Third monitor for Asus P5B GeForce 7600 GT - DisplayLink USB did not work

trekracer

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Aug 11, 2007
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I thought adding a third monitor to my system would be simple. Despite my best efforts at searching this and other forums for the past three weeks, I am still unsure of the right solution.

I would like a third monitor to increase productivity. I am not a gamer. But I do use my two primary monitors for photo and video editing and occasional movie watching.

I built my system years ago. It includes:
- Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP:
2 x PCI-E x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x2 or x4 mode)
1 x PCI-E x1 (x1 or diabled mode)
3 x PCI 2.2
- Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT
- SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus SS-550HT, 550-watt power supply
- Intel Core 2 6400
- Windows 7

To add a third monitor, I tried using a HIS Multi-View II DVI USB 2.0 Adapter but quickly learned that my 7600 GT is one of two NVIDIA GPU’s that are not supported by DisplayLink: http://www.displaylink.com/support/ticket.php?id=293

I don’t wish to build a new computer at this time. I just want to add a basic monitor off to the side of my desk for email and the occasional web browser or PDF.

My options as I see them:

1. I’ll spend $500 - if I have to - on a new GPU, but it has to be compatible with my Asus P5B motherboard and provide some way of supporting at least three monitors. How can I verify this?

2. Install a second graphics card that is compatible with both my Asus P5B and 7600 GT. I have exhausted myself trying to learn if a compatible card exists. How can I narrow my search?

Thank you!



 

trekracer

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Thank you, geofelt.

The GeForce 8400 GS card you mentioned would be ideal. It is inexpensive, and like my 7600 GT Silent Pipe, it is fanless. However, the 8400 GS does not use the same driver as my 7600 GT, so I am skeptical that it will work:

Driver for my 7600 GT: GEFORCE R304 DRIVER
Version: 307.83 WHQL
Release Date: 2013.02.25
http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-32bit-307.83...

Driver for the GeForce 8400 GS card:
GeForce R320 Game Ready Driver
Version: 320.49 WHQL
Release Date: 2013.07.01
http://www.nvidia.com/object/win8-win7-winvista-32bit-3...

I apologize if I'm over-thinking this. But I've already purchased one product that was incompatible, and I'm hoping to avoid that mistake again.

Will the 8400 GS work with my 7600 GT?

Thank you!
 
You are entirely correct that the cards will use different drivers.
Kudos for checking that out.
But as of windows 7 and, I think Vista, you can have more than one graphics driver.
So, yes, you could use the 8300GS, and you would have to install the second driver.
However, in the interests of simplicity, I might suggest instead a 6 series card which does use the same driver.
Since you like fanless(I do too) here is a 6200 which should do the job too:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130466
I was not clear which os you are using, but I think it might be windows 7 32 bit.
Here is a list of the supported products for your current driver:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-32bit-307.83-whql-driver.html
 

trekracer

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Hi geofelt,

Thank you, again. The 6200 LE card you mentioned also looks ideal - a fanless, inexpensive, driver-compatible, simple solution.

I noticed that the 6200 LE has a PCI interface. My 7600 GT rev 3.0 is a PCI-E.

I've read that when two video cards are installed in a system, the slowest card may determine the system's overall video performance. I'm guessing that PCI is slower than PCI-E.

I do not want my system's performance to be less than than it is today with the 7600 GT.

Is my concern valid?

(FYI, you are correct that I am running Windows 7, 32-bit.)

Thank you!
 
If two cards are used in sli mode, that is, working together to provide more rendering power to a single monitor, yes, they will operate at the speed of the slower. That is not the case here, since each card will operate independently.
Today's graphics cards are not much impacted by the interface speed. 1% perhaps?
Your needs are for relatively static displays where fast rendering performance is not needed.
The advantage of the 6200 is that you can use the same driver. You should be able to just drop it in, and the card will be detected.
Or... you could use the 8400 in one of the X4 slots which I think is faster, but you would need to and install a second driver.
On balance, the 6200 would seem to be the easiest.
 

trekracer

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Thank you again, geofelt.

I purchased the 8400 GS, and it is working great. Interestingly, I did not yet install the nVidia 8400 driver. Instead, I inserted the card into the slot, booted the computer, and Windows reported that it was installing a driver. A few minutes later, my third monitor was available in display settings.

The third monitor displayed video when plugged into the DVI port, and again when plugged into the VGA port. A fourth monitor was not recognized when using the DVI and VGA ports at the same time. Device Manager reports that both cards are using the same driver: version 9.18.13.783.

As a bonus, I hooked up a fourth monitor to the 8400's HDMI port, and that showed up immediately for a total of four monitors. I am able to drag windows across all four monitors, and 1080p video looks decent to me on all four monitors.

My only concern at this point, is that the heat sink on the 8400 gets relatively hot. It's not so hot that I can't touch it, but it's quite a bit hotter than my Gigabyte 7600 GT Silent Pipe - which has a heat sink three to four times the size.

Again, thank you for sharing. I learned a lot, and I hope our posts will help others too.