# Trying to hook up dual monitors help!!



## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

hey guys,
I have Nvidia GeForce 6200 graphics card on windows XP
heres the thing...
how do i hook up two monitors
because i have two monitors that are exactly the same
i have one in right now
and its in the monitor port
where do i hook up the second monitor??!?


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

You will need a VGA / DVI adaptor which will plug into the second port (white) in the graphics card.


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ok but here is the problem
i have a desktop
and i have the GeForce 6200 graphics card
but uh when i bought the computer, the crappy graphics card was 32 megs
so i bought a new one, on AGP port, and when i tried to install it...
it didnt fit
so i had to leave the back casing off
and plug the monitor in manually with just a piece of tape holding it in
i dont understand how the adapter will do anything
because where i put my monitor cable
is inside the desktop casing
as in its just a wire going into the back casing
i had to take sum stuff off


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

will my graphics card allow me to have dual monitors?
i looked at the information and nothing was mentioned
duz my graphics card have to specifically for dual screens


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

If your video card has two outputs (usually a blue VGA output and a white DVI output) then it will support two monitors (there are some extremely rare exceptions to that rule). But if it only has one blue VGA output then it can't support two monitors. Some models of the 6200 only have one VGA output in which case you're out of luck unless your motherboard can run both the onboard video and an AGP card at the same time. I'm not sure if any AGP motherboards can do that but the vast majority of them cannot.


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

Could you take a picture?


Im confused as to what you mean by :



> so i had to leave the back casing off
> and plug the monitor in manually with just a piece of tape holding it in
> i dont understand how the adapter will do anything
> because where i put my monitor cable
> is inside the desktop casing


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ok i will as soon as i get home
im at school right now
i got a free period lol
but uh i read that 

"Presently, all of our current Geforce and Quadro family of GPU's (Graphics Processing Unit) supports dual monitors. However, in order to support dual monitors, the graphics card must include two ports to allow two monitors to be connected to the PC or Macintosh. "

so uh wuts that mean??!?!


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

It means it must have two slots at the back of the card like this:











I use a Sparkle 6200 and i have had two monitors hooked up no problem. Although because there is the White DVI slot, you need the VGA to DVI Adaptor which will allow the monitor to plug in.

:wave:


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ahhh that picture really helped
the only problem is that the back case isnt on
so the graphics card is way shoved in my desktop cover

kk
my digital camera is ****
sooooo

sry about the size and crappyness :'(
i looked at the graphics card
and it has one open green slot


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

any HELP!?!!?


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

It's very hard to tell what you've got from those images. Just look at the back of your video card (even if it's inside the case) and tell us which of these output connectors you have. If there's only one then you've got a problem. If you've got two of them then you have to connect a monitor to each one of them to get dual monitors running.


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ahh
ok thanks
i have a VGA(which is hooked up to my monitor now)
and one DVI-I(which is open)
do i need an adapter?


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

It depends on your monitor. If your monitor has a DVI input then you can use a DVI cable to connect it to the video card but if your monitor only has a VGA input then you'll need a DVI to VGA adapter:








They're cheap: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119041


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

OK my graphics card:










Your graphics card:










Which one is your monitor plugged into, the blue or white one?


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

blue one
vga right?


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

yeah thats vga.


For another monitor you will more than likely need a vga to dvi adaptor like mentioned above - Depending on the secondary monitor.


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

Yes you will need the one on the right:


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

IAmNutsAboutPCs said:


> Yes you will need the one on the right:


Excuse me for correcting but it's not "the one on the right". Those two pictures are just shots of both ends of a VGA to DVI adapter like the one I linked to above. The left picture is the VGA end and the right picture is the DVI end.


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

UncleMacro said:


> Excuse me for correcting but it's not "the one on the right". Those two pictures are just shots of both ends of a VGA to DVI adapter like the one I linked to above. The left picture is the VGA end and the right picture is the DVI end.


Sorry.  Been a long day. :1angel:


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ok so i need a DVI-I to VGA adapter?
can i pick that up at like Best Buy or Circuit City


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

Belkin Pro Series DVI-I TO VGA Digital Video Interface Adapter (DVI-I M/HDDB15F)

$15 is that good?










thats the one im about to buy
good deal?


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

Yep - Im using a Belkin Adaptor and havent had any problems :grin:


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ok
there wont be any delay?

and how bout gaming
i play warcraft 3 DotA
when i move the mouse to the right so it will move the map
and my character

will it just move my mouse to the other screen?
or will it stay on one screen?


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## woolard (Sep 30, 2007)

I am also trying to hook up two monitors. My video card has a t.v. out. I can manage to get windows to extend my monitor to a television but not to the second monitor. I think the tv out is causing the problem. I do have an motherboard video card as well as a seperate video card(Gigabyte Radion 9200 se series). When I plug the second monitor into the onboard video card it does not recognize this monitor. Check cable is on the monitor. I have pulled the cord out of the tv out and no change.


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

Nblufire12 - No there wont be a delay. And if the Game runs over the two screens then yes the mouse will automatically swap onto the secondary montior when needed.

woolard - I suggest making your own topic just to make this topic less confusing. Although your Onboard graphics cannot be activated when you have a Video Card installed. For two montiors you need what has been explain in this topic - A Video card with both VGA and DVI ports, And if needed, the secondary monitor will need the VGA to DVI adaptor.


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

my computer doesnt recognize the DVI port
my dad says i cant get the adapter because
it wont recognize


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

How do you know it wont recognise if you havent used the adaptor?

Once you have the second montior connected to the dvi port, go into the Nvidia Control Settings and set it to view both monitors.


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

my dad said he tried hooking up a monitor using DVI port before we bought the VGA monitor

also he said that i cant use a VGA port AND a DVI port at the same time
is this true?

but he said my computer wouldnt recognize the DVI port when he plugged in the DVI monitor....
MY COMP SUCKS


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## HawMan (May 12, 2006)

Mabye your dvi port is faulty then. You can use DVI and VGA at the same time - Thats how many people use 2 Monitors ( Including myself sometimes ).


When he connected the monitor to the dvi port, did he go into the nvidia control panel and set up the multiple displays?


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

nah before my VGA monitor,
he tried the dVI monitor as soon as he setup the card
the monitor didnt show up anything
so he couldnt do anything
ill double check,
but he jus said it was broken


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

can i use a USB to VGA Adapter????
since my DVI port is faulty


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

When your dad tried it out did he connect one monitor to the DVI-I and another monitor to the VGA or did he just connect one monitor to the DVI-I with nothing connected to the VGA? If he tried two monitors then he may have configured them wrong. If he just tried one working monitor connected to the DVI-I with nothing connected to the VGA and never saw anything on the monitor even when powering up then the video card DVI output could be broken (although that's very uncommon).

A video output connected to a USB port is going to be _very_ slow and certainly not something you'd want to game on.


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

he tried to hookup a DVI monitor
by itself
then when it didnt work
he got a VGA monitor
he keeps saying the DVI-I to VGA Adapter wont work because
my computer doesnt recognize the DVI port....
any help on that?


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

Nblufire12 said:


> he keeps saying the DVI-I to VGA Adapter wont work because
> my computer doesnt recognize the DVI port....
> any help on that?


That's not necessarily true. A DVI-I output contains both an analog VGA output along with a digital DVI-D output. They really are two independent parts even though they come out on the same connector. I'm not sure about your video card but many DVI-I outputs even use separate silicon chips for the digital part of the output. Even if the digital part of the DVI-I output is screwed up, the analog part may work just fine. You'd have to try to be sure. It may work and then again it may not. You can buy cheaper adapters than the Belkin (assuming you're in the US) which work fine. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119041 is the same thing but is $8. All you have to do is plug the adapter into the DVI-I output on the video card and then plug your existing monitor into the adapter (using one monitor only). Then you'll know if that output port works properly in analog (VGA) mode.


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ok thanks
ima try it
but u say the adapter will only work with one monitor?


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## UncleMacro (Jan 26, 2005)

Nblufire12 said:


> ok thanks
> ima try it
> but u say the adapter will only work with one monitor?


No. I'm just suggesting trying out the DVI-I port as the only monitor to see if it works. If the DVI-I port works with the adapter and VGA monitor attached then you can try attaching the other monitor to the VGA port. It's just best to try one thing at a time to figure out where your problem is. First see if the DVI-I port works with the adapter and a VGA monitor and then deal with dual monitors.


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## corbain983 (Aug 25, 2007)

ahh i finally tested the DVI port
it doesnt work :'(
i mean
it might be the monitor,
or the wire(dvi cable)
or the dvi port
so ima jus get the adapter and test out my other VGA monitor


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