Compter mags, need help running multiple monitors.

[Cono Este]

Long story, ive beaten my head against the wall all day. Basically Dell boned me, sent me a computer with one video card slot, the rest are PCI. Even though I bought 2 cards at the same time.(bastards) Anyway, i need to run 4 monitors with this lemon, I have a Raydeon 600, I tried adding a R 1300 to a PCI slot but no worky, and someone tld me the PCI slots aren't worth it, and the two cards have to be identical, im now told by dell.(bastards x2) So, anyone know how I can run 4 monitors off of one card, an adapter, or a fancy single card? Dell won't do shit since its past 30 days.(bastards x3). I dont want a new motherboard, might as well get 2nd pc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Cono Este]

I will answer myself, and anyone who might have the same problem.

If you are going to run 4 monitor's you need 2 video cards, of the same brand and model, with the same drivers, in PCI express slots, with crossfire techonolgy if you wish to get the most out of it. YOur motherboard needs to be built for this, you cannot add on.

I sovled my problem by just adding a new basic card to a standard pci slot, i made sure I updated the latest driver's from the ATI website, and I setup and adjusted my monitors from the ATI application, not windows. I dont intend on gaming or anything so I can live with the compromise in graphics.

Other problems you could encounter could be an inadequate power supply.

ATI has great support, and I probably could have saved myself the headache by calling them and not Dell. I will never buy from them again, these Geek Squad Guy's at Best buy know their shit.

[spindrift]

Once upon a time, long ago - oh about 1987, a Mac virus (might have been a Trojan Horse - it was long ago...) was found in a data center that was, shall we say, of some concern to the government. An Apple OS kinda guy - let's call him "Jim" - was assigned to help the nice FBI investigators. At the time, Apple already supported multiple monitors in a variety of configurations. And Jim had two nice big monitors - one where he ran his dev environment and one where he ran & tested apps. Here is a paraphrased summary of the first bits of conversation when the 2 supposedly tech savvy FBI guys entered Jim's office for the first time:

FBI Dude: Holy mackeral! What application lets you run two monitors like that? I've never seen anything like it!!!!!!!

Jim: Our operating system...

Note: Jim had a great sense of humor. The response he got to this was the first hint that the FBI guys he was assigned to help did not have anything resembling a sense of humor... Although they did get their man.

Morals of the story (sort of ):

Mistake one - As a consumer (or very small business), you probably should've bought a Mac rather than a Windows machine - unless the apps you need to run are unavailable on a Mac. While far from perfect, what the Mac does, it makes clear and relatively easy to do. And in urban areas, tech support at Apple stores is pretty decent.

Mistake two - Buying from a company thet is not consumer oriented. As a consumer, I'd buy from someone whose business makes it or not on the consumer end (budget and access allowing). Despite their TV ads, Dell's business is focused on large, pre-configured, orders for IT departments. Historically, consumer sales have been sort of a sideline. I know a number of people (self included) whose experience with Dell tech support was less than satisfying.

As far as the usual instinctive response...I am far from a random Mac fanatic. Lots of experience with both systems...

[P_McPoser]

^^^ I've got twin 21 inch flat screens on my dell. All I did was plug the second one in and windows took care of it all automatically and shit.

[Telenater]

You do not neccessarily need to have the same video card.

I'm running dual dual headed video cards at work one is an ATI Radeo (AGP) and the other a Matrox Parahelia Quadra(PCI). Some manufacturers cards work better as the secondary card than others. I've generally had good luck with Matrox when it's one of the two cards.

[Cono Este]

Matrox is some fancy dancy hardware. I looked into that.

[bio-smear]

The main problem, and I think you've already identified it, is buying a Dell. Most of their desktops are low end pieces of shit that are designed to pacify 95% of home and business users. So few people care about running a dual head video setup that when one needy guy like you complains that his machine won't support it...meh.

I ran into the same thing with a Dimension 2350 that I had. The only AGP interface is for the integrated video adapter, no slot. I tried a nVidia PCI card but the performance was less than stellar. Now I know that the motherboards they use are plain shit, but people gobble it up because the machines allow them to send an email on the internet, and they're so cool looking with the black case!

The bottom line is that you have to 1)Build you own machine with a nice board, or 2) spend the money out of the gate on a higher end Dell piece of shit. FWIW I just bought a Macbook Pro and am impressed with the hardware. I don't think I'll be going back to the world of mystery grab bag hardware from Dell or the Computer Shopper catalog. As a long time Linux user, it sends shivers down my spine thinking of some of the driver support issues I've seen with some Dells. Bottom line though, ya gotta spend money to get good hardware. Sounds like you solved your problem satisfactory though. Good luck.