This post is more than 5 years old
7 Posts
0
336573
Does Inspiron 660 onboard video support dual monitors?
Hi,
I just got a new Insipron 660 and was not able to set up dual monitors with the onboard video card. I connected one monitor through the VGA-out to VGA-in, and the other through HDMI-out to DVI-in via a converter. I can get video with either VGA-out or HDMI-out alone, but not both. Is it because the onboard video card only support one monitor at a time? Thanks.
arborglen
DELL-Appu S
3.1K Posts
0
July 24th, 2012 13:00
Hi Arborglen,
Welcome to Dell Community.
I understand you concern however technically it is not possible to set up dual monitors with the onboard video card. If you want to set up dual monitor with the computer then you would need to add one graphics card with dual monitor support to obtain the functionality.
Please reply if you have any questions.
Thanks & Regards,
Dell_Appu_S
Dell Social Media Responder
http://www.facebook.com/Dell
https://twitter.com/DellCares
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
July 24th, 2012 13:00
Looking at the UK website the Inspiron 660 is being mainly sold with integrated graphics. Some configurations are sold with:
Unfortunately the only configuration sold with the graphics has the i3 processor and no way to change to the i5 or i7. The units being sold with the i5 processor are being sold with the Integrated Graphics so much for customisation...
So either of they cards will work or a card of similar specifications. Once you install a graphics card and setup multiple monitors. One thing to take into account is the Power Supply of this Unit is 300 W, as Dell usually underrates their power supplies you could probably install an ATI card that has a recommended power supply of up to 400 W but I wouldn't push it further than that.
The following software from Actual Tools may be of interest to you Actual Windows Manager or Actual Multiple Monitors. They make working with multiple monitors much better than Windows 7 natively does.
intella
7 Posts
0
July 24th, 2012 15:00
no not possible
freakmarket
270 Posts
0
July 25th, 2012 12:00
any of the following will work well: ATI/AMD's HD 5570, 6570, 5670, 6670, 7750 ... Nvidia gt430 or gt 640 ... if you don't play any games and don't need graphic power the AMD HD 6450 or Nvidia gt 620 would due for just using multiple screens. If you plan on doing a little gaming the AMD 6670 and HD 7750 are the best you can pop into the Inspiron 660
arborglen
7 Posts
0
July 25th, 2012 14:00
Thank you all for your input. I have ordered an AMD HD6450 card which will arrive in two days. Will update if it works.
arborglen
7 Posts
0
August 2nd, 2012 17:00
The installation of a new AMD HD6450 card in my Inspiron 660 did not go as smoothly as I had anticipated, but was able to get it to work. I thought I would share the experience:
1. There is no setting in the BIOS to disable onboard video, the onboard video will continue to work after the upgrade card is installed.
2. The new card will not be recognized until the video driver is installed. I did not do this before I put the new card in, and I could not get the system to recognize the new card and the hooked-up monitors. I had to connect the monitor to the onboard video to load the driver for the new card, after that the system finally recognized the video card and was able to boot up with the dual monitors connected to the new card.
3. After the new card was installed, I disconnected one of the monitor from the new card and connected to the onboard video card, and it still worked. So I guess I have the capability to connect three monitors after this upgrade, but I can't confirm this because I have only two monitors now. I think it's a good thing that the onboard video is not disabled due to a new addon card.
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
August 3rd, 2012 11:00
Glad you got it up and running. Did you try the Actual Multiple Monitors software?
I have never been able to get the onboard and the graphics card working together.
What does it say under display adaptors and monitors in the device manager?
arborglen
7 Posts
0
August 6th, 2012 11:00
I have been using the free version of Multimon Taskbar for a while, ant it has served me well.
This is what it looks like according to the device manager:
arborglen
7 Posts
0
August 6th, 2012 11:00
cory925
4 Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 21:00
Rats! 8={
nobbybeer
2 Posts
0
October 22nd, 2012 10:00
Hi I found your post very useful, and have just received my 6450. however of my 2 monitors one has a DVI socket one does not, I have been using the 15 pin type with a spliter which came with my previous Dell. do you know if I should just get an adapter for the DVI ( to VGA) and also use the 15 pin socket on back of card.
DELL-Appu S
3.1K Posts
0
October 22nd, 2012 12:00
Hi Nobbybeer,
I believe you are referring AMD Radeon HD 6450 card. If yes, then you can use DVI to VGA adapter/converter and use it with the 15 pin connecter on the card.
The following simultaneous display configurations are supported with the card:
Please reply if you have any questions.
nobbybeer
2 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2012 00:00
Hi Just realised I have ordred the wrong card. the one I have is asus hd silent 6450 it is physically to big, have now ordered amd Radeon & an Adapter for vga
DELL-Appu S
3.1K Posts
0
October 23rd, 2012 12:00
Hi Nobbybeer,
Thank you for your response. Please keep me posted and let me know if you need any further assistance.
XF-SC
2 Posts
0
November 25th, 2012 20:00
Thanks for the info about needing a video card to run dual monitors.
I understand some Inspiron 660 is configered with NVIDIA® GeForce GT 620 1GB Graphics Card.
If so, can I run dual monitor using 1x DVI and 1xVGA?
Would I use both ports out of the video card or one in intergrated and one in the nVidia card?
Thanks,