Trying to figure out the best solution...

J

jprev

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A couple months ago I bought a 46" television, and recently I've been really wanting to have the option of using it with my computer. My computer desk is already set up with a dual monitor display, though, so I want the ability to switch between using my two monitors, and using the television.

There are a couple of complicating factors:

1) My video card (it's a GeForce 7600GT) has two DVI outputs, both being used by my monitors.

2) The television is across the room from my computer desk, and my fiancee has already put her foot down on my running a cable across the middle of the floor. Apparently that's not classy. So I would need to run the cable around the room, which calls for a significantly longer cable.

3) What I'm looking for is some way that I would easily be able to switch between using my dual monitors and using only the television.

So I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this, relatively cheaply, since I blew all of my discretionary spending money on the television itself.

So what are my options? I am willing to get a new video card if it is a significant upgrade over my current card, and has enough ports to support all of my displays (I would need, at minimum, 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, and 1 VGA). Alternatively, if there is some way I can work it out with just cables, cable splitters, converters, etc. that is not too insanely complicated, that is an option to...

Anyone else dealt with a situation like this? Any advice?

Thanks in advance, jprev.
 
I think you have many options for what you want. I can name 2 right now:

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4850 512MB - comes with 1 VGA, 1 DVI, and 1 HDMI. So I think you just might have to swap one of your DVI cable with a VGA, maybe for your secondary monitor. The HDMI, of course, will come in very handy with your requirement of a long HDMI cable to route around your room to the TV.

Or, if you do not wish to swap one of your current DVI to VGA, you can get this XFX 4850 (or any other modern card with the round component out port) and couple it with a long component cable and you're likely good to go as well.

You might have to solve the problem with audio too; as you might want the sound to come out of the TV's stereo system whenever you're using the TV, but that should be very simple (basically just running an audio cable with appropriate adapters if necessary).

You might want to check your 7600GT to see if it comes with the round component port like the one seen in the XFX 4850 I linked. It's possible that your card already has this.
 
Thanks so much for the response - that first card looks like exactly what I need. Is it easy to set it up to have a fairly straightforward method of switching between the displays, so that it can either use the VGA and DVI (dual monitors) or use the HDMI (television)?

My current card has only the two DVI ports unfortunately. I am assuming, since my card was a low-mid range card 2.5 years ago when I bought it, that the 4850 is significantly more powerful? I haven't paid attention to video cards since I bought the last one.

Thanks again for the help - it is much appreciated.
 
Get UltraMon if you use 2 or more screens once you have your stuff set up. You can set all kinds of hotkeys, most notably one to enable or disable different configurations without confirmation. It's lovely.
 
[quote name='jprev']
My current card has only the two DVI ports unfortunately. I am assuming, since my card was a low-mid range card 2.5 years ago when I bought it, that the 4850 is significantly more powerful? I haven't paid attention to video cards since I bought the last one.
[/QUOTE]

Yes, the 4850 is significantly more powerful than the 7600GT. You'll benefit from the extra power if you play moderate amount of recent games. Hopefully, your CPU is good enough (Athlon 64 X2, Core 2 Duo) to utilize the full potential of the 4850.
 
Can those 2x DVI 1x HDMI/YUV cards run 3 displays at once? Or do you need to switch the secondary display between the 2nd monitor and the TV whenever you wanted to switch?

I was thinking that if you were to add a cheap 2nd video card into the system you could run all the displays at once. Since you probably wouldn't be gaming (?) on the TV then you'd just need a really cheap low end card.

Ruahrc
 
[quote name='Ruahrc']Can those 2x DVI 1x HDMI/YUV cards run 3 displays at once? Or do you need to switch the secondary display between the 2nd monitor and the TV whenever you wanted to switch?

I was thinking that if you were to add a cheap 2nd video card into the system you could run all the displays at once. Since you probably wouldn't be gaming (?) on the TV then you'd just need a really cheap low end card.

Ruahrc[/QUOTE]

I recommend doing this... running 3 displays from one card is probably going to be a PITA. It would likely be easier to use two separate graphics cards.
 
Thanks for all of the replies.

So my CPU is a Core2Duo from back when they first came out (December 2006 is when I built this rig). I believe it is an E6300. Will that be able to take full advantage of a 4850?

As for what I use the computer for, I don't play a lot of games on my PC (I mostly use my 360), but I do occasionally. Right now I'm mostly just using it to play Warhammer Online. However, I'd like to be able to play on the TV if I do end up hooking it up.

Another question I have is - if I were to get a second graphics card, and use it for my secondary display (17" monitor as opposed to my 22" widescreen), would I still be able to use them as an extended desktop, or would having the monitors run by separate cards make that not possible? I guess my other problem with the 2 video card idea is that my motherboard only has one PCI-E x16 slot, and that is used by my 7600GT, so I don't know how well I'd be able to utilize another card.
 
I think that the handling of extended desktops is done in windows, thus it should be possible to extend across all 3 displays despite being driven from two cards.

The PCI-E slot thing might be an issue though. I think the "old" solution was to get a PCI graphics card (since the display usually only handled 2D tasks) but I am not sure if they even sell these things anymore?

Ruahrc
 
[quote name='SOSTrooper']If you're still looking for a video card, you can't beat this deal (see link here at Slickdeal). $86 for 4850 512MB with free shipping.[/QUOTE]

That looks like a great deal - looks like it lasts another two weeks too which gives me time to make sure I will still be able to afford to feed myself even after I buy it :lol:

Thanks for the heads up!

EDIT: So I bit on that video card, or more accurately, I got my girl to buy it for me. Now I need to get an HDMI cord at least 35' long - the monoprice cord is about 40 bucks - I found this one for 25, I am assuming that there is no difference in quality?

http://www.eforcity.com/pothhdmh35f1.html?int=efhdppbanspc04-pothhdmh35f1
 
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[quote name='jprev']
EDIT: So I bit on that video card, or more accurately, I got my girl to buy it for me. Now I need to get an HDMI cord at least 35' long - the monoprice cord is about 40 bucks - I found this one for 25, I am assuming that there is no difference in quality?

http://www.eforcity.com/pothhdmh35f1.html?int=efhdppbanspc04-pothhdmh35f1[/QUOTE]

That cable looks fine. It's probably no different than the HDMI cable you'd buy for $79.99 at Best Buy. The length will definitely get the job done from across the room.
 
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