Thread: I need help with understand dual monitors nowadays

I've setup dual monitors in the past. It usually involved 2 DVI ports on the back of my card. I just setup one computer that had 2 DVI's just last fall for the company. Now the company wants more and they expressed interest in HP only (just like the other I had chosen for them). Well, HP changed their lineup drastically. First off, the previous system I selected from HP was a Pavilion. If you aren't familiar with HP, Pavilions come from the "Home and Office" line of pc's as opposed to HP's other line; "small and medium business". Well, the company wants all systems to use Windows 7 for now so I can't choose a system from "Home and Office". The reason I had to do it before was because none of the systems from the "small and medium business" section were able to support dual monitors. Now, only the "small and medium business" systems can come with Windows 7. All of the Home and Office systems come with Windows 8 now...

Anyways, first off, I need help understanding something. In the past, next to the graphic card listing on the specs of a system, I would read something about how the card had 2 DVI ports, or 2 HDMI ports. But now, I'm reading things like "DVI, HDMI, and VGA adapter", or "DVI-D and DVI-I". This is on their "home and office" systems. On the "small and medium business" systems, certain cards would read "dual VGA"

So, I had spoken to HP customer service, they simply tell me that on the home and office systems I would just use both the DVI and HDMI for dual monitors. I explained to her that I've always been told to use identical monitors so there are no conflicts with resolution or refresh rate differences. She said to use an adapter to convert a DVI to HDMI or a HDMI to a DVI. First question, is this normal nowadays?

Second question; what is DVI-D and DVI-I? Don't spat out the Wikipedia mumbo jumpo I just read, explain it in terms of how to determine whether or not the graphics card will support dual monitors.

Third question; since it looks like I will have to choose a system from the "small and medium business" section, is "Dual VGA" what I need to look for to support dual monitors? Does HP's small and medium business systems not give me the option of DVI or HDMI? Do they even still make monitors with VGA ports?

These guys (HP, DELL, etc) aren't very good about advertising dual monitor capabilities. It's starting to become pretty standard in the work place. Everywhere I go, customers and vendors alike are using dual monitors...

Also, what is "DP"? One of the graphic cards listed "DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter".
DP is a new one to me....

Dual penetration


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For the price they're going to charge you for cables and the video card; you're better off buying an aftermarket nvidia card with dual monitor support. Should run you about 100 bucks per PC. Just make sure the PSU is at least 350 and make sure that the cards you buy don't require additional power connections.

Originally Posted by jmw_man

Also, what is "DP"? One of the graphic cards listed "DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA adapter".
DP is a new one to me....

DP is display port.

It looks similar to HDMI. I don't know what advantages/disadvantages are..

Scratch that.... They're 40 bucks now.

ZOTAC GeForce GT 610 ZONE Edition ZT-60603-20L Video Card - 1GB GDDR3, PCI-Express 2.0(x16), 2x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x Mini-HDMI, DirectX 11 at TigerDirect.com

Originally Posted by Warprosper

DP is display port.

It looks similar to HDMI. I don't know what advantages/disadvantages are..

HP rep just told me that DP is replacing HDMI...

Originally Posted by Warprosper

Scratch that.... They're 40 bucks now.

ZOTAC GeForce GT 610 ZONE Edition ZT-60603-20L Video Card - 1GB GDDR3, PCI-Express 2.0(x16), 2x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x Mini-HDMI, DirectX 11 at TigerDirect.com

Why is that card so beefy looking?

Originally Posted by jmw_man

HP rep just told me that DP is replacing HDMI...

DP is supposed to replace DVI and VGA not HDMI.

I guess only the future will tell..

Originally Posted by Warprosper

For the price they're going to charge you for cables and the video card; you're better off buying an aftermarket nvidia card with dual monitor support. Should run you about 100 bucks per PC. Just make sure the PSU is at least 350 and make sure that the cards you buy don't require additional power connections.

Well apparently, every single computer in the small and medium business section of HP allows dual monitors according to what the HP rep just told me. Even the small form factor models allow dual monitors. On the spec datasheets, they list all the ports on the front and back of the towers. VGA and DP is listed as being on the back of all of the systems I was checking out in the small form factor section.