JonnyAlpha

Hi;

I am trying to sort out some PC's at work, they are all DELL and have onboard Gfx and a PCI Gfx Card.
The standard monitor is a 17 Inch DELL and is connected via a DVI cable to the PCI Gfx Card which is also DVI.
We have some NEC 24 Inch Monitors and want to attach them but also use the Standard Monitors in a dual monitor environment.

I think the onboard Gfx is disabled as we have attempted to connect the spare monitor to the onboard Gfx but there is no signal.

Both monitors have VGA and DVI input.

These PCs are supported by an agency so we cannot make any changes to BIOS and access in Control Panel is limited. We have contacted the agency who have responded saying that additional Hardware is required so this post is an effort to try and identify what we need to resolve this.

Can the onboard and PCI video be enabled simultaneously, or do we need some form of splitter cable?

gcavan

Additional hardware? I have no idea what that might be. Sometimes onboard video will clash with a dedicated card, but that's very rare. I've only ever confirmed the BIOS setup, then configured the monitors in windows.

Can you access the display settings in Windows? Alternate click on a blank part of your desktop with both monitors attached. ( In XP, click properties. In Vista: Personalize >> Display Settings.) Windows should detect both monitors. The tech weenies may have this disabled also, of course.

JonnyAlpha

We have already tried to attach one monitor to the DVI Out on the PCI Gfx Card and the second monitor to the onboard VGA however when you try and "Extend Windows onto this Monitor" and click apply or OK the sceen just refreshes and returns you back to the default settings of one monitor.

In Display Properties where you select Gfx Cards it has 3 Options 1 and 2 are both the onboard ATI Radeon 600 SE (Not at the PC to confirm model) and the third is something Iv'e never heard of before (Again not at the PC I'll re-post). Not sure why the PCI Gfx is listed twice is this because it will support Dual Monitors?
The lack of an onboard selection would make me assume that the onboard VGA has been disabled?

We are thinking of trying a DVI splitter connected to the DVI Out on the PCI Gfx Card. Would this work to extend the display or would we just get the same display on both?



I'll post the Gfx Card details

gcavan

Many do. But unless your particular card has dual outputs, you are stuck.

I suspect you're right.

Correct. And depending on the native resolution of the two monitors the same, the picture on one or the other may look stretched or compressed.