3 Monitors

sturpe · 03-27-2009, 07:30 AM

I have a Dell Vostro 420. It has a 0R038D A00 motherboard and an ATI Radeion HD 3450 display adapter. I am currently using 2 monitors (driven from the ATI card) but I want to add a third monitor.
Is there a way to utilize the VGA output from the motherboard to drive the third monitor? If not, what would be a good choice for a PCI video card to supplement my existing hardware?

**Pauldo** · 03-27-2009, 01:02 PM

You can't use the vga output from your motherboard when you have another graphics card attached.

What are you going to be using this third monitor for?

I am currently running a 3 monitor set-up right now with a HD 4850 pci-e and a Hd 3650 pci and it works great.

Keep in mind that you will need to stick with ATI/AMD card since nvidia and ATI/AMD drivers will not work together on the same machine.

If your not going to be gaming with this third monitor than just about any card will do the trick. I would recommend getting a dual output card, mine has only one, because you will soon find it necessary to have four monitor, instead of three

.

Pauldo

**kinbard** · 03-27-2009, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pauldo

because you will soon find it necessary to have four monitor, instead of three

.

Pauldo

Mission Impossible theme plays in the background.

**Pauldo** · 03-27-2009, 01:19 PM

Yes and every night when I go to sleep I dream about this.

http://www.digitaltigers.com/zenview-atlas20pro.asp

**kinbard** · 03-27-2009, 01:27 PM

Kinbard drools, then goes to change his shorts when he sees the price tag. Nice, though.

sturpe · 03-27-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pauldo

You can't use the vga output from your motherboard when you have another graphics card attached.

What are you going to be using this third monitor for?

I am currently running a 3 monitor set-up right now with a HD 4850 pci-e and a Hd 3650 pci and it works great.

Keep in mind that you will need to stick with ATI/AMD card since nvidia and ATI/AMD drivers will not work together on the same machine.

If your not going to be gaming with this third monitor than just about any card will do the trick. I would recommend getting a dual output card, mine has only one, because you will soon find it necessary to have four monitor, instead of three

.

I am not gaming. Just need more space to display my programs, mostly for Ham Radio. Thanks for the answers, you confirmed my suspicions.

Pauldo

**emosun** · 03-28-2009, 02:20 AM

You can also just get a usb display device which are good enough for just basic pc use.

**Pauldo** · 03-28-2009, 10:02 AM

Didn't think about the usb option.

Have you seen any reviews on them?

Have you seen the wireless option?

If it works that would be pretty cool.

http://www.wisair.com/products/refer...splay-adapter/

Pauldo

**emosun** · 03-28-2009, 10:18 PM

I know the wired ones are ok but's haven't heard of the wireless ones , my guess is the wired ones would be cheaper and more reliable( thats pretty much a constant in electronics).

**Pauldo** · 03-29-2009, 11:29 AM

Thanks

sturpe · 04-01-2009, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sturpe

I have a Dell Vostro 420. It has a 0R038D A00 motherboard and an ATI Radeion HD 3450 display adapter. I am currently using 2 monitors (driven from the ATI card) but I want to add a third monitor.
Is there a way to utilize the VGA output from the motherboard to drive the third monitor? If not, what would be a good choice for a PCI video card to supplement my existing hardware?

Ok. So now I have the Radeon HD 3450 PCIe and the Radeon 9000 PCI installed. I took the advice and got a second dual video card so I can add that 4th monitor in the future! Now what software do I need to use to make all the monitors work?

**Pauldo** · 04-01-2009, 09:47 PM

Windows will recognize the new monitor. Probably the easiest way to enable it would be to do it thru Catalyst Control Center. Click on Dispalys Manager and you should have a third monitor greyed out. Click on it and CCC will ask if you want to extend you Windows desktop onto this display. Click Yes and you should have it up and running.

Biggest problem I have found is that you can't stretch one background image across multiple desktops without special software. The one I use is Display Fusion. I use it mostly for displaying one wallpaper background over three monitors but it does have some pretty neat features that come along with it.]

Have fun!

Pauldo

sturpe · 04-02-2009, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pauldo

Windows will recognize the new monitor. Probably the easiest way to enable it would be to do it thru Catalyst Control Center. Click on Dispalys Manager and you should have a third monitor greyed out. Click on it and CCC will ask if you want to extend you Windows desktop onto this display. Click Yes and you should have it up and running.

Biggest problem I have found is that you can't stretch one background image across multiple desktops without special software. The one I use is Display Fusion. I use it mostly for displaying one wallpaper background over three monitors but it does have some pretty neat features that come along with it.]

Have fun!

Pauldo

Windows is recognizing the PCI card, but cannot find a driver for it. When I insert the CD that came with the card, the message says the driver does not support XP. Browsing the CD, I cannot find an XP driver.

When I go to the ATI web site and look for a driver for the ATI Radeon 9000, the only choice I see is a different Catalyst Control Center. (Different from the one I already have installed, and it appears to be an older version.) I tried installing that CCC but got the same message. There must be a way to download a driver only for the card, but so far I cannot find how. I have a request placed with ATI, but so far no response.

Does anyone have help on this part of the problem?

Thanks,

**Pauldo** · 04-02-2009, 10:35 AM

Have you tried uninstalling all ATI drivers, for both cards, and re-installing?

Try using the drivers from your 3450 and see if it will recognize both cards.

Other than that I'm not sure how to proceed. For the HD versions they seperate out the different drivers and software but they don't do that for the 9000.

Let us know if AMD responds to your email and what the solution was.

Pauldo

sturpe · 04-03-2009, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pauldo

Have you tried uninstalling all ATI drivers, for both cards, and re-installing?

Try using the drivers from your 3450 and see if it will recognize both cards.

Other than that I'm not sure how to proceed. For the HD versions they seperate out the different drivers and software but they don't do that for the 9000.

Let us know if AMD responds to your email and what the solution was.

Pauldo

I did get in touch with AMD. They said the two cards are not compatible, at least in my system. Their only solution to add more than two monitors was to use a Fire MV2400 card in one of my PCIe X1 slots. That's a pricey solution, 300 bucks or so. I won't be going that way any time soon!

So I am still looking for a solution. I have a PCIe X16 slot (currently occupied by the ATI 3450, 2 unused PCIe X1 slots and 2 unused PCI slots to work with. So I am still looking for a low cost solution if anyone has another idea.

Thanks,

Paul

**Pauldo** · 04-03-2009, 01:16 PM

This is ridiculous!

Where did all the pci graphics cards go? There were many more options when I purchased my 3650 back in June of last year

It would work if you were able to find an HD 3XXX series card, or possibly a 2XXX series card. You should probably look locally, though, so you can return it if it doesn't work.

The highest one I can find is a radeon HD 2400, here.

There was also a Fire MV2200 for $94, here, which should do just fine, especially since AMD is recommending a Fire card to you.

Did they mention why it won't work?

I can't believe how much of a pain this has been for you. It should not be this way.

Pauldo

sturpe · 04-04-2009, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pauldo

This is ridiculous!

Where did all the pci graphics cards go? There were many more options when I purchased my 3650 back in June of last year

It would work if you were able to find an HD 3XXX series card, or possibly a 2XXX series card. You should probably look locally, though, so you can return it if it doesn't work.

The highest one I can find is a radeon HD 2400, here.

There was also a Fire MV2200 for $94, here, which should do just fine, especially since AMD is recommending a Fire card to you.

Did they mention why it won't work?

I can't believe how much of a pain this has been for you. It should not be this way.

Pauldo

If I understood the AMD guy correctly, he wanted me to use just one video card. The Fire mv2400 supports 4 monitors with the one card. If I read it correctly, the MV2200 only supports 2 monitors so I would still have to make it work in conjunction with my existing card.

I haven't completely given up on making this work. I tried uninstalling (and removing) my 3450 card and I could not get the 9000 card to work, even by itself. So I think I must have done something wrong. I am going to go back and work with just the 9000 card but I can't do it until the first of the week. I'll let you know what I discover.

Thanks for the help and best wishes.

Paul

**emosun** · 04-04-2009, 07:32 AM

I think it's because there is usually only one dedicated pci slot for video cards on most motherboards (meaning a pci video card would only work in that slot), to date I have never gotten two regular pci cards to work at the same time on one board.

**Pauldo** · 04-04-2009, 11:37 AM

Emosun-

Are you talking pci-e or just plain pci?

Hmm. I might have to try putting two pci (no -e) graphics cards in this weekend and see what happens. I do know that the guys at Digital Tigers state that you can use more than one.

sturpe-

So is your Radeon HD 3450 not in the PCI-E x16 slot?

All I can say is that I have a Radeon HD 4850 on my PCI-E slot and a Radeon HD 3650 on my PCI (regular old) slot on the same computer and it installed and works great.

I was just assuming that the 9000 was too old and the drivers didn't mix with your 3450. It is interesting that you couldn't get the 9000 to work by itself. I'd be interested to see what happens if you get it working and then plop in your 3450.

Pauldo

**wrench97** · 04-04-2009, 12:12 PM

How about Omega drivers for the 9000 card?
http://www.omegadrivers.net/

03-27-2009, 07:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
sturpe Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 23 OS: XP Pro	3 Monitors I have a Dell Vostro 420. It has a 0R038D A00 motherboard and an ATI Radeion HD 3450 display adapter. I am currently using 2 monitors (driven from the ATI card) but I want to add a third monitor. Is there a way to utilize the VGA output from the motherboard to drive the third monitor? If not, what would be a good choice for a PCI video card to supplement my existing hardware?

03-27-2009, 01:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors You can't use the vga output from your motherboard when you have another graphics card attached. What are you going to be using this third monitor for? I am currently running a 3 monitor set-up right now with a HD 4850 pci-e and a Hd 3650 pci and it works great. Keep in mind that you will need to stick with ATI/AMD card since nvidia and ATI/AMD drivers will not work together on the same machine. If your not going to be gaming with this third monitor than just about any card will do the trick. I would recommend getting a dual output card, mine has only one, because you will soon find it necessary to have four monitor, instead of three . Pauldo __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

03-27-2009, 01:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors Yes and every night when I go to sleep I dream about this. http://www.digitaltigers.com/zenview-atlas20pro.asp __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

03-27-2009, 01:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
kinbard TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,459 OS: Experimenter	Re: 3 Monitors Kinbard drools, then goes to change his shorts when he sees the price tag. Nice, though. __________________ Half viking, half pirate, stronger than both XP Repair Malware Removal Vista Repair Downgrade Vista

03-28-2009, 02:20 AM	#7 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,088 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: 3 Monitors You can also just get a usb display device which are good enough for just basic pc use. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

03-28-2009, 10:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors Didn't think about the usb option. Have you seen any reviews on them? Have you seen the wireless option? If it works that would be pretty cool. http://www.wisair.com/products/refer...splay-adapter/ Pauldo __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center] Last edited by Pauldo; 03-28-2009 at 10:05 AM.

03-28-2009, 10:18 PM	#9 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,088 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: 3 Monitors I know the wired ones are ok but's haven't heard of the wireless ones , my guess is the wired ones would be cheaper and more reliable( thats pretty much a constant in electronics). __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

03-29-2009, 11:29 AM	#10 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors Thanks __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

04-01-2009, 09:47 PM	#12 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors Windows will recognize the new monitor. Probably the easiest way to enable it would be to do it thru Catalyst Control Center. Click on Dispalys Manager and you should have a third monitor greyed out. Click on it and CCC will ask if you want to extend you Windows desktop onto this display. Click Yes and you should have it up and running. Biggest problem I have found is that you can't stretch one background image across multiple desktops without special software. The one I use is Display Fusion. I use it mostly for displaying one wallpaper background over three monitors but it does have some pretty neat features that come along with it.] Have fun! Pauldo __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

04-02-2009, 10:35 AM	#14 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors Have you tried uninstalling all ATI drivers, for both cards, and re-installing? Try using the drivers from your 3450 and see if it will recognize both cards. Other than that I'm not sure how to proceed. For the HD versions they seperate out the different drivers and software but they don't do that for the 9000. Let us know if AMD responds to your email and what the solution was. Pauldo __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

04-03-2009, 01:16 PM	#16 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors This is ridiculous! Where did all the pci graphics cards go? There were many more options when I purchased my 3650 back in June of last year It would work if you were able to find an HD 3XXX series card, or possibly a 2XXX series card. You should probably look locally, though, so you can return it if it doesn't work. The highest one I can find is a radeon HD 2400, here. There was also a Fire MV2200 for $94, here, which should do just fine, especially since AMD is recommending a Fire card to you. Did they mention why it won't work? I can't believe how much of a pain this has been for you. It should not be this way. Pauldo __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

04-04-2009, 07:32 AM	#18 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,088 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: 3 Monitors I think it's because there is usually only one dedicated pci slot for video cards on most motherboards (meaning a pci video card would only work in that slot), to date I have never gotten two regular pci cards to work at the same time on one board. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

04-04-2009, 11:37 AM	#19 (permalink)
Pauldo Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 1,444 OS: winXP Pro sp3 My System	Re: 3 Monitors Emosun- Are you talking pci-e or just plain pci? Hmm. I might have to try putting two pci (no -e) graphics cards in this weekend and see what happens. I do know that the guys at Digital Tigers state that you can use more than one. sturpe- So is your Radeon HD 3450 not in the PCI-E x16 slot? All I can say is that I have a Radeon HD 4850 on my PCI-E slot and a Radeon HD 3650 on my PCI (regular old) slot on the same computer and it installed and works great. I was just assuming that the 9000 was too old and the drivers didn't mix with your 3450. It is interesting that you couldn't get the 9000 to work by itself. I'd be interested to see what happens if you get it working and then plop in your 3450. Pauldo __________________ SystemSpec \| Power Supply Info \| How to Post a Screen shot \| Speedfan[/center]

04-04-2009, 12:12 PM	#20 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,854 OS: Win7	Re: 3 Monitors How about Omega drivers for the 9000 card? http://www.omegadrivers.net/ __________________ Power Supply and Selection