setting up a computer with 2 monitors | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

Baba booey · Jul 31, 2008 at 2:25 AM

well here's the deal.
My dad is an accountant and right now he has an XPS400 desktop with a 19" Dell Ultra Sharp display. He runs XP Home with 1gb ram and integrated everything(sound, graphics). He has full office on his computer and what he wants to do is get a second monitor(preferably the same brand, for aesthetic reasons) so he can drag stuff to the other screen.
What would he need to buy? how much would it cost?
Thanks.

srozzman · Jul 31, 2008 at 3:00 AM

another monitor, and most likely a videocard supporting two monitors, such as an ati raedon hd2600pro (Which is around $50, before rebates at newegg) or a similar card that has 2 monitor ports. Does he have AGP, Pci-e, or PCI on hi9s motherboard?

Baba booey · Jul 31, 2008 at 3:55 AM

I have no clue, nor does he.

Braver · Jul 31, 2008 at 7:35 AM

Te xps400 has PCI-E. Just buy pretty much any new videocard with two connectors, plug it in and you're ready to go

Oxyjin · Aug 1, 2008 at 3:19 AM

Since its mostly integrated I would recommend seeing if your dads PC can support agp/pci-e cards. If not there is a method I have heard of that may work. It involves using a usb to VGA display adapters. These usually cost upwards of about $70. (Basically connecting the monitor to the adapter and getting rid of the need to buy a video card)

Wired_Gargoyle · Aug 1, 2008 at 2:29 PM

I've had no problems using Matrox's Matrox Graphics - Products - Graphics eXpansion Modules TripleHead2Go so I don't think the DualHead2Go will be any worse. Just plugs into the USB port and gives 1280x1024 on the cheaper edition (There's an analog and digital edition depending on what you need).

DemonicLemming · Aug 1, 2008 at 2:44 PM

Eh, with dual monitors and no video card, I think it'd be better to buy a decent PCI-e card (can pick up 8800GTs for about $110 now, 8600s for $70) to take some of the strain off the cpu.

I've got an MSI 8600GT in my box currently (waiting for 4850 prices to come down a bit more), and it works rather well, and supports dual-monitor setups.

Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Baba booey

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srozzman

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Baba booey

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Braver

Will upgrade headphoneswhen there's a MX600.

Oxyjin

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Wired_Gargoyle

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DemonicLemming

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