The computer and electronics super geek superthread...

[eugimon]

http://www.scala.com/hardware/dvi-vga-cable.html

That site will list the distances possible with various cable types at various resolutions. This will probably be the determining factor.

[Alpha OTS]

http://www.scala.com/hardware/dvi-vga-cable.html

That site will list the distances possible with various cable types at various resolutions. This will probably be the determining factor.

Both monitors are in the same room, and I figure 15 feet should cover me for what I need with some slack.

[azrael]

Both monitors are in the same room, and I figure 15 feet should cover me for what I need with some slack.

25 ft. VGA cable

[Ladic]

Both monitors are in the same room, and I figure 15 feet should cover me for what I need with some slack.

cheap

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepar...0201&style=

[Vince]

I was going to make a new thread for this, but I guess I should try here first.

I have a 1.8Ghz Dell w 1 gig ram and lots of disk space.

Right now it's hooked up to a 20" lcd monitor via vga, but it also has DVI and S-Video inputs. I recently picked up a 42" HD Westinghouse LCD tv that has every input imaginable and then some.

I don't want to move my computer mouse & keyboard and computer monitor from where I'm currently using it. Nor do I want to move my big screen tv. But I want to be able to use my computer on my bigscreen from time to time. I already have a cordless mouse and keyboard, so that's part of the problem solved.

What I think will solve my problem is a video card with dual outputs that work either simultaneously(preferably) or alternately. The setup I want will also require that one of the monitors be a distance from the cpu unit, so I need a video alternative that allows for long cabling. I also don't want to upgrade my computer.

So is such a thing possible? I've been out of the computer loop for quite a long time(purposefully so).

If you are running Windows XP or newer, all you need is a video card with two output ports and good amount of memory on it. However, one of the monitor (the 2th one I think) must use the digital (DVI usually) output of the video card for Windows the recognize it, a DVI to VGA cable work fine. You can hook up as many monitors to your pc as long as you have slots for the video card, but as you know you can only have one AGP card in there. In the Display properties in Windows de-select the checkbox to expend desktop, apply changes and you should be ok. Or the easiest, add a video and let pnp figure it out.

If you are on Linux then I don't think you can at the moment.

[Alpha OTS]

If you are running Windows XP or newer, all you need is a video card with two output ports and good amount of memory on it. However, one of the monitor (the 2th one I think) must use the digital (DVI usually) output of the video card for Windows the recognize it, a DVI to VGA cable work fine. You can hook up as many monitors to your pc as long as you have slots for the video card, but as you know you can only have one AGP card in there. In the Display properties in Windows de-select the checkbox to expend desktop, apply changes and you should be ok. Or the easiest, add a video and let pnp figure it out.

If you are on Linux then I don't think you can at the moment.

I'm a little confused.

I need a single video card that has multiple outputs?

Or

I can put as many video cards as I have free slots into my machine?

[eugimon]

I'm a little confused.

I need a single video card that has multiple outputs?

Or

I can put as many video cards as I have free slots into my machine?

you can do either. Many video cards offer 2 video outputs, but if you have say an AGP card, and just want to add a PCI video card, you could do that as well.

However, 1 good video card (appropriate for your system) will most likely give you better performance on the 2nd display than adding a slower/older PCI solution.

[Vince]

you can do either. Many video cards offer 2 video outputs, but if you have say an AGP card, and just want to add a PCI video card, you could do that as well.

However, 1 good video card (appropriate for your system) will most likely give you better performance on the 2nd display than adding a slower/older PCI solution.

exactly. I think a nice high end AGP/SLI card for main output to the big screen and the good PCI w/ 256mb for the 20 in. monitor would be a better choice.

[JB0]

exactly. I think a nice high end AGP/SLI card for main output to the big screen and the good PCI w/ 256mb for the 20 in. monitor would be a better choice.

A high-end AGP/PCI-E card will probably have dual video connectors anyways.

SLI is a waste of money. It's cheaper and more effective to buy one good card than 2 lesser ones. And if you're buying 2 top-end cards, you have more money than sense.

[Dat Pinche Haro!]

so i finally got motorola mobile tools to work on my desktop...then the software crashed...i kept trying to try to get it run again...i think i restarted my computer about 5 times before i gave up and uninstalled and reinstalled it...then i tried installing the software on my laptop...long story short, it just didn't detect the phone at all...i'm just really frustrated cuz i put on some random ringtones (some i don't like) and i can't take the damn things off... i tried some other software and the same crap happend... this makes me hate my razr even more

[Vince]

so i finally got motorola mobile tools to work on my desktop...then the software crashed...i kept trying to try to get it run again...i think i restarted my computer about 5 times before i gave up and uninstalled and reinstalled it...then i tried installing the software on my laptop...long story short, it just didn't detect the phone at all...i'm just really frustrated cuz i put on some random ringtones (some i don't like) and i can't take the damn things off... i tried some other software and the same crap happend... this makes me hate my razr even more

do you know the tool does not work with rizr models on xp media edition? it just don't work very well with xp media edition in general.... but they might have fixed it by now.

[Vince]

A high-end AGP/PCI-E card will probably have dual video connectors anyways.

SLI is a waste of money. It's cheaper and more effective to buy one good card than 2 lesser ones. And if you're buying 2 top-end cards, you have more money than sense.

pretty much all cheap video cards have dual output. it would probably be better to put a good card hook up to the hd tv, then the pc can act as a hd dvr with hd tuner card, and watch hd on the big screen.. I think it works that way.

if the primary function of the pc is not gaming, the processors on the cards don't make they much different on a monitor.

[Alpha OTS]

A friend of mine had an extra pci video card with DVI and S-Video outputs that he gave me. I put it in my machine and crossed my figures. To my amazement, the plug and play plugged and played! This is a first! I didn't have to download any drivers or tweak any settings. It was completely headache free.

To test this I used both of the VGA and DVI inputs on my computer monitor, shared the desktop between the two video cards, and then manually switched sources on my monitor to verify it was all working like I wanted, which it was. The start bar was even behaving like I hoped it would. I'll need to get one of those extension cables that people linked above for the setup I want. I figure I'll use the DVI output for the HDTV, and the VGA(my old card) for my computer monitor.

Thanks for the advice/help/links, peeps.

[eugimon]

ah, nice to hear everything worked out for you!

[Vince]

A friend of mine had an extra pci video card with DVI and S-Video outputs that he gave me. I put it in my machine and crossed my figures. To my amazement, the plug and play plugged and played! This is a first! I didn't have to download any drivers or tweak any settings. It was completely headache free.

To test this I used both of the VGA and DVI inputs on my computer monitor, shared the desktop between the two video cards, and then manually switched sources on my monitor to verify it was all working like I wanted, which it was. The start bar was even behaving like I hoped it would. I'll need to get one of those extension cables that people linked above for the setup I want. I figure I'll use the DVI output for the HDTV, and the VGA(my old card) for my computer monitor.

Thanks for the advice/help/links, peeps.

nice going there!

does anyone know if digital video signal would degrade over long cable? how long?

[myk]

Got a question guys: I've been building my own systems for the last few years, however the last one I built was back in January of '05 before the dual processor stuff that came out. I plan to stick with Intel, but I just needed to know if building systems today is any different from a couple of years ago. Current box is a P4 3.2, 6800GT-PCI-X, 2G's of DDR2 533 and some other stuff I don't remember too much about. Also, are one of the 10K RPM Raptor drives worth the expense?

[azrael]

Got a question guys: I've been building my own systems for the last few years, however the last one I built was back in January of '05 before the dual processor stuff that came out. I plan to stick with Intel, but I just needed to know if building systems today is any different from a couple of years ago. Current box is a P4 3.2, 6800GT-PCI-X, 2G's of DDR2 533 and some other stuff I don't remember too much about. Also, are one of the 10K RPM Raptor drives worth the expense?

Very little has changed since '05.

IMO, I find the Raptor drives to be a waste of money. I'd rather spend the money on a larger hard drive.

[emajnthis]

Very little has changed since '05.

IMO, I find the Raptor drives to be a waste of money. I'd rather spend the money on a larger hard drive.

I agree, the Raptor drives are ridiculous expensive unless you're a performance junky and price is not an issue. I've seen people run the Raptors in RAID 5 and get some awesome performance, but they ended up spending more on the HDD than on the rest of the computer combined.

[Radd]

Biggest hardware leap seems to be, to my eyes anyways, the arrival of PCI Express and SLi. I tossed in a second nVidia 7800 a few months back and nearly doubled my framerates. Definitely don't cheat yourself out of an easy, yet substantial, upgrade a year or two down the road by grabbing a non-PCIE motherboard for cheap.

A decent SATA hard drive should be fine, as far as that goes. I tend to go with Seagate.

[Nied]

I'm thinking of building my own Home Theater/Media Center PC in the next few months, and I'm thinking of finally making the jump to Linux as an OS for it (the two computers currently in the house are tasked almost exclusively for gaming for quite some time now so I haven't had much impetus to switch from XP). My thinking is that with Linux I might have a much better chance of sidestepping some of the more heinous DRM coming down the pike (It'd be nice to throw both a BD-ROM and HD-ROM in there but still avoid all the HDCP BS). Usability is also an issue (my wife is fairly savvy but also really doesn't feel she has the time to deal with a complex/obtuse/buggy UI). Has anyone tried anything similar? Is it worth it or am I better off just grabbing a discounted copy of XP Media Center Edition?

[emajnthis]

I'm thinking of building my own Home Theater/Media Center PC in the next few months, and I'm thinking of finally making the jump to Linux as an OS for it (the two computers currently in the house are tasked almost exclusively for gaming for quite some time now so I haven't had much impetus to switch from XP). My thinking is that with Linux I might have a much better chance of sidestepping some of the more heinous DRM coming down the pike (It'd be nice to throw both a BD-ROM and HD-ROM in there but still avoid all the HDCP BS). Usability is also an issue (my wife is fairly savvy but also really doesn't feel she has the time to deal with a complex/obtuse/buggy UI). Has anyone tried anything similar? Is it worth it or am I better off just grabbing a discounted copy of XP Media Center Edition?

This is just my personal opinion, but i wouldn't use Linux as a media PC especially if you're wife is using it. Nothing wrong with the interface (in fact in a lot of regards i actually prefer it), but you will have to train yourself to relearn some steps using Linux that may or may not be worth it. You usually don't need anything particularly special for media center PC's, just the correct optical drives you want (BR & HD DVD) a quality sound card and a quality video card; you don't really need the greatest processor, motherboard or case (mini towers usually do well since they're not clunky eye sores).

[mikeszekely]

Nied, what's you're current home theater set up? I have a pretty good TV and home theater receiver, so rather than build a PC specifically for a multimedia experience, I've decided instead to build server on the cheap, connect it to my network, then stream media from it to a Mac Mini connected to the TV home theater.

[CoryHolmes]

I just bought an optical cable to hook my big-screen TV up to my home theather system, and yet the sound still only plays through the TVs speakers and not the surround system as I'd like. What gives and how can I force it to do my bidding? This is a Sony XBR2 LCD, by the way.

EDIT

I just hooked it up using coax cables and that seems to have worked, but I'm wondering why it didn't work with the optical cable and is there any way that I can make it work?

Double Edit

It would appear that I AM getting sound out of only two speakers and they're the reverse of what they should be. I get sound out of my two front speakers, but the LEFT sound plays in the RIGHT speaker and vice versa. Anyway I can fix this and enable the rest of them? I've already tried going into Windows Vista's sound configure and changing it in there, but that's a bust.

Edited August 21, 2007 by CoryHolmes
Moved from HD-DVD/Blu-ray thread

[Chowser]

Is there an option menu on the TV to change the output on the speakers?

[CoryHolmes]

Is there an option menu on the TV to change the output on the speakers?

I can only disable the internal speakers, but that still doesn't change the way only two of the speakers were in use. But it's a moot point, since I figured out a work-around and just hooked my 360's audio up to the system and bypassed the TV sound altogether.

[Vince]

I can only disable the internal speakers, but that still doesn't change the way only two of the speakers were in use. But it's a moot point, since I figured out a work-around and just hooked my 360's audio up to the system and bypassed the TV sound altogether.

And I was thinking you were hook the regular thing

[baronv]

Can anyone recommend a utility or Firefox add-on that helps resume interrupted downloads when Firefox hangs up or crashes?

[Valkyrie addict]

oh man, I needed to ask this but I totallly forgot

this should be an easy one for you guys, I'm out of date on currenct pc hardware, let's say I want a new machine capable of playing the most recent pc games smoothly, what are your recomendation?? I know about the new dual core chips, but what speed is recommended, what vidcard do you recomend, are PCI-E still the best? what speed? you get my idea, and how much could this system could run for?

[JB0]

Can anyone recommend a utility or Firefox add-on that helps resume interrupted downloads when Firefox hangs up or crashes?

Yeah. I can reocmmend a browser that doesn't crash regularly. Like Seamonkey.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

[azrael]

this should be an easy one for you guys, I'm out of date on currenct pc hardware, let's say I want a new machine capable of playing the most recent pc games smoothly, what are your recomendation?? I know about the new dual core chips, but what speed is recommended, what vidcard do you recomend, are PCI-E still the best? what speed? you get my idea, and how much could this system could run for?

How much future-proofing (i.e. how long do you want it to last you) do you want to do and how much are you willing to spend because these will affect my answer .

[Valkyrie addict]

well...mmm... i'd like a system that could hold it's own at least for a 1 1/2 year and if possible... less than 1000 bucks...

[DestroidDefender]

PS2 Network Help

Okay. I have a new slim model PS2.

I've tried all my tech support mojo to get the little bugger online but it's just not working. It won't DHCP. It's won't talk to the router with a static address. The router's firewall is off and the static address is assigned to the DMZ anyway.

The router doesn't even show a connected light but my cable tester shows the line is good.

I've looked at a bunch of FAQs and the sony support and I'm not seeing anything helpful.

WTF is going on? Anybody? I'm beginning to think the LAN adapter in the PS2 is bad.

[emajnthis]

have you tried a different port on the router? Also try using a different patch cable and see if other network devices (such as a laptop configured for DHCP) work using the line. If they do then you can at least eliminate the router/cable as a problem and focus on the PS2.

[DestroidDefender]

I've tried patch different cables and different router ports. I'm going to run a line to different wall socket next. Then I'm going to try a pc on the line when I have a chance.

[azrael]

well...mmm... i'd like a system that could hold it's own at least for a 1 1/2 year and if possible... less than 1000 bucks...

I would probably go with something similar to this:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6420 - $186
• GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - $89.99
• G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - $84.99
• EVGA 256-P2-N761-AR GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - $159.99

sub-total: $520.97 US

I've left out the hard drive as they have a tendency to go on sale regularly. As for the power supply, probably any brand name 500W PSU of your choosing will do.