How to: multiple monitor setup for Dell Optiplex 790
January 16, 2012 – 9:36 pmI currently am recommending the Dell Optiplex 790 minitower. (This will work for the desktop configuration as well.) It took me a lot of time and multiple returns to figure out the best way to do dual monitor, triple monitor and quadruple monitor setups (two monitors, three monitors and four monitors). Here is what I found works the best:
Dual monitors: The simplest and cleanest way to do it is to buy a DisplayPort to DVI (male to male) 6 foot or 10 foot cable. The 790 has the capability of using the DisplayPort jack in the back as a second monitor without buying another video card. Here is an example of the cable. Note: this will only work for you if one of your two monitors has a DVI (white) jack. I have also used a DisplayPort to VGA adapter successfully over the last month (this is the exact adapter). You are able to choose either a cloned view or independent screens using either Windows’s Display settings or Intel Graphics settings (click here for Intel’s instructions).
Triple/quad monitors: I found that I couldn’t use my trusty Radeon 7000 PCI cards in Windows 7 machines, so I chose to go with the ASUS Radeon HD 5450 PCI-Express (here is the Amazon link). I chose this video card because it is reasonably priced (with no need for gaming) and that there is no fan to reduce the chance of failures. In the 790, you can actually buy two of these PCI Express video cards and put them both in! (See this PDF for motherboard card slot info.) I’ve done it and it truly works with three monitors and I’m sure it would for four.
Please comment with your own experiments and successes on the 790 or similar models.
17 Responses to “How to: multiple monitor setup for Dell Optiplex 790”
Woohoo! Bought the same video card (already had an ATI Radeon 5450) and I was finally able to get my 3rd display. Only issue now is that there is some flickering or line noise which is bothering me (could be driver issue). But I’ve got my 3 monitors now and it looks awesome and I’ve got so much more real estate now to work with. THANK YOU for this post. Had you not posted this I would still be fumbling in the dark. Appreciate it a lot!
By Nelson on Feb 29, 2012
Nelson,
Thanks for writing! I’m so glad I helped!
By brmorris on Feb 29, 2012
In your 2 monitor setup, are the screen 2 copies of the same thing, or are they two independent screens that you can extend the desktop on? Thanks.
By Paul on May 30, 2012
You can choose either, although with a clone, it is best to have monitors that have the same amount of pixels.
By brmorris on May 30, 2012
my dell optiplex 380n is failing to run two cards. I added a vga express card and it disabled the integrated card. Any ideas?
By geof on Jul 11, 2012
Has anyone else tried with the cable?
I have the same question as Paul. Do you get the same view on both? Thanks!
By Nohra on Jul 12, 2012
Nohra,
You can choose whether to have the screens mirrored or independent. Here is how to do it: http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-031040.htm
By brmorris on Jul 13, 2012
Can you use a PCI Express video card and the displayport to DVI adapter cable to support three monitors or do you have to have two PCI express video cards? Most video cards indicate that two of them won’t work due to the small power supply in the 790 not providing enough power.
By Fred on Nov 6, 2012
Fred,
I’m pretty sure that one PCI Express card disabled the integrated graphics totally, so the VGA nor DisplayPort work. I added the two PCIe cards in two 790s early in 2012 with no problem so far. A better video card that requires more wattage would obviously be more of an issue.
By brmorris on Nov 7, 2012
I installed a nvidia 265 card on a 790 in the x16 pci slot works fine
I moved it to the x4 it works fine however when install 2 cards on the x16 slot works but it shows up in the bios. Any thoughts.
I’m using the same time of card in both slots. And they both work.
By Ty Brown on Dec 27, 2012
Ty,
I’m not sure I understand. Can you re-read your comment and clarify?
By brmorris on Dec 28, 2012
Its been resolved. Still dont know what happened. There are 2 pci-e slots on a dell optiplex 790 one is 4x and the other is 16x for some reason i couldn’t get video cards to work in both slots at the same time. They would be seen in the bios. But not in windows 7 x64 i called del support and when i tried it for him it worked… go figure
By Ty Brown on Dec 31, 2012
can I use a Tripp Lite P556-003 Coaxial DVI/VGA Cable, 3′(L)with my Optiplex 790 and a Dell U2212HM?
Thanks for your help.
==
Staples: $8.49
http://www.staples.com/DisplayPort+to+DVI+cable/directory_DisplayPort+to+DVI+cable?sby=1&rpp=24&pn=1&sr=true
Tripp Lite P556-003 Coaxial DVI/VGA Cable, 3′(L)
•Connector on first end: 1 x DVI-A male video
•Connector on second end: 1 x 15-pin HD-15 male
ItemIM1PC1209, ModelP556-003
By david on Jan 3, 2013
What is your purpose? A second monitor or to use the VGA jack in the computer to a DVI in the monitor? I don’t think this is what you need..
By brmorris on Jan 3, 2013
In my 790 I am running Win8x64 and have a dual dvi card installed. I can run 2 monitors off of the one card. I have tried hooking up a third monitor with a display port to dvi adapter. When I do that, non of the monitors will display. I can either leave the 2 port board connected and have 2 monitors, or the display port and get 1 monitor, but never 3.
I tried working w/Dell support – and the impression I got is that I’d need to wait for a bios update to correctly support > 2 monitors in Win8. I’m running the latest bios, and there has been no updates since then.
If I can’t get this to work with the card I have now – I may try to do a setup identical to yours to see if I can get it working. Any ideas?
By john on Feb 21, 2013
No, that’s exactly why I did what I did to get more than 2.
By brmorris on Feb 21, 2013
2-19-13
Just got the United Airways letter. They are at it again! Thanks for the information.
Sincerely, Maggie
By Maggie C on Feb 22, 2013