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70572
New R4 with duel GTX-660
I just opened the box of my new Alienware Aurora-R4. It has the duel GTX-660's. My only option at the moment is DVI. I looked at the back of the computer and I see the first video card with DVI, HDMI and such. The second card only has DVI connection, and very close to the bottom away from the video cards is another DVI connection. When I first turned it on, I had my monitor in the first cards DVI, the monitor didn't turn on. I tried the second, nothing. Then I tried the on on the bottom and it worked, however, I'm not sure if I'm running off the video cards or possible on board graphics. I didnt have to much time prior to work to play with things. Anyone know what the very bottom DVI connector is for and does it have anything to do with the graphics cards? How can I tell if my graphics cards are working correctly? Thank You!
DELL-Pablo R
158 Posts
1
September 20th, 2012 10:00
Hi Weestals,
Due to a motherboard design, when you have an R4 with two VC's, the secondary VC will become the Default one. Therefore, for the system to display an image you need to connect the monitor to the secondary VC slot.
This article explains with details your system's VC configuration.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
Community Manager
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54.2K Posts
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September 20th, 2012 05:00
Weestals,
Each video card is dual wide (see the picture). Top to bottom, each video card has the following ports -
Dual-link DVI-I HDMI DP (DisplayPort)
Dual-link DVI-D Air vents
What specific monitor are you connecting to the GTX660? Does it have DVI-I or DVI- connections?
Weestals
12 Posts
0
September 20th, 2012 09:00
Chris,
Ok, I was definatly confused about the graphics cards and what they look like from the back. After seeing your message, I looked at the back of my computer again. I now see that there are two graphics cards. The one on top has all the ports open and the one on the bottom has a cover (to stop people from connecting stuff to the card) over the Dual-link DVI-I, HDMI, DP but the Dual-link DVI-D is open. I once again tried the top video card with the Dual-link DVI-I and the Dual-link DVI-D. Still nothing. I connect it to the second card below to the DVI-D and it works. Using my wifes monitor which is HDMI compatable, I connected it to the top video card HDMI and it didnt work. Long story short: the video card on top does not work at all with the open connections.
I then took the cover off the second card which was covering the Dual-link DVI-I & HDMI. I connected my wifes HDMI compatable monitor to the HDMI (4 in the picture) and then connected my monitor to the Dual-link DVI-D (2 in the picture) and both monitors are working fine.
So now the basic question is: Did the factory put the cover on the wrong card? When your running both cards, is it normally the top card where you plug in your monitors or is it the bottom?
Im just asking these questions because I cant exactly tell if Im running both graphics cards or just one. I see in the device manager that the computer does see both graphics cards.
To your monitor question: Im using the HP S2331. Im not sure what the difference is between the DVI-I and DVI.
Thank You!
Leodagan
111 Posts
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September 20th, 2012 11:00
Ho, just FYI, if you ever change your setup to s single card, like I did, you can use any slot.
Weestals
12 Posts
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September 20th, 2012 11:00
Outstanding All!!!! Thats what I needed to know. Thank You All Very Much!!!!!!
Leodagan
111 Posts
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September 20th, 2012 11:00
I had which seems to be the same problem when I received my Aurora.
When you have 2 GPU, the main one is the bottom one. See this manual, page 61.
supportapj.dell.com/.../om_en.pdf
On my unit, the plastic cover was on the bottom one instead of top one. It seems that the peeps who assemble the machine do not know that the primary card is the bottom one..