VGA and DVI compability

[phill]

Hi Folks,
I'm building a new PC for my church, the current setup has on monitor for the opperator, a projector for the congregation, and a monitor likned off the projector so the opperator can see better whats on the screen. All these displays run on vga, and two graphics cards are used.

With the new system i want to move away from two graphics cards, as this has caused us problems in the past, so have got an xfx nvidia fx5200 graphics card, i know this is dual monitor, as i run it on my computer at home, only problem is that is has a vga and a dvi-i port. I purcahsed a DVI to vga adapter from ebay to try out, and it detects the monitor (it picks it up as a generic analouge monitor), but the display does not work, I've tried this on two graphics cards, and tried switching my monitors arround, with the same effect for the monitor plugged in to the adaptor. Contacting the seller on ebay, they said that it was for digital vga monitors. Now i've never heard of digital vga.

Is it possible to get a dvi - vga adaptor for us with a standard cart vga monitor?

Thanks guys.

[[Admin] osborn4]

We do this a lot and it generally just works.

What isn't working? Do you have "Extend my desktop" to the second monitor checked?

Have you tried with the second monitor plugged in directly, rather than through the projector?

[phill]

Sorry, just to make my self clear, im only testing it at home at the moment, with two monitors I have. Yeah, it works fine on my DVI monitor. What isnt working is that the monitor connected to the adaptor flashes up "no signal" eventhough the computer detects it as a standard analouge monitor,

[[Admin] osborn4]

I've never had a problem with a DVI/VGA adapter, except one old one that got bumped too often.

Of course, recently, the graphic card suppliers have been including them, so it hasn't been an issue at all.

[phill]

yeah, i was wondering that the gfx cards that are supplied with them output a slight different signal. Maybe i need to get a different card!

[[Admin] osborn4]

Originally Posted by phill

yeah, i was wondering that the gfx cards that are supplied with them output a slight different signal. Maybe i need to get a different card!

A 5200 is pretty long in the tooth.

You can get a 9600 or 9800 with 512MB (or more) of dedicated RAM for a really good price.

[phill]

granted, but its to a budget being a smaller chruch. Having to make do with a 2ghz p4 seconhand from a college! (it certainly beats the duron 1ghz we gont now tho!) It hasnt got to do much, just words, the odd powerpoint and maybe a video or two, but generally we use the dvd player for that!

[DonS]

Have you checked the pins on the adapter? Maybe you have a bent pin. I only say this since you say your dvi monitor works on the port and everything plugged into the adapter does not. I think the adapter is the problem. Ive used them over the years and never had a problem.



DonS

[phill]

cheers, i'll check that. Could just be ebay tat at the end of the day. I spoken to annother company and they assure me the adaptor they stock would be fine. I would hope so as its over 5 times the price!

[[Admin] osborn4]

Here's a card for $50 (after MIR) with free shipping that includes the adapters.

EVGA 256-P2-N761-TR GeForce 8600 GTS

I don't know what you're paying for the adapter, but I'd take a look at this.

[phill]

Thanks for your help guys, the adapter i was speaking of arrived this morning and works perfect! I just need to set up the dual screen functionality. Does anybody know of any programs that may help. The nvidia software is very good, and does mostly what i want, but i would like to a bit more conrol over which full screen modes take prioarty over others!

[[Admin] osborn4]

Can you explain better what you are trying to do?

I've never really used anything beyond XP's display properies and have found the nVidia app to be generally in the way.