graphics cards

[1984]

Hi everyone. Got a question for you all.

 

I currently have an ATI all in wonder 9800 PRO video card. Looking to get a separate PCI card (as i want to hitch up a second monitor to it, and my ATI card doesnt allow for that. Ok heres the question:

 

I'm looking for something VERY inexpensive, that will do that, and only that, and is compatible with my ATI card, and wont cause any driver conflicts. I can post my computer specs and/or software installed if that helps.

 

Any suggestion folks?

 

Thanks!

[1984]

Well, heres what i ended up with:

 

ATI RADEON 9250, 256 MB/Mo DDR, PCI BUS card.

 

only a hundred bucks (canadian)! now at the store they told me all i had to do was plug it in and it would work as i already have the Catalyst drivers installed.

 

So i hooked up my monitor to the card and the card is in the PCI slot in the computer. now what?

 

can anyone help me with this? i cant seem to get the computer to recognized the card or the monitor! arrrghghghghtgh!

[1984]

Oh, to add to that, I want say that im trying to have BOTH cards hitched up.

[zaphirer]

Well I'll have to say you have me completely at a loss - I had absolutely no idea that you could do that! But, some searching has revealed a promising link. Unfortunately, I'm used to a nVidia setup, so I'm only half-useful here. See if the link (it's an old review, but same concept, really) will give you any answers.

[Andavari]

I'd recommend searching the support pages at www.ati.com, and if they don't reveal anything use their customer service via e-mail to see if their tech support has any ideals since you after all are an ATI customer.

[1984]

Ok, ATI was no help. i posted on guru3d but he told me to reinstall old drivers. i have all three screens with my desktop now (all the same) - thats on my 17 inch, 19 inch, and tv. but after a couple of minutes the 17 goes black and the power light flashes on and off. could it be i need a bigger power supply for the comp? help!

 

Oh, heres another thing. I can extend the picture (lets say the screen ccleaner page for instance) across all the monitors! Now thats neat and everything, but not what im looking for. i simply want to be able to drag a (movie for instance) screen to the tv to watch (had that working before) and be able to drag a (pdf for example) file over to the 17 screen. any ideas on how to configure?

 

also, i noticed that the 9800 card gets hot. should/could i add a fan? i have a small portable one on it right now just incase.

[Mike Rochip]

So it sounds like you got both cards working since you said you can extend the desktop across both monitors and the TV. But then the card for the 17" monitor stops working causing the monitor to go off. Is that right?

 

Have you looked in Event Viewer to see if it has any info? It probably won't but it's worth a look just in case.

 

Event Viewer: Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer

Click on System in the pane on the left. Look for yellow or red symbols in the list of events in the right hand pane

 

Also did you look in Device Manager to see if there are conflicts?

 

Device Manager: Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware Tab>Device Manager Button Look for yellow exclamation points or red Xs

 

If the 9800 card is getting hot you should get a fan. Better safe than sorry. I'm no expert in computer hardware but I wonder if that could be related to the 17" monitor shutting down.

 

Everest Home Edition will report on the temperature reading of devices that have temperature sensors. Click on Computer in the pane on the left and then click on Sensor.

 

Power Supply Calculator

Looks like it only calculates for 1 video card so you might have to add in the second card after it calculates the power required for the rest of the PC's hardware.

[1984]

Thanks Mike. I'm going to look at those sites you gave me, and look into the other information for me to learn by. In the meantime, to keep from going completely insane, i returned the 9250 card today as ive spent two days on it and i might need a straight jacket if i keep it up. i think i will just have to be content with one monitor.

[Mike Rochip]

Sorry you couldn't get it working. I went through sort of the same thing with modem cards a while back. One time it was because the card was defective and the other time it was because the modem came with the wrong installation CD. Took forever to figure what was wrong both times.

 

If you ever decide to try again I'd be happy to help in any way I can.