2monitors on one PC (M2V-MX-SE)

D

Desmond

Hi At work I have 2 monitors on my PC next month there will be three.
I want to do this at home. Can I have this with the built in Graphics
card on my PC which is an Asus M2V-MX-SE or will I have to buy an
expensive AGP Express card. If so what is the best reasonable choice.

Desmond.
 
P

Paul

Desmond said:
Hi At work I have 2 monitors on my PC next month there will be three.
I want to do this at home. Can I have this with the built in Graphics
card on my PC which is an Asus M2V-MX-SE or will I have to buy an
expensive AGP Express card. If so what is the best reasonable choice.

Desmond.

That motherboard has a PCI Express x16 video card slot. Modern
video cards can operate two displays at the same time, and
using such an add-in card would allow you to control
two displays. You can find cheap cards, with a VGA 15 pin and
a DVI-I connector. And also cards for a few more dollars,
that have two DVI-I connectors on the faceplate. It is
only if you are doing gaming, that a more expensive
video card makes sense. A good basic display capability
could range anywhere from $20 to $100 or so.

Some motherboards will not allow the built-in VGA connector,
and a PCI Express x16 video card, to operate at the same
time. So you may not be able to operate a total of three
monitors with that hardware configuration. People
solve this problem, by using two video cards, with a
total of four connectors. With the internal VGA disabled,
they can then control four monitors. Since you only have
one "big" card slot, your motherboard has limitations
as to how easy this would be to arrange. But it can be
done.

For example, you can get a video card which connects to
the PCI Express x1 slot, next to the main video card
slot. This may not fit well physically, depending on the
size of the heatsink on the video card.

Notice the small connector on this card. It fits in the x1
slot. (Radeon X1550)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161197

For more examples, of people controlling multiple monitors,
and what video cards they use, try this gallery.

http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/gallery.asp

Example entry. This person is controlling three monitors, by
using two video cards. The video cards have two connectors
each, so he could control up to four monitors if he wanted.
Note that some combinations of cards don't work well together,
due to driver issues. The driver issues may be noted in the
details of the gallery entry.

http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/details.asp?Config=8513
http://www.realtimesoft.com/upload/gallery/914.jpg

For gaming, people have noticed a problem with that motherboard.
This forum is for the discussion of your motherboard.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...d_id=1&model=M2V-MX+SE&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

Example of another problem. There are a few, expensive video
card, which follow the PCI Express revision 2 interface spec.
On a VIA chipset motherboard, sometimes there are problems
getting video to display. The fix to date for that, is to
reflash the video card BIOS chip, or shop for a video card
which already has the appropriate ROM version already on it.
This affects video cards like 8800GT, mixed with VIA chipset
motherboards. It would not be a problem for an older card
like the X1550.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...d_id=1&model=M2V-MX+SE&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

So having multiple displays, can involve solving some issues.
People who try it, are not always successful on the first
try, and may have to try different cards and drivers, until
they get what they want. Handling two monitors like you
want to do, should not really be a problem, since you could
disable the build-in display, and just use a video card.
This is an example of a PCI Express x16 card, with two connectors on it.
It includes two DVI-I to VGA adapter plugs, if your monitors have
VGA interfaces. The card is also fanless, but it is recommended
that you point a case cooling fan at the heatsink on the card.
By doing so, if three years from now, the case cooling fan is
wearing out, it will be easy and inexpensive to replace.

GIGABYTE GV-NX86T256H GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125070

HTH,
Paul
 
O

Ofnuts

Desmond said:
Hi At work I have 2 monitors on my PC next month there will be three.
I want to do this at home. Can I have this with the built in Graphics
card on my PC which is an Asus M2V-MX-SE or will I have to buy an
expensive AGP Express card. If so what is the best reasonable choice.

Desmond.

The DeltaChrome GPU on your card likely supports dual screen, but I
can't tell if Asus has done the right thing to support that. Rummage in
the box and see if you have a VGA or DVI connector on a bracket...
 

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