Red said:
I replaced new mobo, cpu and memory. I realized no AGP slot. I
thought of PCI express slot as AGP slot. No AGP means I can't do my
work because I need a multi-display graphic so I can do the multi-
tasking. Most AGP card comes with 2 or 3 display support so I did two
tasks. With new system upgraded, I can't do multi-tasking.... Is
there any graphic adopter or USB graphic thing can be inserted as a
secondary video/display?
There are PCI Express cards with plenty of connectors on them.
PCI Express cards are a continuation of AGP, in the sense that,
when the transition occurred, the internal architecture
still included two display channels. That means you can use
two of the three connectors on the faceplate at one time.
A video card then, minimum, should allow you to use two
monitors. There are only a few, cheesy video card designs
that don't work right in that regard.
This one has a DVI connector, an HDMI, and a VGA. You should be
able to use any two of three at a time on there. This one is
$65 after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102874
*******
This one has Eyefinity enabled. HD 5770. $125.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102898
HDMI: 1 x HDMI
DisplayPort: 1 x DisplayPort
DVI: 2 x DVI
By using the bogus product numbering, it's hard to go to the Sapphire
site, and look up the card part number. This card is *close* to the
previous link.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?leg=&psn=000101&pid=305
2 x Dual-Link DVI - dual link DVI operates up to 30" LCD at 2560x1600
1 x HDMI
1 x DisplayPort
Another capability of that DVI connector, is it is DVI-I. That means
the connector has both digital and analog signals on it. By using the
dongle adapter in the center of this picture, it converts one of the
DVI connectors into a VGA connector. You would have to purchase a second
one of these cheap passive dongles, to prepare a second DVI connector to
make VGA. And that is only important, if the monitors you're using are
VGA. To give an example, I got a monitor on sale at Christmas for $100
that had VGA on it, as the only connector. (Normally, cheap monitors
have a single DVI-D connector.) So I still need a VGA dongle on one of
my cards, in order to use it. (My current video card has dual DVI-I connectors,
and I use a dongle to convert one of them to VGA.)
http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/14-102-898-Z06?$S640W$
On page 2 of this useless guide, you can see a drawing showing the
conversion options available. Note that DisplayPort can be converted
to a couple options there, but the drawing labels the device as
"Active". That means the adapter may need a power supply, and more
importantly, the adapter may be expensive. I'm not up on all the
DisplayPort conversion options, but I thought at least one of the
adapters was passive. It isn't shown in that figure. A passive adapter
should be cheap enough, to be an affordable option. I don't consider
active adapters to be a realistic option for most people (you'd need
deep pockets, like a Macintosh owner).
http://www.sapphiretech.com/archive/manuals/QIG_VGA_ML00112-R0.pdf
This page (may use Adobe Flash), shows how to set up multiple monitors
with the card. It's hard to interpret their recommendation, but
I think what it's saying, is you could use two DVI ports and the
DisplayPort to do a three monitor configuration. To do four monitors,
would require a card with two DisplayPort, plus two other connectors.
So the $125 card above can basically do three monitors.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/amd-eyefinity-technology/how-to/Pages/set-up.aspx
If you needed to convert the DisplayPort output connector, this is a
list of dongles. The third section, "Adapts: DisplayPort To: DVI-D
Single Link Passive" is the first section of the table I'd be interested
in. You'd need an LCD monitor with a DVI-D input on it, to be able to
use the third channel.
http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx
So your setup, with three DVI-D cheap monitors, would look like this.
Eyefinity-card ------- DVI-I ----------------------------> DVI-D #1
------- DVI-I ----------------------------> DVI-D #2
------- DisplayPort --- passive_dongle ---> DVI-D #3
This card can apparently drive five monitors. Check the feedback
section, to see what issues the users uncovered. Notice that
every connector needs an adapter, and a number of adapters come
in the box.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131358
I still think there can be surprises with that technology. I'm
not sure I've uncovered all the restrictions on what kind of
monitors you can use. (Do they all have to be the same kind
of monitor ?)
*******
My Nvidia PCI Express card, drives two monitors. And would be
considered an average capability (i.e. what video cards have
done for the last eight or nine years). But with Eyefinity
from ATI, you have some other options to consider.
Paul
