left and one to the right. Currenlly, i have an extended desktop to the left and a clone to the right.
Adam
Posts: 2240
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Video Card

Post by Adam »

The only way it wouldn't work is if the motherboard imposed some limitation where it wouldn't allow the on-board video card and an external video card to be active at the same time. That is unlikely. Also, Windows supports multiple video cards at once. I may have a video card here you can test it out with before you spend money. Let me get back to you.
Post Reply