Graphics Card upgrade issues?!

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Thri, Mar 5, 2009.

  1. Thri

    Thri Private E-2

    Ok guys if you can help me out I will be truly grateful!!!:celebrate

    Ok, I have been using a dual screen setup for some time now on my computer I got for 3d work in 03.
    Computer stats:
    Windows XP SP3
    2.80GHz Pentium4 processor
    1.50 GB of RAM

    My Graphics card setup was:

    1 Main monitor: NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 128MB (in AGP Slot)

    2 Second monitor: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 64MB (in PCI Slot)

    I had enough money to spare to upgrade at least one card. So naturally I decided to replace the Geforce4 MX. Lucky for me there is still PCI cards out there among all the new PCI-E cards.

    So I got me a Sparkle NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB for standard PCI

    Here is the problem:

    If I install the drivers for the new PCI card then my AGP card stops working and if I roll back the drivers for the AGP then the New PCI card stops working.:cry

    Is there any way I can make them play nice and work at the same time.:confused :banghead


    I just don’t get why they have to interfere with each other, but what do I know?:foolish




    Thankyou for whatever help you can provide
     
  2. collinsl

    collinsl MajorGeek

    To test if there is a conflict, please follow the steps below:

    Right-click on "My Computer" and choose "properties". Then click on the Hardware tab, and click on the "Device Manager" button. Then expand the "Display Adapters" area (click on the little + in a box), right-click on whichever graphics card is not working currently (not important which one), and choose "Properties". Click on the last tab in the list (resources) and see if there is anything written in the "conflicting device list" box, like in the picture in this link: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system/DivingSysProg3/DevMan3.jpg

    If there is anything in the box, please post it here.

    Also, can you hook both monitors up to the new card?
     
  3. Thri

    Thri Private E-2

    The new card only has one CRT and one DVI output and I only have CRT monitors.:(

    Hope this helps diagnose the problem:
    [​IMG]



    I believe this here is the exact model of the new card I am trying to dual screen with my Ti card: GeForce 8400 GS Series

    I’ll post whatever info you need to help find a solution.
    I have tried several things here is the latest thing I tried to get it to work:

    Seeing that the Ti card is the default Card that came with the computer and I can’t lose its drivers I decided to uninstall all the drivers to it then install the new 8400 card. Then after the new 8400 card was working but the Ti one was not I uninstalled the drivers to the Ti card that the installer added and re-booted. The New 8400 card was still working fine and the computer automatically detected the Ti card and installed the default drivers and asked if I wonted to reboot for the changes to take affect, so after rebooting again the Ti card is working but of coarse the new 8400 is now messed up.:confused
     
  4. usafveteran

    usafveteran MajorGeek

    Why did you not buy a new AGP card that will support two monitors? That would have been the best approach here. Many cards will support two monitors nowadays, as long as they have two ports, which typically will be 1 VGA port and 1 DVI port.
     
  5. Thri

    Thri Private E-2

    I looked into that, but I could not find an AGP with 2 VGA outputs that did not cost at least double what this card cost that had the 512MB and other features of this one. But then again you guys may know about more sources for getting cards cheap that I don’t know about. Plus I thought having one card run two monitors might decrease performance?


    Ok I have just found out how cheap a DVI to VGA adapter is. :banghead

    If all else fails will an adapter on the DVI output of the new 8400 card do the job? Will there be a performance loss? What adapter will work for me? Is there an image quality loss with using an adapter? Am I just an idiot?


    Either way I would like to still have the Ti AGP card work IF at all possible!
     
  6. usafveteran

    usafveteran MajorGeek

    Well, the image of the PCI card on the link you posted shows 1 VGA and 1 DVI port, not two "VGA outputs".


    Yes, an adapter should do the job, and with no performance loss, and with no image quality loss. I'm using an adapter right now to run two monitors, both requiring VGA connections. My video card's graphic chip is GeForce FX 5500, AGP, 256MB.

    You mean make it work with the new PCI card, right? I'm not sure what to tell you on this. I've used several combinations of APG and PCI cards in the past, such as AGP Ti4200 with PCI GeForce 4 MX440 or GeForce 2 MX400, or GeForce FX 5200 (AGP) with PCI GeForce 4 MX440 or GeForce 2 MX400 and those combinations worked. I believe the problem you've encountered is due to using the much newer chip, the GeForce 8400 GS, with the Ti4600. Again, not sure what to tell you on that issue.
     
  7. KingSteve

    KingSteve MajorGeek

  8. Thri

    Thri Private E-2

    I know, I am not that dense yet.:foolish I was going to use just the VGA output for one monitor and continue to use the APG card for the other monitor.



    Ok, I got an adapter and now have a dual screen setup just using the 8400 card!:celebrate I guess my AGP card will have to sit disabled in my computer like an appendix. Heck, if I could get it to run a third monitor I would, but it looks like that is not going to happen.

    Well I appreciate you guys doing the best you could to help me out. The important thing is that I now have the new card working and I have dual screens which was my main goal.




    That is pretty cool KingSteve. If I had known about those and about cheap adapters I think I would have gone for one of them instead.
     

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