What type of splitter will allow me to use two monitors (not clones) with an NVidea GEForce FX-55?

Question

I want to have my monitors independent of each other - dual view. I do not have a second monitor hook up on my pc. My current monitor is analog as is the second one I want to add to my system.

I tried a "Y" splitter - but that just allowed me to create a clone of my monitor. It did not provide a dual (separate) view.

Answer 1

Matrox DualHead2Go.


Good luck on finding a "splitter". That option doesn't exist. The only company I know of, for the consumer market, that comes anywhere near what you're attempting is this Canadian product.






To the gentleman below me. I pulled this quote from the product page you gave.

"Take your DVI source and mirror it on two VGA displays using this inexpensive splitter cable."

I don't believe she wants to mirror her desktop, she wants to extend it. In this regard, there is no "splitter" she can utilize.

Also, I do agree with the last individual that the Matrox solution is a ridiculous price to pay. However, if you research the situation a bit you'll find that she most likely has a Laptop and utilizing an Nvidia GoForce 5500. Otherwise she's confusing the model number of her 5-series Nvidia card with an AMD Athlon FX-55.

Bottom line, if she has a laptop she can extend her desktop using this Matrox solution if she does not have an S-Video output.

However, if she has a desktop and she's asking this question she may not have the experience to swap cards or anything else. This is a plug and play solution. Buying a dual head graphics card is not. It has more potential with driver problems etc., even if she does find a "pro" to do it for her. Matrox DualHead2Go will end up costing just as much as an off the shelf graphics card solution, with dual RAMDACS, with the inclusion of the labor of the individual who did all the work.

The Matrox DualHead2Go is a plug and play fix without 3rd party help.

Answer 2

The Matrox DualHeadToGo option will do what you want.

However, for that much money you can buy a dual head video card that is way better than the one you currently have.

Video cards with DVI-I connectors just need an adapter to allow you to connect a VGA monitor. DVI-I has both analog and digital signal capabilities.

Also a dual head card will allow different sized monitors to run at different resolutions. DHTG will not.

If you want to keep the same sort of graphics power that you have now Circuit City / Best Buy /etc will have dual head cardsfor about $50.

Answer 3

This depends on the interface you are hooking your monitor into and if your video card supports dual monitors.

A video card that supports dual monitors with a DVI hookup should split just fine (i have made it work). this is the type of splitter i used: http://sewelldirect.com/dvi-to-2-vga-splitter-cable.asp

VGA hookups will not split. you will need a second video card. what you can try is to use your onboard video card as a primary, and the nvidia as a secondary. this is the method i use with the company i work for. if you go into your bios and select the onboard video card as the primary video your nvidia will automatically be the secondary. next (with both monitors hooked up, one in each card) go to the display properties in windows and go to the settings tab. you should see two boxes in the top section labeled 1 and 2. 2 may be grayed out. click once on number 2 and below select 'extend my windows desktop to this monitor.' you should now be setup.

one thing i like about this configuration is that you can set one monitor to a lower or higher screen resolution if certain programs look better at that resolution. then you simply drag the window over to the screen that looks the best. or you can keep the both the same and have more room for your many windows that you may have open.

hope that helps.