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Inspiron 3647 Can I use 2 VGA monitors independently?
Hello all, I need to use 2 monitors with different functions on each monitor so not using a 2nd monitor just as an extended display. There is one HDMI and one VGA port on this dekstop but the 2 monitors I have, one has only vga and the other vga and DVI connectors, can this work in any way please?
RoHe
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May 16th, 2018 15:00
Do you have an add-in video (expansion) card or only onboard Intel Graphics? The add-in card's video ports will be near the top on the back and the onboard ports will be further down. See the Back pictures here.
If you don't have an add-in video card, you can probably use either an HDMI>VGA or an HDMI>DVI adapter with the onboard HDMI video port. This assumes that the Intel Graphics in your PC will handle more than one monitor at a time. The adapter connects to the onboard HDMI port and converts the signal to either DVI or VGA that connects to a port on the monitor.
Keep in mind that DVI is a better video signal than VGA, so you'd get better results if you use an HDMI>DVI adapter. There are many different flavors of DVI port so make sure you know which one your monitor has and then get an HDMI>DVI adapter that matches. And these adapters are usually "one-way", meaning they may be designed to convert HDMI to DVI, but not DVI to HDMI, so you need to get one that works in the right direction.
If all else fails, you can get a USB>DVI or USB>VGA adapter that plugs into a USB port on the PC and connects to a video port on the monitor. USB3 video adapters will work better than USB2 adapters, assuming you connect it to a USB3 port on the PC.
mikehende
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May 17th, 2018 02:00
Thanks, onboard graphics only. So you mean something like this below? If yes, would the connector being connected to that HMDI port on the pc need to be a male or female connector please?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DVI-D-Male-to-HDMI-Male-Cable-Gold-24-1-HDTV-PC-1-5ft-3ft-6ft-10ft-15ft-25f-50ft/152978833651?hash=item239e3fc0f3:m:m-pKB9PhImuRw2y5hEZ6FAA
RoHe
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May 17th, 2018 11:00
It should be a male HDMI connector on the cable to a female HDMI on the PC. And a male DVI connector on the cable to female DVI on the monitor. Looks like the one you linked is male>male. That cable says it's DVI-D so it will connect to either a DVI-D or DVI-I on your monitor.
But... you also want to know if the DVI connector on the monitor is DVI single link or dual link. The cable you linked says it's DVI-D single link. Single link DVI supports resolutions up to 1920 × 1200 at 60 Hz. Dual link DVI supports resolutions up to 2560 × 1600 at 60 Hz.
If your monitor only supports up to 1920 × 1200, that cable should be ok, but if your monitor (or TV) supports up to 2560 × 1600, you'd be limiting the max resolution with that cable, but it still should work.
mikehende
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May 17th, 2018 12:00
Yes, that is what I thinking too on the male to female issue. Ok, let me look around, get back to you, thx.
RoHe
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May 17th, 2018 13:00
Now you've confused me. :TongueTied:
That cable is male>male which should be ok for your needs. Look at the ports on the PC and monitor to verify that both are female.
The issue is whether your monitor has single- or dual-link DVI, since dual-link can support higher resolution than single-link DVI. But the single/dual-link DVI question has nothing to do with whether the cable is male or female. You'd still need a male>male cable, regardless...