Is it possible to run a two monitors (one on the gpu, one on the cpu)?


Recommended Posts

Hi I am wondering if it is possible to run two monitors from the GPU and CPU. I tried running them both on my graphics card but it never worked. It only seems to work with one. I read that one of the ports only has enough power for one?

So I thought maybe I could run one of the CPU and the other on the GPU? My motherboard has a Monitor output but is it possible to enable them both in the bios? Or can it only run either the gpu or the cpu gfx at one time (the i7 3770K has onboard graphics)? I can only see the ATI in the device manager but if I take the graphics card out the onboard one is displayed after rebooting (to be expected).

If this is not possible I will probably just buy an extra graphics card. All specs in my sig.

Edit, I run windows 8 pro (I actually like it so don't go of topic about that)

  On 02/03/2013 at 23:13, bucko said:

I said my specs are in the sig, and I said it didn't work when it had two monitors in the GPU. Did you read my OP?

Erm, of course I read it, I don't have sigs enabled though, so list your specs

And explain what you did when you failed to enable 2 displays

Untitled.png

To answer your question no, once a PCI-E graphcis card is plugged in the onboard graphics (be that old school intel mobo grapics or new schoole CPU integrated graphics) are disabled.

However there is no way your GPU can't power 2 monitors itself...as mentioned it should be able to do 4.

You must have a setting mis-configured. or old drivers....that or your card is faulty...in which case send it back.

  On 02/03/2013 at 23:25, Detection said:

Just about every modern GPU can run 2 displays natively, for 3 you might need to connect to a display port if using just 1 GPU, but for 2, simple job of connecting and enabling

Exactly, I think even my GPU from about 2003 could do dual screen.

but yes if you want 3+ monitors you'll need either dual cards or eyefinity with display ports.

My specs are:

PC: Intel Core i7 3770K Quad Core IvyBridge, Asus P8Z77-V LK, 8GB DDR3, ATI Radeon R6950.

I don't recall it appearing in the display propties as two monitors when they both are on the GPU. But I will try again.

Are you perhaps using a DVI to VGA cable on one or both monitors?

The AMD Radeon 6950 has 2 DVI connectors at the back, but one is DVI-I and the other DVI-D. The DVI-I connector has both a digital and an analog signal, which means only the DVI-I-connector can use a DVI-to-VGA cable.

So you need at least 1 monitor that has a DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort connection, if the other monitor only has VGA

  On 02/03/2013 at 23:31, bucko said:

My specs are:

PC: Intel Core i7 3770K Quad Core IvyBridge, Asus P8Z77-V LK, 8GB DDR3, ATI Radeon R6950.

I don't recall it appearing in the display propties as two monitors when they both are on the GPU. But I will try again.

Ok, so what are the 2 connections from the GPU to the displays ?

DVI / HDMI or DVI / DVI etc etc

What cables are you using ?

If both displays using either of the above ports are connected and turned on, then Windows should see them in display properties shown in my screenshot

EDIT - And what are the 2 display models ?

Yes you should be able to, I'm running 4 monitors off my graphics card and a 5th off the onboard graphics with no problems, just enabled it in the bios and windows picked it up.

Thanks for the replies so far.

My main monitor is a DellST2410 that is hooked up on DVI on the first availble DVI port.

The second monitor is just an old videoseven VGA widscreen using an adapter to DVI, I know it's not the greatest make compared to my dell but thought it would make good use for a second monitor (so I can have other stuff open while I am playing games on my main monitor).

It does actually now apper in display properties but won't let me enable it.

extradisplay.png

extradisplay2.png

  On 02/03/2013 at 23:35, SinsOfCube said:

Are you perhaps using a DVI to VGA cable on one or both monitors?

The AMD Radeon 6950 has 2 DVI connectors at the back, but one is DVI-I and the other DVI-D. The DVI-I connector has both a digital and an analog signal, which means only the DVI-I-connector can use a DVI-to-VGA cable.

So you need at least 1 monitor that has a DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort connection, if the other monitor only has VGA

I think this might be my problem by the sounds of it.

So try switching the cables around, also make sure you reboot after swapping them around. Windows doesn't always allow you to configure your monitors properly if they weren't connected during boot, not sure if this changed with Windows 8.

  On 03/03/2013 at 00:10, SinsOfCube said:

So try switching the cables around, also make sure you reboot after swapping them around. Windows doesn't always allow you to configure your monitors properly if they weren't connected during boot, not sure if this changed with Windows 8.

This ^^

DVI-I should be the one connected to your VGA display as it can carry analogue signals

DVI-D can only carry digital

VGA is analogue

  On 03/03/2013 at 00:10, SinsOfCube said:

So try switching the cables around, also make sure you reboot after swapping them around. Windows doesn't always allow you to configure your monitors properly if they weren't connected during boot, not sure if this changed with Windows 8.

Yer I just tried switching them around. The second monitor did detect in Windows but it did not output anything (I set the correct resolution and extended the displays) but nothing however it was listed in device manager. Just kept getting no signal detected.

  On 03/03/2013 at 00:33, bucko said:

Yer I just tried switching them around. The second monitor did detect in Windows but it did not output anything (I set the correct resolution and extended the displays) but nothing however it was listed in device manager. Just kept getting no signal detected.

Are you sure the cable you are using for the VGA display is DVI-I ?

Check here

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/pc-peripheral/3365585/how-tell-dvi-i-dvi-d-cables-apart/

  On 03/03/2013 at 00:42, nub said:

You're not plugging your monitor into your CPU. Your motherboard has an onboard GPU. Thus you have two separate GPUs.

Is your monitor powered on? Have you tried another monitor? or tried that monitor on another computer?

I was under the impression the CPU had an on-die GPU, http://www.anandtech.com/show/5771/the-intel-ivy-bridge-core-i7-3770k-review/8 and the motherboard port was just to connect the display to it.

Yes the monitor is on, not tried another monitor but will try it on another PC to make sure it's working.

I've had the onboard (i7) graphics and an add on gpu (560GTX) both working concurrently - I wanted to use the onbooard for mornal, unintensive windowsie stuff on one screen, and the higher stress stuff (gaming, etc) on the GPU.

It did work, but actually it caused my media center playback to stutter, even on the other screen. Went back to running them both off the graphics card and it works so so so much better. Onboard has been disabled again.

(as a note, I also have sig's hidden, as I suspect many here do, so was unable to see your specs)

  On 03/03/2013 at 01:04, bucko said:

I was under the impression the CPU had an on-die GPU, http://www.anandtech...-3770k-review/8 and the motherboard port was just to connect the display to it.

Yeah you're right. I forgot new CPUs have integrated GPUs. It just sounds weird.

the z77 has lucid virutre which enables hybrid gpu on desktops,in order to use this feature you have to plug you display cables onto the mobo and not on to the gpu

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Good afternoon, I have a customer who purchased a Dell laptop last year. One of the latest Inspirons. they are older so it can be a bit hard to see things on the screen. They are using Windows 11 Home 23H2, I have not upgraded them yet to 24H2. What I did was changed the scaling to 150% and that automatically made all the icons on desktop bigger and using in Chrome webpage elements are bigger etc. The thing is I overlooked the Taskbar and the icons most notably hidden within the arrow pointing up. I though by changing to 150% the scaling even the taskbar would get bigger. Again I don't know how I missed seeing that. Is this something that can be fixed? One other thing is I notice in File Explorer things are also small and not larger after the change. Can this be fixed as well?   Thank You.
    • Apple still has two unannounced features for iOS 26 by Hamid Ganji Apple held its WWDC25 event this month to unveil a slew of AI features and its new design for operating systems, known as Liquid Glass. While iOS 26 currently has no shortage of features, the iPhone maker might still have some features under wraps that didn’t make a debut at this month’s WWDC. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in his weekly Power On newsletter that Apple didn’t announce two iOS 26 features at the WWDC event. The first feature is a live translation of conversations via AirPods, and the latter is the ability to sync your wireless network login information across devices at a hotel or gym. Even though these features were already tipped to arrive in iOS 26, Apple held them from the event, presumably because they’re still not ready to ship. Apple appears to have learned from its experience with Apple Intelligence and aims to break the habit of unveiling new features before they are ready for release. The Live Translation on iOS 26 is currently integrated with popular apps like Messages, FaceTime, and Phone to help users break language barriers and communicate in different languages. The feature is now under development for AirPods, allowing users to hear real-time speech translations. Moreover, the WiFi syncing feature allows you to sync your sign-in information across your entire Apple ecosystem, enabling you to connect to a public WiFi network with ease. This would eliminate the need to sign into a WiFi network separately on each device. While these features haven’t arrived in iOS 26 yet, they’re more likely to be released later this year, in October or December.
    • Intel Level L4 cache has been around for a long time, so AMD Zen 3D Cache is a copy of Intel L4 cache that was introduced with Broadwell i7-5775c, which had 128mb of Level L4 cache. Secondly, Zen 6 is not faster in single-threaded performance than 13900k/14900k. 285k is something new Intel is trying, basically showing us that chiplet design does not work for gaming, just like AMD design does not work for gaming. Throwing more cores at it and having L4 cache won't fix the issue, and that is frame dip and stuttering caused by a very stupid design decision to keep the memory controller outside the compute tile. Might as well put a memory controller by bringing back a south bridge chip. lol
    • Just like AMD Zen, it is not going to work for gaming despite 3D Cache. Frame dip and stuttering are giving, which renders 14900KS the greatest gaming CPU ever released.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Community Regular
      Primey_ went up a rank
      Community Regular
    • Reacting Well
      Gromvar earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Dedicated
      BreakingBenjamin earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Week One Done
      Hartej earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      TsunadeMama earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      519
    2. 2
      +FloatingFatMan
      181
    3. 3
      ATLien_0
      166
    4. 4
      Skyfrog
      99
    5. 5
      Som
      96
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!