sh0rtbus

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Jul 8, 2010
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18,510
Hello,
I have HP Pavilion a4327c pre-bundled PC that I got from Costco. I bought it for use with school and work projects and I am wanting to add 2 more monitors (to total 3) so that I can expand my desktop and have a lot more windows open at once. I do not use my computer for gaming so I don't need anything very powerful, but I don't know what I can add that wont cause issues booting and will be compatible.

I already inquired with HP and the genius I spoke to told me to splitter the line and have 3 clones--- not quite what I need, and a rather useless suggestion. :/ He didn't even use the opportunity to try to sell me something, so I don't think he understood quite what my needs were but I didn't want to stay on the phone.

Can I just put an additional graphics card with 2 heads in my computer and use those and the 1 already included to run 3 monitors? If so do I need to get a specific brand/type/model/specs to prevent booting issues?

If not, what can I do? I am willing to completely replace the graphics card, but if I do, is there anything specific I need to look for if the one I'm replacing is an integrated graphics card?

Specs on my computer:

Microprocessor: AMD Athlon II x2 240 processor
4 GB RAM
current graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Harddrive: Hitachi HDS721032CLA SCSI Disk Device 300 GB

Thanks!
 

sh0rtbus

Distinguished
Jul 8, 2010
2
0
18,510
I had searched the topic before asking on here, and some people were having problems getting all 3 to work simultaneously or after installation of the second card nothing would boot. Their details were a bit different though. I did see that most people recommended what you did about using the same make card as I already have (nVIDIA), so I will do that unless I just swap out the card entirely.

Because the current card is integrated, will I need to replace the card with 2 different graphics cards or is there a way to get them working together? Some people have told me that the integrated card will no longer work if there is any other video card/graphics card added.

Also, there is an open PCI slot and an open PCI express x16 slot, can I add to those without having to replace the integrated card?