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844621
Multiple external monitors with Dell Precision M4700
I just got a Precision M4700 with Windows 8 64bit and an AMD FirePro M4000 graphics card. According to the Dell website and to other articles I have read, in addition to the laptop's built-in display I should be able to connect to two other displays without the docking station or five other displays with a docking station. However, so far I have only been able to get one external display to work even if I use the docking station. If I use certain ports I can get two external displays to work, but only if I disable the built-in display.
Without the docking station, the laptop has one HDMI, one VGA, and one DisplayPort. I have tried connecting my two external monitors to these ports in every possible combination. Every time I connect the second external monitor it is detected in the Windows "Screen Resolution" dialog but defaults to disabled. If I try to enable the display and click "Apply" then I get this message:
"The display settings could not be saved. Please try a different combination of display settings."
After I first had this issue with the default drivers pre-installed by Dell, I tried updating to the most recent driver available from the AMD website and I still get the same issue.
Any ideas are much appreciated.
Graeme66
3 Posts
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April 16th, 2013 15:00
I fixed the problem. AMD Eyefinity cards require that you use DisplayPort but it supports up to two "legacy" displays (DVI, VGA, etc). The built-in laptop display counts as one legacy screen, so it only allows for one other non-DP monitor. I was using DisplayPort but I was connecting to a DVI monitor using a PASSIVE adapter. If the adapter is passive then the video card still outputs a DVI signal and that causes it to count as one of the legacy displays. I got two ACTIVE DP to DVI converters and now I have three monitors + built-in display and it works fine.
JMacITGuru
3 Posts
1
January 15th, 2016 09:00
So I realize the last post here was from Feb 2015 (almost a year ago), but I wanted to offer up my two cents in the event someone comes across this as I did.
I have a Dell Precision M4700 with the nVidia Quadro K1000M AND Intel HD Graphics 4000. I have a docking station at my desk and due to space limitations, do not open the lid of my laptop anymore. What I did was just ran 2 DVI cables directly from the docking station to 2 external monitors, and then as a test, took a 3rd monitor out of our server room and connected it to the VGA port on the docking station. All three work great with no issues. Obviously I'm not getting as high of resolution out of the VGA connected monitor as with the two connected via DVI, but the VGA one (being a spare) is slightly bigger anyway (24" vs my (2) 21.5" bezel-less monitors).
Either way, just thought I'd mention that if you have a docking station for your Precision, you should be able to use 3 external monitors.
***Side note: as I was typing this, I decided to be thorough and open the lid of my laptop. I do have 4 active monitors working with this configuration. 3 external monitors AND my laptop screen are all lined up (had to enable them all in the Display Settings) and working just fine. Desk space will keep me from using this configuration at the moment, but now that I know I can achieve this, I will probably rearrange my office/desk to take full advantage of using 4 monitors...sweet...
Captain_Jack13
11 Posts
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April 16th, 2013 15:00
I have the same issue with Windows 7 and the AMD graphics card, have not been able to resolve.
Captain_Jack13
11 Posts
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April 16th, 2013 15:00
Where did you buy your adapters?
Graeme66
3 Posts
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April 16th, 2013 15:00
I used two of these: www.newegg.ca/.../Product.aspx
AMD lists officially supported adapters: support.amd.com/.../eyefinity-dongles.aspx
Captain_Jack13
11 Posts
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April 16th, 2013 16:00
Fantastic thanks! Picking up two tomorrow. CEO will be pleased!
spreadsheet1
3 Posts
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October 11th, 2013 17:00
Does the DP drive 2 monitors ? How ?
spreadsheet1
3 Posts
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October 11th, 2013 17:00
It was very easy to add 3 external monitors in my M4700. Please note that No 1 is the laptop's screen. The last monitor is in Portrait mode.
No 2 is a Dell 24 IPS monitor (notice that that the vertical resolution is 1200 - not 1080 - that's why image extends further down than other 23 inch monitors)
A multiple monitor setup is quite productive for Excel VBA development
http://www.spreadsheet1.com/dell-m4700.html
Captain_Jack13
11 Posts
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October 11th, 2013 17:00
We got the 4 monitors + 1 laptop screen working great after ordering Active DVI adapters for the computer
Captain_Jack13
11 Posts
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October 11th, 2013 17:00
display port on the laptop i believe
spreadsheet1
3 Posts
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October 11th, 2013 17:00
Captain Jack
Can you please elaborate on your setup ?
How is the 4rth monitor hooked up ?
Captain_Jack13
11 Posts
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October 11th, 2013 17:00
laptop is docked
laptop dock has 2 DP connections and 1 VGA (3 monitors there)
then DP on the laptop (4th monitor)
plus laptop display (5th)
JeffS4
2 Posts
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August 7th, 2014 10:00
I just stumbled across this post and wanted to add my comments.
Driving multiple monitors is dependent on your video card's capabilities.
My users' M4600 have an NVIDIA Quadro 2000M. That video card can only drive two monitors at a time. Here are the details...
They have Dell Port Replicator Plus with two Dell 24" monitors hooked up via DisplayPort from the dock. I can hook up additional monitors via the laptop's DisplayPort port, via the VGA port on the dock, and opening the lid of the laptop as an additional montior. However, no matter what I tried, only two would be active at a time, though all of them appeared in the Windows control panel, Display, Screen Resolution.
So, I worked with Dell pro tech support, who had me go into the NVIDIA Control Panel application, Set up mutliple displays. I see all the displays listed, and have the main two monitors selected. But when I check the box on a third display, a message pops up that says, "This GPU supports up to two displays." Thus, this 2000M is designed to only drive two displays at a time.
When I replace thees M4600's at their end of life, I'll look at the tech specs of the new video cards and get one that can drive 3+ displays.
mzywno
1 Message
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October 3rd, 2014 13:00
Jeff,
I have two Dell U3011, which I drive with my old desktop. I would like to replace the desktop with the M4700 laptop, but I can't get the 2560x1600 resolution from the M4700. Do you know a video card which would be able to do that? I would consider having an external dock card as well.
chrisgeier
1 Message
0
January 31st, 2015 15:00
I am trying to get this to work now. I have the dell M4700 and the docking station. I am now shopping for cables to allow 3 external monitors. I have viewsonic monitors that have DVI, VGA, and HDMI inputs. What is the best cable setup to do? 2x DP - HDMI Active then 1 vga is what i am thinking. How do i know if the cable is "Active"?