Problem setting up dual monitors with 7/GeForce GTS240 Graphics Card

Zepher said:

You can run 2 screens with your PC, but 1 has to be DVI or HDMI and the other would be VGA.

As in monitor you mean Zepher? Or is alphanumeric correct in that because its an on board card it does not support 2 monitors?


Could I try this or am I clutching at straws?!


NEW USB 2.0 TO VGA SVGA ADAPTER CABLE SUPPORT WINDOWS 7 on eBay (end time 21-Jul-10 14:37:51 BST)

PainfulGlory said:

alphanumeric said:

Is this an on board (built in) video card? If it is, its highly likely it only supports a single monitor. I've been looking at a lot of motherboards lately and every one with on board video didn't have dual monitor support. Lots of different monitor connectors but you could only ever use one of them at a time.

Yes it is built in I guess, great, more bad news!

https://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Home+...roductId=39948

Ive attached 2 pictures of the back of the PC, and the 2 apadters ive tried.

If it does only supoort one monitor, what would be the point of having the DVI port?

If you had a monitor that only had a DVI connector on it you would use the DVI port. They could have just put just a DVI-I port on it and put a DVI to VGA adapter in the box. Instead they split the digital and analog signals to the two different connectors. It saves you from having to use an adapter. Same thing with the HDMI connector. I'm still looking up the specs for that motherboard, but I'd be willing to bet it doesn't support dual monitors.

alphanumeric said:

I'm still looking up the specs for that motherboard, but I'd be willing to bet it doesn't support dual monitors.

Is it doesn't, will that USB device also not work?

Zepher said:

Ya, 1 Monitor will have to be DVI or HDMI and the other has to be VGA.

that USB adapter will work as well, but I would try to invest in a better monitor.

But, buying that adapter will give you the option of running 3 screens down the road if you buy a DVI/HDMI monitor.

Be carefull, just because there are three connectors doesn't mean it will support three monitors. The video card has to have the circuitry to support it. You may be able to connect three monitors to that motherboard but end up with each monitor showing the same screen (mirrored) with no way to change it. I've seen lots of (low end) video cards with VGA and DVI that didn't support dual monitors.

PainfulGlory, read the manual for that PC and see what it says as far as video support. If no paper manual came with it have a look for a PDF version on the CD that should have come with it.

PainfulGlory said:

alphanumeric said:

I'm still looking up the specs for that motherboard, but I'd be willing to bet it doesn't support dual monitors.

Is it doesn't, will that USB device also not work?

First thing I would do is check the manual that came with that PC and see if it says one way or the other if the onboard video supports dual monitors.
The USB video adapter will work, being USB its independent of the motherboards graphics capability. From what I've read the performance isn't very good though. Streaming video to that monitor will probably lag, games almost certainly will. Read the reviews for that device before you buy it. Personally, I'd buy a new video card before I'd buy one of those. Disabling your onboard will free up some RAM as a bonus.

You could try connecting the monitors to the actual video card instead of the integrated video connectors, which in the case of that computer is integrated into the CPU (scroll down to "graphics specifications"),

Intel® Core™ i3-530 Processor (4M Cache, 2.93 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBLR

alphanumeric said:

I'm still looking up the specs for that motherboard, but I'd be willing to bet it doesn't support dual monitors.

Here is all the H55 based boards that Newegg has listed,

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Motherboards,Intel Motherboards,Intel H55/H57,Intel H55

didn't go through all of them but pretty sure every single on of them has VGA/DVI/NDMI connectors (or any combination of the 3) on them, with none of them actually having integrated video on them but relying on that from the video chip integrated into the CPU like the i5 I linked to above.

As faor it having a GT 240 in it,

GeForce GT 240

unless it is documented somewhere and Nvidia snuck it out as an onboard solution, that is it there.

I've just noticed my DVI to VGA adapter doesn't look like either one of the ones you posted. Mine has the 4 pins around the flat tab, a group of 8 next to that, and then two groups of 2 at the far end. Mine wouldn't plug into your motherboard DVI connector. It matches the one listed as DVI-A on this page.> Digital Visual Interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EDIT: The pin layout for the two adapters in your posted picture look like DVI-D (Single Link) and DVI-D (Dual Link)? Whats on the other side?

Here is a similarly spec'ed system as yours,

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1057 Intel Core i3 530(2.93GHz) 4GB DDR3 500GB ATI Radeon HD 4350 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

and here is a picture of the back of it,



The rear panel connections are in a different location than yours, but they are all there (DVI and VGA port in #1, the HDMI port is at the bottom of the circle). Going by the picture of your computer that you posted you are connecting the monitors to the connectors in #1, when if the computer did come with a GT 240 in it you should be connecting them to the ports in #2.