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Sam 2007-04-03 04:28
OK. I've been running a dual screen PC for digital audio editing for about 2 years. Spec as follows:
P4 3.2HT
2GB RAM
Abit IC7 mobo
Radeon 9250 128MB AGP
M-Audio Delta 1010LT
Intel Pro 100/S NIC
Recently got given another pair of screens and thought I'd add them to the setup. Went and bought the PCI version of the same card since the AGP one's done fine, not a single problem with it in 2 years, and they're pretty cheap and cheerful.
Turns out to be something of a mistake!
When the PCI card is inserted the machine either fails to display anything on the 2 original screens or hangs halfway through POST (after CPU detection, before RAM), depending on which PCI slot it's installed in. 3rd & 4th screens both display 'no input signal' at all times.
Have talked to ATi on the phone and all they could offer was that it's apparently extremely uncommon for motherboards to support 1 x PCI & 1 x AGP graphics adapters, and to contact motherboard manufacturer for more info.
Further Googling and reading of this forum reveals that this seems to be incorrect, maybe he was referring to PCIe & AGP simultaneously? (His command of English wasn't brilliant!)
Anyone got any ideas? Most of the fixes I see about involve drivers, obviously this is a more fundamental problem than that. Can't even get the BIOS to load (it says press Del to enter, but then doesn't do anything).
Any help or advice appreciated, I'm tearing my bloody hair out here.
Cheers.
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ecarlson 2007-04-03 11:52
PCI + AGP is very common, and often works well (yes, they were probably thinking of PCI-e). Try different PCI slots, since different PCI slots use different interrupts. Also search the forums for some BIOS settings that might help: I think I remember something about memory aperture or something like that (though I could be way off).
- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Sam 2007-04-04 01:11
Final update (got it working last night):
ATi were talking rubbish, yeah I agree, I can only assume that he thought I meant PCIe.
The solution was to go into the BIOS and select it to boot AGP video before PCI (it was defaulting to PCI first), then install the PCI card, after that all booted fine and drivers installed without any hitch.
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ecarlson 2007-04-05 13:01
Great!
- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
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kevin 2007-04-06 18:35
Hi sam
Your good results with 1 AGP+ 1PCI card for a dirt cheap 4 monitor set up is very encouraging news for me!
I am a stock trader & need multi monitors to open charts (say 2 or 3 in each monitor).
After Pentium Cd 6300 etc family chip introduction, Pentium 4 (HT) & Pentium D prices have come down a lot. Iam thinking of the same config like you (not Pentium D )
P4 521 or 541 (3.06/3.2 GHZ)
1 GIG ram ,250 hard disk,500W powersuply case & the usual annessories.
Given the low prices of lot of new low end mother boards,
what motherboard (with AGP)will you recommend?
Will you still go for ATI 9250 AGP & PCI or some thing better in a similar price range? (non pci in expensive ex cards?
Others kindly suggets low buget 4 monitor with AMD AM2/x2 config too1
Thanks
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kevin 2007-04-06 18:37
Hi Carlson
I message I posted above was meant for you.(not sam)
Sam ! you can suggest some thing else too.
Thanks
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kevin 2007-04-06 18:39
Iam sleepy.I think my original post was right?
bear with me!
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Sam 2007-04-14 02:37
Hi Kevin
I'd recommend the 9250s; I haven't had a problem with the AGP one in 2 years and as described above the problems with the PCI installation were down to me not selecting the right option in the BIOS! As you say they're cheap as chips which is obviously an advantage.
As for motherboards, I've built what must amount to hundreds of computers over the last 8 or 10 years (used to own a computer shop, for my sins!). Personally I don't go near anything that isn't Abit, Asus or Gigabyte.
Will probably get flamed for saying that, but I can only comment on personal experience, and pretty much all the computers I've built have worked pretty reliably!
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