Connecting two monitors via DVI?

[Mobby Dick]

Hey guys,

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but can you connect two displays with DVI to one graphics card? Because recently tried that with a R7 270x, which has to DVI connectors, but only one display got recognized by the PC. And even when I wanted to use just one monitor, I could just use the upper DVI slot. Is the other one dead or is it meant just for Dual-link DVI?

 

Thanks for your help

[Mobby Dick]

6 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

-snip-

Wow didn't know there were so many types of DVI ^^

On the monitors there are DVI-A ports, since they are usually VGA monitors with an adapter (such middle age, I know :D)

On the graphics card there are DVI-I Dual Link connectors. So I guess you can't use them both for different displays?

[mariushm]

Only one DVI connector has analogue signals (VGA) on older AMD video cards. You can't drive two VGA monitors with Radeon video cards (well, without using active adapters to convert digital output like DVI-D or HDMI to VGA).

 

On the more recent Polaris (RX) series and on the Pascal (GTX10**) series all connectors are digital only, meaning the video cards don't output any kind of analogue signal, so cheap passive adapters (or cables with dvi-a connectors at one end) won't work with them.

 

Also, on some video cards one of the two DVI connectors is "shared" with a HDMI connector... meaning if you connect a monitor on HDMI, the DVI connector can't be used.

 

PS. While the connectors on the video card may look like DVI-I, doesn't mean both support analogue signals. In one of the connectors there's simply no wires going to those analogue pins.

They use the same dvi-i connector on both connectors probably because it's cheaper in volume and also because it's the most compatible connector that will work with any dvi cable out there.