trying for dual monitors

[rockironwebb]

all I want is dual monitors
Hello folks. Here it is. I bought a new 20in monitor. I would like to be able to hook up the new monitor as well as the 17inch older monitor. I only have a single onboard vga output on my pc now. I have a pci-e port available. So i'm thinking, no problem, I just need a dual output video card. My guitar player allegedly knows all about computers and actually makes a living doing computer repair work. He says "oh, no problem, I've got a bunch of dual output cards laying around." On Saturday he brought me five dual output video cards heaped together in a walmart bag. I was reluctant to put any one of these in my pc since they appeared not cared for. He tells me, it's cool. So I proceed to install each and every one of the five with no results. I am pretty sure that I did the install correctly, (only doubt I have is if I need to somehow disable the onboard output before trying to install the new card, my buddy said no, and I haven't seen this mentioned in my reading about the installation process.) After install of each card, my pc did not recognize any new hardware on start-up, nor could I locate it. OK, so the "I know a guy" technique didn't work out. I will now buy what I need to get dual monitors. I have two concerns now. Could there be a problem with my slot? I would like to hope not, it was a virgin slot. a video card looks like a pretty *censored* delicate piece of technology to just toss into a walmart bag and then have it work again. So I am about to spend money on something and wonder if I should go with an external card. The next issue I have learned about is if I do get an internal card, will my 300watt pc power supply be enough for it? All I want is two monitors with my DAW on one and whatever else on the other. All I do is stare at ableton, email, and watch the occasional youtube videos. I don't need a state of the art video card. What the *censored* should I do. I am leaning towards the external, but I don't know, maybe my buddy has a walmart bag full of those too.
am leaning towards an external card, but am not sure how I would need to set it up for dual display
Here are my specs.
HP Pavilion Media Center m8300f PC (GX611AA) specifications - HP Home & Home Office Products

[Darthgumby]

If you have a valid PCI - e slot and a PCI -e card they should fit together no problem.  The trick is to pulg the monitor into the new video card and not the old port you were using.  By default, if it is a working card, the computer will display something to it.  Normally before a driver is installed for that hardware, it will default to a low resolution so things appear bigger than usual, but this is normal.

If you did not get to this point after putting in any of these cards, odds are that all the cards are bad (which would explain how this guy got them for free and kept them in a heap), or the slot may be bad.  If you did get to this part, you'll want to look up the make and model of the card and search the web for a driver.  It should be listed on the card somewhere, Radeon or Nvidia are the two major brands, and the numbers after it are the model (6800, x300, 9250, etc.).  Look for the brand's drivers online and find a match through their driver search feature.  Download this and your cards should work properly.  If you have two monitor ports on the card, you should be able to just plug in the monitors and they will work.

[giardmi09]

As for the power supply question, 300 watts should be plenty for a basic dual monitor card. Once you pick a card, head over to the manufacturer's website and you should find the recommended wattage in the specifications for the card. "If you have two monitor ports on the card, you should be able to just plug in the monitors and they will work." <-only if the card supports dual monitors (pretty much every new card does so as long as your using a modern card). If you're worried about bios settings for VGA then go into the bios before you install your new card and set it to use pci-e (if thats the type of card you are using).

[soybean]

I'm not familiar with external video cards but, based a few buyer reviews posted on website that sells them, I think I stick with an internal card if possible.  Although it seems a bit unlikely all 5 of those cards your friend had in bag are bad, I agree that that way to handling cards (tossed in bag) could result in damage.  And, as giardmi09 mentioned, you may need to go into your BIOS settings and make a change.

Regarding the connecting of dual monitors to a card, keep in mind the type of connection (DVI or VGA) your monitors require.  If both your monitors use a VGA connection, you will need a DVI-to-VGA adapter if your card has 1 DVI port and 1 VGA port, which is a fairly common configuration for video cards.