Confused about PCI slots!

websquad · 01 Jul 2014

I have a Dell Optiplex 745 Minitower:

Intel Core 2 Duo MPU
305W power supply
Four PCI slots
8GB RAM DDR2
Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit

PSI Slots:

PCI Express x 16 (empty)
PCI (empty)
PCI (WiFi card)
PCI Express x 1 (empty)

Discovery: if a graphics adapter is plugged into the motherboard, the on-board graphics adapter is disabled. I've found no work-around for that.

Workload: no gaming; just text editing for web sites, simple graphics, file transfer, and web browsing, plus Email.

Objective: I need a total of three monitors.

Issue: I see all sorts of PCI specifications, but am not sure what will work on my MB. I want to keep power usage down, so I want only one adapter to drive three cards. Something like this:
Sparkle PC 8400GS 512MB DDR3 PCI Graphics Card 700037

The Sparkle is available through Amazon.com, has three outputs, and is advertised as supporting three monitors. ("... expand your visual real estate across three HD displays with DVI, HDMI and DVI outputs" according to pitch on amazon.com). BUT WILL IT WORK?

Your thoughts?

Britton30 · 01 Jul 2014

Hi there, first let's get some terms right. PCI and PCIe are not the same. PCIe (PCI Express) has more bandwidth and would be better suite to power 3 monitors. I see no link to the Sparkle card but you say it's a PCI card. I would search for a PCIe X16 card with 3 outputs. The Sparkle one is a bit dated I think.

carwiz · 01 Jul 2014

Yeah, it's PCI 2.0 card. It's made for the older PCs. It gets mixed reviews and I can't find a manual on it. To get to Tech Support on their site, you have to register. My opinion on that matter is best left off this forum. I can't find any reference to anyone running three displays on that card. The card itself has a HDMI, DVI and what looks like a VGA port. Unless there's an adaptor of some sort included, I don't know how they claim it has two DVI ports. You get sound on the HDMI port IF you use a jumper from your sound card to the video card.

If that works for you, then it will probably work.

RoasterMen · 02 Jul 2014

You have a PCI-Express x16 slot and your PSU is rated 305W (Dell Underrates their PSUs so 305W that is real) there is no doubt that you can have that card

websquad · 02 Jul 2014

To clarify, I want to use my machine with three 19" monitors and Window 7's "Extend desktop to this display" option for these multiple displays. Although I may occasionally dip my toe into a YouTube video, I'll not use the devices for watching TV. Sound will come out of the back panel connection on the PC.

Since the PCI Express x 16 slot (slot 1) is empty, this seems to give me some flexibility, as I now understand that the slots are generally backwards compatible (or is that a misunderstanding)?

Thanks for the discussion!

AddRAM · 02 Jul 2014

2 Important Points:

Does that card have a power connector ?

Does your power supply have a power connector for it ?

Yes this is a PCI card, as suggested you`d want a PCI-Express card.

But it doesn`t need a power plug.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814187213

cyberSAR · 02 Jul 2014

I had good results with this card on a Dell recently SAPPHIRE FleX 100322FLEX Radeon HD 6450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card - Newegg.com

Phone Man · 02 Jul 2014

PCI is an older protocol and PCIe is newer and they are not compatible. That card is a PCI card and will not fit in your PCI Express (PCIe) slots and I doubt it will run 3 monitors. Look for a cheap PCIe card and use your x16 slot.

Jim