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Multiple displays—with a quirk

T

Terpfen

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Messages
6,079
Hey all. Work-related question here.

At my new job, I have two Dell 1908FP displays, but I can currently only use one because my PC, a full size Optiplex 990, lacks multiple display support in the configuration we ordered. So, a Visiontek HD6450 and a DVI splitter was ordered for me and arrived today. I hooked everything up, fired it up, and after installing CCC and Hydravision… I now have two displays mirrored at 640x480 with no way to extend the desktop from one display to the other, or increase the resolution.

Here's the quirk: the Optiplex 990 only accepts half height expansion cards. So the potential solution of having one display run off VGA and the other off DVI isn't possible. I have to somehow drive the two displays from one DVI port.

How can I fix this, and on the cheap? Did we err in ordering an inappropriate GPU, or did I miss something in CCC?
 
http://www.displaylink.com/

You can use that -- which will allow you to plug one into your video card and one on your usb

the one plugged in your usb won't be as great for videos, but perfectly fine for all office related tasks
 
shekkery said:
http://www.displaylink.com/

You can use that -- which will allow you to plug one into your video card and one on your usb

the one plugged in your usb won't be as great for videos, but perfectly fine for all office related tasks
Click to expand...

All of my experiences with USB video have been awful. I'd rather do this right and not go down the hack-y path of a USB dongle.
 
The half height dvi/vga cards usually come with 2 brackets. 1 for card, one for vga. Assuming you have nothing taking up the other slot. You can probably find a bracket that will fit it. Otherwise, you could use the hdmi out with a hdmi to dvi adapter.
 
You got a splitter. You can't have two independent displays with one. You can get low profile GPUs that support up to four displays. You either need to get that or a Matrox DualHead2Go.
 
Malecoda said:
The half height dvi/vga cards usually come with 2 brackets. 1 for card, one for vga. Assuming you have nothing taking up the other slot. You can probably find a bracket that will fit it. Otherwise, you could use the hdmi out with a hdmi to dvi adapter.
Click to expand...

Yes, I swapped out the full height bracket for one of the two half height brackets to get the GPU to fit. I didn't think of putting the VGA-capable bracket in a slot below, but I'll give that a try and see if it stays in place. Otherwise I'll see about a DVI-HDMI adapter. Thanks!

Blue Fox said:
You got a splitter. You can't have two independent displays with one. You can get low profile GPUs that support up to four displays. You either need to get that or a Matrox DualHead2Go.
Click to expand...

Coincidentally, my previous PC had a splitter and powered two extended with a FireMV 2200.

And yes, a low profile GPU that supports multiple displays would be ideal. I was actually hoping for specific GPU suggestions when I started this thread. Which specific GPU(s) should I be looking at? Preferably around $50 and relatively modern with Windows 7 x64 support.
 
Terpfen said:
Yes, I swapped out the full height bracket for one of the two half height brackets to get the GPU to fit. I didn't think of putting the VGA-capable bracket in a slot below, but I'll give that a try and see if it stays in place. Otherwise I'll see about a DVI-HDMI adapter. Thanks!
Click to expand...
That sounds like your best option.

Terpfen said:
Coincidentally, my previous PC had a splitter and powered two extended with a FireMV 2200.
Click to expand...
The FireMV's have a single connector that outputs 2 or 4 monitor outputs, and requires the dongle to attach each individual monitor connection. Many workstation-class cards use that type of connection and dongle. It's not a splitter in the typical definition.
 
PTNL said:
The FireMV's have a single connector that outputs 2 or 4 monitor outputs, and requires the dongle to attach each individual monitor connection. Many workstation-class cards use that type of connection and dongle. It's not a splitter in the typical definition.
Click to expand...

That would explain it.

HDMI-DVI converter it is, unless someone nominates an appropriate half-height GPU.
 
I am in the same boat here.

990 USFF and looking to get 3 displays running.

The board won't let me have PCIe slot 1 on at the same time as the display port or the vga.

I was thinking I would just buy

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150600

and just run the vga out the other slot or get some sort of low profile vga bracket.

Just ordered, well see how it works.
 
Last edited:
Well I picked up a 5450 and hooked up all three displays.

I am only seeing two desktops as an option.

I can enable any combination of two monitors, but getting the thrid to work is not possible.

Anyone know whats going on here?

Would adding a second video card resolve this problem?\

I have a spare basic dell video card with one dvi out here.

Doing some reading is this an active display port issue?
 
Last edited:
That maybe the issue. 5000 series and up could only do 2 legacy ports and the rest of the ports (up to 4) had to be display ports. If you needed other ports, it required active adapters.
 
thedocta45 said:
Well I picked up a 5450 and hooked up all three displays.

I am only seeing two desktops as an option.

I can enable any combination of two monitors, but getting the thrid to work is not possible.

Anyone know whats going on here?

Doing some reading is this an active display port issue?
Click to expand...

Yup that's the issue. You need a displayport to DVI/HDMI adapter in order to get three monitors working with the HD 5450. Yes if your motherboard can support two video cards, install that Dell card assuming that there's drivers for it in Windows.
 
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