Question from Mickey W.: Hi Rick. I have an Acer desktop computer running Windows 7 Home Premium. I want to add a 2nd monitor just to display my Gmail window.
The problem is this computer has just one video output port (it’s VGA).
Can I buy something like a splitter that’ll let me hook up two monitors to one video port?
I’d really like to have my Gmail open and in view at all times. Thanks in advance for your help.
Rick’s answer: Mickey, you could indeed add a second monitor to your computer by using a splitter, but the result wouldn’t be what you’re after.
Since both monitors would be sharing a single VGA port, they would both display the same exact image. This could be useful if you wanted to duplicate the image onto a projector, but other than that it would likely be pointless.
That being said, you can easily add a second monitor to your PC in one of the following ways:
1 – You can add an extra video card that supports multiple monitors to your PC and then connect one or more additional monitors, each of which can display their own image.
You didn’t mention the model number of your Acer desktop, but since it’s running Windows 7 I’m guessing that it isn’t ancient, which is a good thing.
What you need to do is look up the specs for your PC’s model number and see what kind of open expansion slot it has available. Then purchase a video card that’ll work in that slot.
You’ll find an excellent selection of video cards on Amazon, and you really don’t need an expensive one for what you intend to use it for. Click here to check them out.
2 – If you would rather not open up your PC and mess with its innards, you can add an extra video port by simply plugging in an inexpensive USB video adapter
These adapters are extremely easy to install (just plug the adapter into an open USB port and install the driver). They are also very inexpensive and work quite well.
You’ll find a large selection of USB video adapters on Amazon. Click here
I hope this helps Mickey. Good luck!
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Hi Rick,
It looks the second choice is good to implement.
But will it give video quality issue if we use VGA to USB converter (USB video adapter)?
Thanks
Hi Rakesh. You shouldn’t notice an issue with the video quality. Should work just fine.
it is best to plug in to usb3 to get the max out of the adapter also
That’s a good point, Mike. Mickey will be using her second monitor exclusively for checking her Gmail so a USB 2.0 port should work just fine. But as a general rule it’s always best to use the fastest ports available, just in case. Thanks for the excellent tip!
This is the first time that I hear of USB video adapters. Do they rely on the GPU’s processing power and only act as a video port themselves?
They are stand-alone video adapters, George. Most of them are pretty weak in terms of the usual video adapter metrics though. That’s why they are best suited for adding a secondary monitor. They can be used in situations where a PC’s onboard video circuitry has gone belly-up however.
Is it actually possible to use two GPUs at the same time then? I’ve heard about Nvidia GPUs that can work together when configured right but not like this.
Yes, you can have multiple GPUs connected to different monitors. And you can even have multiple GPUs all driving a single monitor by configuring them in an SLI configuration.