How to use radeon hd 5450 with dual dvi monitor

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bensklein

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Mar 23, 2011
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I have a Radeon HD 5450 with 1GB memory and 2 20" Dell monitors. How can I connect the 2 monitors (extended desktop) to this card? I already bought a DVI splitter (1 male DVI to 2 female DVI connectors).
Computer is a Dell Optiplex running Win7 Pro. Only drivers for the Radeon card are installed - do I need to install the ATI Catalyst software?
 
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All you need is a vga to dvi adapter. Hook one to your dvi port and the second to the vag to dvi adapter. I don't know if you were trying to clone your desktop or extend it across both monitors. If you were trying to extend it across 2 monitors the dvi splitter isn't going to work.
 
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"VGA to DVI" adapter?

I'm not aware such a thing exists.

You should read your motherboard manual on how to connect to multiple monitors. Some points:

1. If you have ONLY a single DVI and a single VGA output then you can only hookup to the second monitor if it has a VGA input (you use a normal VGA cable)
2. If you have HDMI output you MAY be able to use an HDMI->DVI setup (again, see your motherboard manual)
3. a DVI "splitter" is simply sending the same signal to two monitors. I assume that's not what you want.

About adapters:
There is a DVI->VGA adapter (not the other way except within monitors). The reason this works is because these DVI outputs contain ALL the wires for BOTH DVI and for VGA. The VGA "adapter" is simply hooking up only to those VGA wires. A normal VGA output contains no DVI wires so there is no "adapter" to use.

Summary:
Verify with your manual, but what you likely need if you have HDMI is either an "HDMI->DVI" adapter or simply an "HDMI->DVI" cable. Note:
a) the HDMI->DVI cable passes only video
b) there are two types of video signals. One is the normal "PC" monitor output and the other is a "TV VIDEO" signal. Be aware that some monitors with HDMI inputs are only designed to accept the normal "TV VIDEO" the same way as a TV would. For example, Sony does have TV's with the normal HDMI inputs but also with "PC-HDMI" which is a computer format to treat the HDTV as a monitor. I know it's confusing.

If your HDMI output was "TV only" (probably not) or your your HDMI input was "TV only" you can still use a "TV Video" format for the second monitor. However, "TV Video" signals are only in the format 480i/p, 720p, 1080i/p (1080p means "1920x1080" resolution and progressive. 480i means "720x480" and interlaced). If you have HDMI it's almost certain your screen is 16x9 and probably 1920x1080 in which case you would need to use 1080p setup through your Catalyst Control Center. You MAY need to correct for overscan etc.

I'll stop know as it's confusing.

Again, I suspect an "HDMI->DVI" cable from Monoprice will end up being your solution but I got thorough just in casd it wasn't.
 
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Sorry but everyone missed my question and went off on other tangents. The HD 5450 video card that I have is a stand alone card; it is not on the motherboard. Next, it only has 1 port - a DVI port (no VGA port and I don't want to use any VGA in this setup.) I see it does have an HDMI port also.

The ATI drivers were installed so a single DVI monitor works with it, but the ATI Catalyst software was NOT installed.

I have a simple Y cable with a DVI male on one end (that goes to the HD 5450 card) and 2 female DVI ends (that go to standard DVI cables to the 2 Dell monitors.)

I am trying to connect the 2 monitors to the Y cable and get extended desktop on them.

1. Can the Y cable that I have do that? (I've worked with other Y cables that have a male DM-59 going to the video card and 2 female DVI plugs and those will create an extended desktop - those worked fine.)

2. If the cable I have will do extended desktops, do I need the ATI Catalyst software installed?

Thanks.
 
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I did answer your question. Maybe I went into too much detail and you got confused.

*READ YOUR MOTHERBOARD MANUAL, PARTICULARLY THE GRAPH SHOWING CONNECTIVITY.

**You can NOT connect to the same DVI output and get a different signal to each monitor.

DVI#1:
connects to Monitor #1 (DVI->DVI cable)

HDMI#1:
connects to Monitor #2 (HDMI->DVI cable)

Had you been more specific it would have been easier. The HD5450 card I saw had a DVI, VGA and HDMI output.

To answer your questions:

1. "worked fine" ? Really? I can't understand how you got a different signal on both monitors using the same output..

2. YES. Install the full driver + ATI Catalyst software. Go to AMD's main site:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

SUMMARY:
Hardware:
It's my understanding that all you need is an HDMI->DVI cable.

Software:
Install and open "Catalyst Control Center" (link in the System Tray) and open "Desktop Management." You will assign Monitor #2 as the Extended monitor.

*Do note that if your second monitor is OFF you should disable it in the CCC. For example, if you dragged a program over to the extended monitor it's still there if you turn OFF the extended monitor, you just can't see it. Also, your CURSOR tends to get lost; if you turn the extended monitor OFF in CCC the cursor can't leave the main monitor.
 
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You can connect to the single DVI output if it is a Dell (don't know what kind of graphics card it has) and has the DM-59 type plug. That video card comes from Dell with a Y cable that has the DM-59 at one end and 2 DVI plugs on the other. It seems that the DM-59 plug handles 2 signals and the Y cable splits them. Since the software is pre-loaded I never looked at it - but it probably is the Catalyst.

The card I have now (HD 5450) is a half hight card and only has a DVI and HDMI plugs (no VGA plug.)

I Installed the Catalyst software and bought a HDMI-DVI plug and plugged that into the second monitor and it works correctly - extended deskyop, 2 identifiable monitors.

So the issue is resolved. Needed the Catalyst software and the HDMI-DVI plug.
 
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The new computer I got had the very same card with only the HDMI and DVI.

It is kind of weird because that same card sold separately comes with the VGA as well (either full size bracket or two split low profile brackets)

Anyway......

Can you provide a link to the HDMI-DVI connector that you got?

I feel like I am going to have to buy additional hardware, because my two monitors only have VGA connectors. So unless someone out there can point me in the right direction, I believe I cannot convert the digital signal from HDMI to analog VGA using a simple cheap adapter, can I?

Thanks
 
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Went into Radio Shack and bought an HDMI-DVI connector (for about $30!) and also ordered one online from Amazon for about $1.05 plus about $4 shipping. Called: 1 "Cables Unlimited PCM-2296-06 HDMI to DVI D Cable, 6 feet"
Electronics; $1.05 from Shopcloseouts. Used the RadioShack one, kept the other for myself.
 
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