Topic: XP video card question. (Read 2359 times)

Sirgod · « **on:** June 19, 2009, 02:54:29 pm »

Here's the thing, I have an old AGP socket 939 MB that I am using as my main for right now. IT has pretty good ati1600 pro card in it, that I have two monitors hooked up to. I went rumaging through my old parts and found a ati7000 pci card (32mb) and it seems the last catalyst drivers that support it, was 6.1 or so.

What I'm trying to do, is run three PC monitors, so I don't have to split screeen one, when I am multiboxing. However XP doesn't even see the PCI card when I put it in. Now before I go looking for my other cards, IS this even possible to do with XP? I am thinking the card might be bad, but not sure.

Also, is it PCI slot dependant? I put it on the last slot I had (normaly where a phone modem goes) but I can switch it around if need be.

Thanks guys.

Stephen

Dracho · « **Reply #1 on:** June 19, 2009, 03:13:32 pm »

In order to use multiple card with ATI, you need:

PCI Express
The ATI catalyst driver
Crossfire capability in the card and on the MB
The cards must be in the same family. For example, a 3850 and a 3870. Not a 4850 and a 3850.

Otherwise it's like trying to get a freemason and a knight of columbus to recognize each other with the "secret handshake".

Sirgod · « **Reply #2 on:** June 19, 2009, 06:06:14 pm »

Ah ok, thats what I was worried about , of course there is no PCI express slot on this old mother board. Still old AGP.

Stephen.

Nemesis · « **Reply #3 on:** June 19, 2009, 06:21:53 pm »

I'm going to have to disagree with Dracho. I only tried it once briefly long ago but I did do duo monitor using a PCI card with an APG card, both ATi.

Link to full article

Quote

What if things don't work?

If you can't get your second monitor to work at all, there are a couple of steps that you can take. In some systems, you need to change a BIOS system to allow the PCI display adapter to initialize first, instead of the AGP adapter. You should be sure that both of your display adapters are supported by the version of Windows that you are using.

Also, be sure that the display parameters (resolution, color depth, etc.) are within your monitor's limits. Windows allows you to select different display parameters for each monitor, so even though one might have lower performance than another, you'll still be able to use it.

Sirgod · « **Reply #4 on:** June 19, 2009, 09:18:42 pm »

Well that is hopeful news then, I will play around with it tomorrow, and see what I can do.

Stephen

Nemesis · « **Reply #5 on:** June 20, 2009, 04:39:43 am »

Let us know how it works out.

The one time I tried it was just curiosity. I didn't have an extra monitor to use or the desk space, I think I had the monitor sitting on the floor partially blocking the door (and disabling my 2nd computer to do it). So I didn't use it very long, I just confirmed it worked (under 98SE I think).

Dracho · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2009, 12:45:33 am »

I doubt that's going to work very well for gaming. My guess is the 2nd monitor won't come on in most applications, and definitely won't allow for an extended desktop.

toasty0 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2009, 09:25:04 am »

From the article Nem posted:

One of the reasons that computers are getting cheaper is because monitors are getting cheaper. The video hardware that drives them is also more affordable than ever before. Microsoft realized that when they released Windows 98 and built in support for multiple monitors. That support continued with 98SE, 2000 and ME. If you use NT, you're not out of luck, but this article won't help you. Your best alternative is to use a dual headed card, like the Matrox G450, one with two monitor outputs.

WinXP is based upon the NT kernal, right?

Nemesis · « **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2009, 01:22:32 pm »

Quote from: toasty0 on June 21, 2009, 09:25:04 am

WinXP is based upon the NT kernal, right?

NT -> Win2000 -> Win XP

I doubt that they took out the multi monitor ability. They did make a big thing of the "up to 9 monitors" back then.

Stephen already has 2 monitors on one card, he is just being greedy and going for 3

.

I do the opposite and share monitors between computers (2 monitors for 3 computers). I must admit I do like the multi desktop setup on my Linux machine.

Sirgod · « **Reply #9 on:** June 23, 2009, 02:37:02 am »

Success!

The fist card I tried , just didn't work. 9was old anyways) so I dug up another, this time an Nvidia Geforce 4-440. Popped it in, grabbed the drivers and Bam. Three monitors going at once.

Thanks for all the help guys.

Stephen

toasty0 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 23, 2009, 09:04:01 am »

So, are you seeing an extended display or a mirrored display?

Dracho · « **Reply #11 on:** June 23, 2009, 11:43:20 am »

Yes.. enquiring minds want to know!

Sirgod · « **Reply #12 on:** June 23, 2009, 05:40:56 pm »

The background of course is mirrored I guess one would say, IT's the same image as on my other two. However, I can easily run a different program on each window with no problems. For example, I was running three different instances of WoW one on each monitor, with no problems at all. (I must add, I ran them at 800x600) I can probably go higher with no difficulty, but It was for a test.

On my main, I have the start bar, and the Desktop icons, to the left (the small monitor with new card) a single pic, to the right, a 19 widescreen. (My main is a 22" widescreen, the left one an old CRT 17")

Stephen

toasty0 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 24, 2009, 12:45:07 am »

Interesting.

Thanks Stephen.

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