VGA and DVI ports

[ucvb6]

don't know too much about video cards so I need your help.

I noticed that most video cards these days have both a VGA and DVI port. Would it be possible to setup a dual monitor configuration? Do they sell VGA to DVI adapters? Let's say I had one monitor plugged into the DVI port using the adapter and the other plugged in the normal VGA port, would the difference in picture quality be noticable? Also, I am using the AGP slot as this is an older mobo.

Thanks in advance

 

[1EZduzit]

I've been running a dual monitor system for a couple of years and they're great. I'll never go back to one monitor. I have a Nvidia card and all you have to do is go to video properties and then settings, advanced, and the Nvidia tab to enable it.

I can'v answer your question about the VGA to DVI adapters though because I have one LCD and one CRT.

 

[mwmorph]

i have a dual monitor system too and it's really nice. 1 CRT and 1 DVI-->Component-->HDTV
there are no such things ad vga to dvi but there ar dvi to vga adapters.

what monitors are you using? 19" and under lcds, the difference wil be minimal between vga and dvi output. over than and it will have a impact but not all that big. still, a larger lcd should use dvi.

 

[ucvb6]

I am setting up 2 dell 2005FPW LCD monitors. Need a dual head AGP video card that will support 1680 x 1050 resolution.

 

[AwesomeJay]

Asus Extreme N7800GTX/2DHTV GeForce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express w/Dual DVI, ViVo

BFG GeForce 7800GT OC 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express w/Dual DVI, ViVo

eVGA e-GeForce 7800GT CO SE (Copper Heatsink) 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express w/Dual DVI, ViVo

lots of dual DVI cards

just noticed you want AGP.. didnt find any AGP cards with DUAL DVI.. maybe time for a motherboard upgrade to PCI-E

 

[ucvb6]

Yeah, considering the mobo upgrade. Either that, or settle for a Matrox G500 millenium card which I believe is a VGA card, no DVI.

 

[xtknight]

VGA to DVI conversion requires extra electronics (and would degrade quality), but they do have the opposite (DVI-I to VGA). That's because DVI-I also outputs a VGA signal so the connector just feeds off of that. It won't work for DVI-D.

 

[kpb]

I know he says vga to dvi adaptor but if you read the rest of it he compairs that to the "regular vga" port for the second monitor so it sounds like he wants to use 2 monitors with vga connectors. If thats the case then most video cards come with required adaptor included.

 

[mwmorph]

there are multituldes of dual dvi cards.
6600gt:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133137
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150089

Matrox p650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814106153

6800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150106

P750(supports 3 monitors on 1 card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814106154

Pharhelia(supports 3 monitors on 1 card)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814106162

any of the should work and the 6800 is on the dell lisf of cards that specifically work, but even a intel GMA 900 will work according to dell.

 

[ucvb6]

nice, so it looks as though most of the cards come with the adapter. Thanks guys.

 

[AzNPinkTuv]

XFX 6800gs has it, the x850xt? has it i believe

 

[ucvb6]

Thanks all for the input. I ended up getting this card in the end after a weekend of researching.

BFG Tech GeForce 6800GS

Wanted to get the XFX that mwmorph recommended above but Newegg was out of stock on the one I wanted.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[L00PY]

Please don't say that you're planning on running two 2005FPW's on two analog connectors. LCDs should really be run at their native resolution across a digital connector -- which means using DVI.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Two 2005FPWs and no Dual DVI = YOU MADE BABY JESUS CRY. :brokenheart:

- M4H

 

[ucvb6]

hmmm, i guess i screwed this one up. the video card is due to arrive today. damn Newegg for being so fast.

OK, OK.how bout these cards? which is better?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143027
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150096
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150127
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150089