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Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Second card choice for Win XP/PNY nVidia GeForce4 MX440-SE
David DeRolph   2004-10-31 14:48
System: ECS K7S5A PRO with Athlon XP 2200+.
My primary card: PNY nVidia GeForce4 MX440-SE in AGP slot.
I'm currently using an old ATI Xpert 98, with 8MB memory, in a PCI slot.
This combination worked fine under Win 98SE, but now I'm running WinXP and the combo doesn't play as well under WinXP as it did under Win 98SE. I've got the latest driver for the ATI card, which is supposed to support XP. But, the only resolution available on the second monitor (attached to the ATI card) is 800X600. If I open Display Properties, it shows that 1024X768 is available but when I try to change to this setting, the monitor just goes blank/black.

I'm thinking about buying a newer PCI card. I see a seemingly endless spectrum of combinations here but I'm wondering another one with a nVidia chip makes the most sense since nVidia has a universal driver for it's cards and, therefore, both cards would use the same driver. Perhaps a GeForce2 MX400 or a PCI version of my APG card (GeForce4 MX440) would be a good choice.

Any comments?
David DeRolph   2004-11-01 07:06
An update. I had been using a 15 inch KDS monitor for my seconddary monitor. My primary monitor is a SAMSUNG 17 inch.

I had another SAMSUNG 17 inch monitor on another computer. As a test, I disconnected the 15 monitor and then connected the other SAMSUNG monitor as the second monitor. With that monitor, I am able to set resolution to 1024x768.

However, I still have another problem, which I did not previously mention. Win XP will not go into Standby when I have the ATI card enabled; if I disable it and just use a single monitor (on my AGP card), Win XP goes into Standby as it should.
ECarlson   2004-11-02 11:23
If you're getting a new video card anyway, why not get a newer dual-out AGP card. Most cards (other than the bottom-end, and even some of those) have dual outs these days. Then there's no possibility of a video card conflict.

- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
David DeRolph   2004-11-05 05:35
ECarlson, thanks for your response. Sorry I did not see it until today (11/5). I think you made a good point, but I've already purchased a PCI card with a nVidia GeForce 2 MX400 chip and I just installed it today. It was an easy installation which confirmed my thoughts about compatibility. Win XP immediately assigned the same driver to the new card as my AGP card, the problems I was having with the old ATI Xpert 98 card have disappeared, and I'm a happy camper.
ECarlson   2004-11-05 10:14
Sounds good. Thanks for the update.

- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Second card choice for Win XP/PNY nVidia GeForce4 MX440-SE

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