Two monitors, one card

**50L1D M477** · July 25th, 2008, 11:14 PM

I've been reading about my ATI Radeon X1950 Pro, and what I gather from everything is that I need only one card to run two monitors. Now I'm not sure if it's for an extended desktop or identical screens. What I read was that it could display on two monitors simultaneously, even with different resolutions and refresh rates. So my question is can any graphics card display an extended desktop alone? If any can, is mine one of them? Thanks for any info you can give me, and let me know if you need more info.

**Atomic Rooster** · July 25th, 2008, 11:26 PM

As long as your video card has dual outputs, you can run an extended desktop.

How To Setup Extended Desktop (in plain English) | eHow.com

**50L1D M477** · July 25th, 2008, 11:42 PM

So is there a primary output? I tried plugging my monitor into the second one and nothing displayed. The reason I don't just try using both monitors right now is that I need a second DVI cable.

**Atomic Rooster** · July 26th, 2008, 12:08 AM

Generally, you can use either output on a video card. Did you switch the cable while the computer was running? If so, that would explain the lack of display on your monitor. The second port is essentially disabled if it doesn't receive a signal from a connected monitor at start up.

**50L1D M477** · July 26th, 2008, 12:10 AM

Okay, that makes sense. I guess I'll just try starting up my PC with both monitors plugged in once I get that DVI cable. If it doesn't work, I'll be back, but I'm sure it will. Thanks for your help.