Dual Screens / Computer Display Connections (Clueless! Help!)

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SeanMozzy

New Member
Hi All!

I am new to this forum, though have been a guest for a while now. You are all exceptional with your technological know-how (I am very much looking forward to conversing with you all among the boards.)

I am not as much of a newbie to the technological wizardy as I am going to seem by posting this, but there are areas of my knowledge which are considerably lacking.. And anything to do with monitors unfortunately is one of them. :(

This is where I hope you will come in! From what I see you are all a very friendly helpful community, so any insight or advice would be much much appreciated (As this has frustrated the hell outta me.. Seriously :(:confused::mad:) So my friends, this is the back of my computer:
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Which leads do I need to have dual monitors. Ive heard HDMI or DP connectors or whatsjamajibits, but could someone, somebody please make it clear to me. You have no idea the gratidude I will have. Spare no detail if you wish. And if you could, explain what all these colourful connections are actually for, it's confounding.

Many many many thanks :)
 
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Yup you need a HDMI monitor so you can plug it into the HDMI port on your graphics card and then you should up and running! Most monitors these days have HDMI ports on them meaning you can use HDMI, but most don't come with HDMI cables, so you may need to buy the cable separately.

The two circular ports are for PS/2 keyboard and mice - purple being the keyboard and green the mouse, Then the long pink port is for a printer (it's called a parallel port) and the other two are serial ports that were for things like dictation pedals and peripherals once upon a time. All of these ports are for old hardware and have all been made obsolete by USB mice, keyboards, printers and peripherals. You don't see any of those ports on new PCs and motherboards anymore.

Hope this helps!
 
spirit said:
Yup you need a HDMI monitor so you can plug it into the HDMI port on your graphics card and then you should up and running! Most monitors these days have HDMI ports on them meaning you can use HDMI, but most don't come with HDMI cables, so you may need to buy the cable separately.

The two circular ports are for PS/2 keyboard and mice - purple being the keyboard and green the mouse, Then the long pink port is for a printer (it's called a parallel port) and the other two are serial ports that were for things like dictation pedals and peripherals once upon a time. All of these ports are for old hardware and have all been made obsolete by USB mice, keyboards, printers and peripherals. You don't see any of those ports on new PCs and motherboards anymore.

Hope this helps!
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You have helped tremendously! Thank you so much for your fast response, I knew this forum would be the place to go. Thank you thank you.

The thing is, I thought these were HDMI connectors, and prepped with the cables for this. But they don't fit? The corner of the connections on the computer diagionalise, I read something about DP connector, is that would it could be? If so where does this leave me? I wish it was as simple as HDMI to HDMI, my life and frustrations would be solved.

Thanks again for the detailed speedy gonzales reply!
 
id have them on hdmi as it is much better than vga etc. I could only ever get my old vga cable to do 720p on the monitor whereas the hdmi will do much more.

Get a set of decent HDMI cables and a set of dp to HDMI adapters. it will still do 1080p on the monitors also. :)
 
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spirit said:
They could be DisplayPorts (DP), yes. They do look similar to HDMI.

Exactly what graphics card is that? I would be surprised if they were DisplayPorts but they could be!

But if you have a HDMI monitor and the cable won't plug into the graphics card then yeah you will need a HDMI-DisplayPort adapter like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet®-Displ...9&sr=8-3&keywords=hdmi+to+displayport+adapter
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That's rather frustrating if that is the case then eh! I have a nVidia Quadro FX4800 if it helps? Where does that leave me with me duel screens / what can you tell me with that info? Will I lose quality of screen with adapters and all that jazz? I feel I'm getting there with my annoying knowledge gap! What a brainy bunch
 
SeanMozzy said:
That's rather frustrating if that is the case then eh! I have a nVidia Quadro FX4800 if it helps? What can you tell me with that info? I feel I'm getting there with my annoying knowledge gap! What a brainy bunch
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I can tell you that it has two DisplayPorts and a DVI port, so you will need a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter in order to run HDMI monitors with this graphics card. :)

Something like the one I posted earlier will be fine.
 
spirit said:
I can tell you that it has two DisplayPorts and a DVI port, so you will need a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter in order to run HDMI monitors with this graphics card. :)

Something like the one I posted earlier will be fine.
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I see! Will this affect quality at all? What a pain, but no worries. A quick trip to Maplins tomorrow and I'm seemingly on my way eh! Many thanks again
 
SeanMozzy said:
I see! Will this affect quality at all? What a pain, but no worries. A quick trip to Maplins tomorrow and I'm seemingly on my way eh! Many thanks again
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it shouldnt do as it can still do 1080p, i wouldnt think the gpu or monitor would handle anymore anyway.
 
SeanMozzy said:
I see! Will this affect quality at all? What a pain, but no worries. A quick trip to Maplins tomorrow and I'm seemingly on my way eh! Many thanks again
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Sometimes you can get quality issues, yes, but I've only noticed it when using VGA to DVI adapters like the one you are using presently. Since HDMI and DisplayPort are both digital I think you should be OK.

The Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter I use to connect my laptop to HDMI monitors works fine at least.
 
Just so you are aware the fx 4800 is a workstation card, not really designed for gaming but its designed for professional applications.
 
johnb35 said:
Just so you are aware the fx 4800 is a workstation card, not really designed for gaming but its designed for professional applications.
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Yeah I was a bit surprised when he said he had a Quadro. Maybe he does editing and stuff though.
 
spirit said:
Yeah I was a bit surprised when he said he had a Quadro. Maybe he does editing and stuff though.
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Indeedy, a trailer editor in training, tis not for gaming and this is me finally getting a decent home set up, though it's not gone as straightforward as I had hoped. Many many thanks for your advices! Will get that adapter and hopefully, hopefully will be on my way.. Wish me luck :eek:
 
Hi all :( I return with not good news, but a heavy heart. I purchased the connector I thought needed, but sadly I cannoy get it to function. After some rooting I *think* my answer is I don't have a D++ DisplayPort connector, so I ask where does this leave me?

Do I need an active connector, would this solve my problem? I hear ATI GC have issues, but as mentioned I have Nvidia, so hopefully it IS just a case of me finding the right part. If anyone could guide me here fourth I would greatly appreciate, just guide me on where to go next, whether it be Active DP to HDMI connector, or to try active DP to VGI or a splitter maybe, does the exist for duel monitor functions so I could ditch the DP's and focus on my VGI connector etc etc.

HALP! :eek: Many thanks again :o
 
I'm not entirely sure but try that active DP to HDMI adapter.

It might just be that the card might not be able to support 3 monitors, though it probably can.
 
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