dual monitor video card

I went to buy a dual monitor video card today because I was under the impression that if I buy a dual video card and keep my old video card in the computer, then I can hook up three monitors total. But the guy at the store said that my old video card will shut off after I install the dual video card and the computer will not read the old card any longer and I will only be able to hook up 2 monitors with the new dual video card and the old video card will become nonworkable. Does anybody have any experience with dual video cards and hooking up 3 monitors? Or is the guy at the store right and I will only be able to hook up two?

I was also thinking of buying just another video card and installing that one in addition to the one I already have, but the guy said the old one will not work. So then I didn't buy it, because the whole purpose of me getting a second video card is to have two or more monitors. Anybody have any experience with this?

I really wanted 3 monitors with the dual card.

 

Windows xp is smart enough to handle multiple cards. The old one will not shut down.

For your new card get the cheapest one that meets your needs. I bought a 2nd PCI card from CompUSA for $70. works great. As long as it has the right output connections it should work. Two cards of the same brand will reduce your risk of problems.

Good luck!

 

I depends. If your existing video is integrated onto the motherboard, it is quite possible (indeed likely) that it will have to be disabled to use a dual head card.

If your existing video is say an AGP card plugged into the AGP slot, you should be able to add a PCI dual head card, and have 3 screens.

 

Good point. My advice assumes you have a card in your AGP port.

 

it depends. i've had at least 10 4 or 5 monitor computers in the past 6 years and i've had trouble with a few computers like dell. i've tried to put in older video cards in the dell and sometimes its rejected them

 

I recently hooked up a second monitor to my Dell. Though I'm not at all an expert on the subject, is it possible to install one card that supports 3 monitors? Because if so that may be the easiest route.

 

Quad card with only 3 monitors attached

 

I just bought a 2nd PCI video card from www.newegg.com. Its a G-force 6200 made by BFG. It was only $27. sweet deal.