2 Video cards in Win95?

[gadgetguy]

Can I put 2 Video cards in a Win95 PC? I want the same content to appear on both screens. This is for my church. We want one card to feed a local monitor and the other card to drive the projector. We are currently using a splitter out of a single port, but the projector puts out a very dim picture this way and it doesn't work at all with the new LCD monitor we just got for it, (the LCD monitor is blank as long as the projector is connected).

[unclebud]

You need a dual head video card.
ATI has been making dual head cards sense the late 90s.
Or you could get a video card with TV out to send to your projector.

[gadgetguy]

Thanks. I was hoping I could just use my spare PCI video card. I looked at a dual head on line, but it says it requires Win98 minimum. Do you know if Win95 even allows dual head or dual monitors?

[unclebud]

Not sure about the dual head cards with Win95 but if the requirements say Win98 or newer then I'd believe them. How old is this machine, can't you put Win98 or newer on it. Your profile shows a P4 so it can't be that.

[ROF]

Win 95 does not support dual display devices.

[gadgetguy]

I was afraid of that, but I thought I'd ask before I jumped through hoops for nothing. It's the church's computer and it was donated a long time ago, probably 8 or 9 years. I hate to have to upgrade it since all it does is show a power point presentation once a week, but it looks like we don't have a choice.
Thanks for your help guys.

[ROF]

If it's really really old you may find you have a hard time installing a workable modern OS (Win2k or Win XP) on such a system. Minimum 256MB of RAM is usually the first issue, but some older rams (66mhz) also cause problems with such installs to include lockups or extreme system slow downs. My recommendation for such systems is to install Win98SE. The Win98SE operating system provides the best support for older computers. You will be able to use CD burners, have USB support, and most components you buy today will either be plug and play or will include win98SE drivers either on disc or downloadable from the manufacturers website.

Sometimes installing a modern OS on an older system might sound good but once installed and running you may be forced to consider other options due to a degradation of system functionality.

Win98SE does support dual display devices too.

[gadgetguy]

Those are all the reasons I didn't want to have to upgrade it. It's old and it's under powered, but it doesn't do anything except show a power point presentation once a week. Nothing else. It's plenty powerful for that and it's been very reliable because it doesn't get used for anything else. It sat in the front of the sanctuary (off to the side) and was accessible to virtually anyone that entered the building. We didn't want it to support CD burners, USB devices, or anything else that would make it tempting to use for other purposes that could cause it to become unreliable.

The long story is that we've been remodeling and upgrading our sanctuary. New flooring, new seating, and we replaced the old projector (huge, heavy, and never bright enough to see during the day) with a new one, moved the computer to the back of the sanctuary to be with the sound board. Installed an entire new sound system and had a custom cabinet built to house both the sound system and the computer system for the projector with lockable roll tops. Replaced the CRT with an LCD to be able to fit under the roll top.
This is when the problem appeared. The LCD screen doesn't work from the splitter if the projector is on. Both the Projector and LCD work fine as long as they aren't both connected at the same time. I figured the easiest thing to do would be to plug in a PCI video card and eliminate the splitter, but I couldn't remember if Win95 would allow that. Thus, my question.

Since that won't work and the computer is no longer publicly accessible, it creates an opportunity to re-evaluate our needs and intended purposes for it. We may want to use it to record audio CDs of the service (currently recording to tape), we may want to incorporate a DVD player for video displays or "youth movie nights", or any number of other things that I haven't thought of. We'll have to form a commitee, discuss our options, etc., etc., etc...

Again, thanks for the help.

[ROF]

I don't know what size machine we are talking about here but for reliable DVD playback you will want at least a 600mhz CPU at a minimum. If it's smaller than this you may want to consider building a small system(Socket A or a Celeron 478) for the audio-visual needs and keeping this current older system for the office functions.

You can build a small base system for around $300 for a 2500-3000+ sempron or a 2.9ghz cely. You'd only need an extremely small hard drive (80GB) and DVD integration would cost $40. Look for a system board with onboard video to avoid the cost of an expansion card. These will be sufficient for DVD playback. This computer would become the all-encompassing machine (CD/DVD creation and playback) support dual displays, and provide a much easier environment(modern OS) to work with.

Churches operate on a tight budget so you'd want to stick to only required tasks if upgrading to new system is within budget.

[gadgetguy]

I know all that. That's what I was talking about for re-evaluating our needs/desires for a replacement machine. I have the means and materials to loan a short term solution until a commitee determines the needs, creates a budget, and identifies the funding for something more permanent. This will just act as the catalyst to get the ball rolling.

[ROF]

That's a very good idea. Give them a base system as a loaner to see what's out there and available as compared to this old system. From there they should be able to determine whether an upgrade is a wise investment at this point or in the near future. At least they'll be able to see what an upgrade will do for them.

[kschang]

Didn't Office Depot or something advertise a $300 Compaq machine after MIR this week?

[ROF]

Yep! It was $350 for a Sempron 3400+

They also had an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ for $400.

Both of them come with a monitor and printer.

[TBoneit]

Or you could get one of the hardware devices that drives 2 or 4 monitors off of 1 input. The ones we sell here at work go for $69 for a dual output and $79 for a four output version. They sit outside the computer. A cable connects the Video card output to the device and then the monitors plug into it. It isn't a simple splitter as it has electronics to keep the video levels up and needs its own power feed.

That's what you really need to use. Avoid any limitations based on OS and you can run a longer lead to the monitors as the signal has been amplified for the split.

One of our customers came back last week for a second one and want a third one shortly for some project. They were saying run of 35 feet to the one monitor. BTW that's not a length I'd want to guarantee as it must totally depend on cable quality for long runs.

Cheers

[ROF]

@TBoneit

Any links to these cheap devices?

[Steve Stepoway]

Or you could get one of the hardware devices that drives 2 or 4 monitors off of 1 input. The ones we sell here at work go for $69 for a dual output and $79 for a four output version. They sit outside the computer. A cable connects the Video card output to the device and then the monitors plug into it. It isn't a simple splitter as it has electronics to keep the video levels up and needs its own power feed.

That's exactly what I've done at my church. A small video distribution amp. You don't even have to open the computer case. Splitters are problematic for video (i.e. frequently don't work).

Steve

[gadgetguy]

An active splitter does sound like a good idea. I'll look into that.
Thanks TBoneit

[TBoneit]

Good Luck gadgetguy

@TBoneit

Any links to these cheap devices?

They do seem cheap to me, I was off on the price we sell the 2 output for $59 and not the $69 I had said.

We get them local from our cable wholesaler as far as I know they don't do Internet sales. So ni links, sorry. If you'd like more info let me know. You do have to be a retailer to buy from them rather than a end user walk-in. From the sound of it, ROF you could qualify, We just pick up from them direct. The owner here always buys from local distributors and we pick up as needed. A little guys JIT inventory system on slow moving items. I always say if we don't have it we can't sell it but I'm not in charge.

Maybe your cable wholesaler has them in stock too?

[ROF]

Yep! My cable wholesaler or retailer depending on the amount of business you do with them has them available to the end user for $70 for a 2 port splitter w/audio. http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=2820&sku=39967

I called in an order yesterday and asked about these things. I got an email when I woke up this morning with links to all sorts of these things. I found one that might be useful for the church to split the signal at a relatively cheaper cost. http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=2820&sku=29610

[gadgetguy]

@ROF That second link points to what we have now which isn't working. The first link is similar to what we ordered here.
I should be installing it tomorrow and let you know how it works.

[gadgetguy]

Well, I installed the Cables Unlimited 2-Way Video Multiplier/Amplifier Monitor Splitter Box today and it works well. Good, bright pictures to both devices.
Note that this splitter does not come with any cables and the cable that goes from the source computer to the splitter needs to be a M/F cable, (male on one end, female on the other). Typical monitor cables are M/M, so they won't work to connect this box.