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178904
September 13th, 2015 11:00
Inspiron 3847 support for two monitors
Hi there,
I would like a confirmation regarding support of dual monitors with the following PC:
There is NO discrete graphic card, only the onboard. The onboard Intel graphic card have both a VGA and HDMI port.
Obiously i want the second monitor in Extended display and not Mirror.
Could i simply plug the first with HDMI and the second in the VGA port ? Would that work ?
Sorry, i am confused :(
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RoHe
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September 13th, 2015 13:00
If you haven't already purchased this system, you might get a better response to your question in What do I buy.
I guess it depends on whether the onboard video disables one of the 2 ports when the first monitor is connected. And if there's an Intel Multi Monitor option in BIOS setup.
You might be better off choosing a similar system with an add-in video card. Or, purchasing your own add-in video card for this model if you can't use 2 monitors with the onboard ports. It likely has a PCI-e x16 slot for a video card since the specs at your link list a number of NVidia cards.
SamanthaX
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September 13th, 2015 14:00
This post by a Dell representative also seem to indicate that it would work:
en.community.dell.com/.../19610493
SamanthaX
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September 13th, 2015 14:00
Thanks for the answer Rohe, i am getting conflicting information from Dell support and nobody can confirm if theses machine support dual screen with the onboard intel graphics. As a customer, this is frustrating since i am looking to pull the trigger on 6 of theses machines (with 12 dell monitors...)
I know that a discrete/add-in video card would support dual-screen out of the box but i really like the smaller Inspiron series...
DELL-Chris M
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September 13th, 2015 15:00
The Inspiron 3847 does have the option in the Bios- Advanced- Onboard Device Configuration- Intel Multi-Display (Enabled or Disabled). If it works like the XPS 8700 which has the same option in the Bios =
Primary Display onboard HDMI
Secondary Display onboard VGA
-or-
Primary Display onboard HDMI
Secondary Display added Discrete video card ports
Hopefully, another 3847 user can verify and test.
RoHe
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September 13th, 2015 18:00
Looks like Dell-Chris M answered your question. But I still don't understand your concern about getting this nice "smaller Inspiron series" PC.
Even if the 3847 onboard video can't support dual monitors, you should be able to install a PCI-e x16 video card in the empty slot on the 3847 motherboard. I don't see anything in the specs saying this system can only use a "low-profile" PCI-e card so you should be able to use any standard height or low-profile PCI-e x16 card. Maybe Chris can confirm if standard height PCI-e x16 cards fit.
Dell lists three NVidia PCI-e x16 video cards in the specs sheet for this model, which is odd if they don't offer any of them as a factory-installed option. But again, that won't prevent you from installing one yourself.
You can get inexpensive PCI-e x16 video cards starting at ~$50, and up. Exactly what you buy would depend on your intended use. Things like gaming and photo editing would require a more expensive card with better specs than one in a PC used mainly for surfing the net, word processing, email, etc.
Just make sure the PCI-e card supports whatever version of Windows is running on the PC and has output ports that match the inputs on at least one of your monitors, eg HDMI, VGA, DP, DVI.
It's very easy to install a card in the PCI-e slot. I'm sure you can find lots of YouTube vids showing how to do it. And then all you'd have to do is install the video driver software which may come on a CD or can be downloaded from the internet.
Good luck!