Two monitors off one PC?

Gurpreet

Ex. Club Member
Is it possible and how... I want to use the two screens seperately... and be more productive... like type on one and have my iTunes open on the other etc. Or type on one and work on a spread sheet on the other one etc. I know there are Y splitter cables... but Ive been reading around and a lot of people saying that you need 2 graphics cards or one with 2 out puts...

My question is once its all connected how do I configure it all... would I need some kind of switch box? I want to use the one and keyboard and mouse for both... is this possible? My o/s is Win XP Pro.

Thanks
 

Arnold

www.alanarnold.co.uk
Moderator
Site Supporter
Yeah its really easy. A single graphics card with dual output (preferably DVI) is the recommended option. DVI can still be converted to standard 15 pin, but you know if the card is able to do dual DVI then it's pretty good.

The advantage of using one card, is that there's only one set of options to configure. If you have two, there's always a possibility of clashing. I tried two different cards at work before and the system kept blue screening, but a single card with multiple outputs has been very successful (4 outputs in somecases)

To configure, wack the card in & install the drivers (easy). Then go to video properties (where you choose refresh rates and resolutions) and you can either enable Clone or dual output. You drag windows & applications from one monitor to the other.

Any Q's, just PM me :)
 

Pete

Site Supporter
Make sure the DVI output has analogue on it (DVI-A) as you'll not be able to cheaply convert DVI-D to a VGA output for a second analogue monitor (personal experience, can you tell?)

But yeah do it, it's soo much more productive.
 

Igloo

Ex. Club Member
Single graphics card, with 2 outputs, if you want a taskbar on the other monitor download ultramon.

This is my current setup 24" Dell 2407WFP and a 17" LG L1710B

DSC00725.JPG
 
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