Dual Monitors for Optiplex 3020 Small Form

Thanks for the response, I'll have the check these options out. 

What about the  "Display Port-to-DVI Adapter?" Do you think I could use this to connect to another monitor? When reading the reviews, it sounds like someone was able to do it. Any idea on benefits/drawbacks to going this route?

Thanks again for the help. 

All depends on what outputs the add-in card has and what inputs your monitors accept. Lots of DP>DVi adaptors available at various prices, even one from Dell.

According to the manual, you have both VGA and DP outputs on the rear of this system for the onboard video. Don't know if you can use both at the same time, but that might be an alternative to installing a PCI-e video card.

You would have to connect one monitor, go into BIOS setup and enable Multi Display and save the change. Then boot to desktop, power off normally and connect the second monitor to the other port.

On  some Dell systems, enabling the Multi Display option in BIOS setup allows you to use both the onboard video and the add-in PCI-e video at the same time. Again, don't know about your model, but you might be able to connect one monitor to onboard VGA and another to DVI on an add-in video card, assuming your monitors have those ports.

According to the manual, the 3020 SFF has one PCI-e x16 slot which is typically used for a video card. The system comes with integrated video and can be ordered with either AMD HD8570 or HD8490 video card.  (These are probably low profile cards.) So you should be able to find one that fits.

There's also an option in BIOS setup to enable Multi Display (Win 7 or later) so with the right video card this should all be possible, regardless of what the Geeks told you. 

As an example, a quick google found this low profile card.

NOTE: I am not recommending (or not recommending) this card and/or this vendor. Just giving you an example of what you might use. I'm sure there are other equally good or better low profile cards available from various vendors.

Don't know if you found your answer.  I also got a new dell Optiplex3020. I was able to use dual monitors using an iogear vga to usb adapter.  Since I'm using monitors with standard vga adapter and the tower has only one vga port I have to use a vga-usb adapter for the second monitor.  At first it wouldn't allow this.  When I went to Control Panel>>Appearance and Personalization>>Display>>Change Display Settings>>Screen Resolution and in the Display drop down menu it only listed 1.Generic PnP Monitor on Standard VGA Adapter, Resolution, and know other options.  I also went to Search>>Device Manager and clicked on display adapters and it showed Standard VGA Graphics Adapter which seemed to confirm that the graphics card had limited capability that would not support dual monitors.  However the spec sheet on an Optiplex3020 says it comes with an Integrated Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600.  So mine had the right graphics card with the wrong driver.  To update I went to Search>>bios>>Dell Client System Upgrade>>Check for Dell Updates.  It recommended the update I needed which I installed.  In Device Manager>>Display Adapters it recognizes Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600.  When I go back to I hope this works for you if you haven't already tried something else.  When I go back to Control Panel>>Appearance and Personalization>>Display>>Change Display Settings>>Screen Resolution it also list options for changing Orientation and Multiple Displays.  Let me know if you were able to make it work somehow.

Display Port to DVI would accomplish the exact same thing, correct?

I would think so. Originally, I went out to find the Display Port-to-DVI hookup, and stumbled upon the HDMI version instead. 

I have not tried the DVI version, so good luck! 

Did you have shared screen or same display on both screens?

Shared screen. 

I'm currently using an Optiplex 3020 with two monitors.. 

I bought a display port-to-VGA adapter from Best Buy ($25) and connected my other monitor into the VGA port as usual. 

So yes, with the current setup you can utilize two monitors. 

Hi, I've been having a nightmare with this. I bought a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter and got it working for about 2 minutes then it went off never to come back again. Dell 'confirmed' to me that it was not possible to run 2 monitors at once on this machine (So why was it working for 2 minutes).

I have 3 identical machines and 've updated to the latest BIOS and graphics driver (Intel HD 4400). Could anyone advise what else I could try?

Thanks, John

Hi, I've been having a nightmare with this. I bought a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter and got it working for about 2 minutes then it went off never to come back again. Dell 'confirmed' to me that it was not possible to run 2 monitors at once on this machine (So why was it working for 2 minutes). I have 3 identical machines and 've updated to the latest BIOS and graphics driver (Intel HD 4400). Could anyone advise what else I could try? Thanks, John

Did your adaptor fail? Can you test it on a different PC?

Hi, no the adapter is fine (I have it working in dual monitor mode on my Vostro). I've tried it on 3 different OptiPlex 3020 (small form) PCs and none of them work. I'm running out of time to get this sorted so might have to buy a dual graphics card to insert into it instead but its just annoying if I know people on this forum have had it working..

Hi, no the adapter is fine (I have it working in dual monitor mode on my Vostro). I've tried it on 3 different OptiPlex 3020 (small form) PCs and none of them work. I'm running out of time to get this sorted so might have to buy a dual graphics card to insert into it instead but its just annoying if I know people on this forum have had it working..

Did you enable Multi Display Support in BIOS setup? Even if you originally did, you might check it in case BIOS reverted to the factory defaults which have this option turned off.

And make sure you get a low profile video card if that's the route you take. And then you can try using the onboard video output plus one on the add-in card, as long as Multi Display is enabled in BIOS.

TL-WDR3500