A most curious 2nd monitor problem!

[Navy Chief]

Ok here goes.

A couple weeks ago I updated my system with a new graphics card (Powercolor RX 480 8gb) and faster Crucial Ballistix DDR3 (16gb). Installation went flawlessly until I attempted to configure my display settings to include a second monitor.

The new graphics card has one HDMI port, one DVI-D port, and three Videoports.

I have two monitors: ASUS VS278Q-P and a Viewsonic VT2430

The ASUS monitor has HDMI, Videoport, and VGA input.

The Viewsonic monitor has HDMI and VGA input.

I have tried ALL manner of configuration between the monitors, but the secondary monitor is not receiving a signal from the the GPU.

I THINK the problem may have to do with the refresh setting, but as I am not able to access a display on the second monitor, I am not able to try changing it.

I am at the point of looking to buy another monitor, but wanted to pose my problem on this forum.

The second monitor DOES work, as I have connected it to a Roku box, and the display comes up. But will not work when connected to my PC. The prior card, a ASUS HD5870, worked fine with both monitors connected. NC

[awstub]

First, I would verify that each monitor is able to work separately with the card ..... i.e. without having anything else connected to the video card.

Looks like the card comes with 1 x DVI-D, 1 x HDMI, and three DisplayPorts.......which ports are you using to connect to the card?

Are you using any port adapters? i.e. DVI-D to DisplayPort , DVI-D to HDMI , DisplayPort to HDMI, etc...

Ok here goes.

A couple weeks ago I updated my system with a new graphics card (Powercolor RX 480 8gb) and faster Crucial Ballistix DDR3 (16gb). Installation went flawlessly until I attempted to configure my display settings to include a second monitor.

The new graphics card has one HDMI port, one DVI-D port, and three Videoports.

I have two monitors: ASUS VS278Q-P and a Viewsonic VT2430

The ASUS monitor has HDMI, Videoport, and VGA input.

The Viewsonic monitor has HDMI and VGA input.

I have tried ALL manner of configuration between the monitors, but the secondary monitor is not receiving a signal from the the GPU.

I THINK the problem may have to do with the refresh setting, but as I am not able to access a display on the second monitor, I am not able to try changing it.

I am at the point of looking to buy another monitor, but wanted to pose my problem on this forum.

The second monitor DOES work, as I have connected it to a Roku box, and the display comes up. But will not work when connected to my PC. The prior card, a ASUS HD5870, worked fine with both monitors connected. NC

[Navy Chief]

Thanks for your reply.

Let me see if I can explain this correctly without confusing you or myself!

The primary monitor works fine, connected to ANY of the graphics card ports.

The secondary monitor, using a hdmi cable, without a adapter, is not detected by the new card, period, even when it is the sole monitor connected.

I have tried using ALL of the available connectors to get the secondary monitor to work, to no avail. But that monitor DOES work because, as states, I had connected it to a roku box with no problem.

I did try using adapters, but no luck. NC

The problem appears to be the refresh rate difference? I dunno.

[Sieggie]

Looking at the specs of the 2 monitors, one is a HDTV and only appears to accept limited resolutions, the other is a VGA monitor that will work up through 1080P resolution. Set the resolution to 1920X1080 and see if the Viewsonic VT2430 work.

Dave

[Navy Chief]

Well, the ASUS VS278Q-P is already set to 1920 by 1080. I am not able to set the Viewsonic monitor to anything because the card isn't even detecting it is there! NC

[RobM]

You said you tried using adapters. Did that include using a DVI-D to HDMI adapter? I mention because my old HP monitor had the same two
connections as your Viewsonic, and the only way I could get my videocard (in this case Nvidia) to detect was by using a DVI-D to HDMI adapter.

Thanks - Rob

[awstub]

Refresh rate doesn't really apply so much with LCD monitors. That's why you usually see it locked at 60 Hz.

Since you have verified that the monitor still work, it is obviously a signal issue from the video card....and it's probably caused by one of two things

1. the signal is physically not able to reach from the video card to the monitor (i.e a cable/connector problem).

2. the monitor cannot process the signal from the video card (the monitors settings are incompatible with the signal from the video card..

I would try to access the control panel on the old monitor and make sure it is set to it's defaults. Hopefully it will autodetect the monitor.

Then I would get a different cable and try it with that. I have seen situations where a cable works with one system but not with another.

Thanks for your reply.

Let me see if I can explain this correctly without confusing you or myself!

The primary monitor works fine, connected to ANY of the graphics card ports.

The secondary monitor, using a hdmi cable, without a adapter, is not detected by the new card, period, even when it is the sole monitor connected.

I have tried using ALL of the available connectors to get the secondary monitor to work, to no avail. But that monitor DOES work because, as states, I had connected it to a roku box with no problem.

I did try using adapters, but no luck. NC

The problem appears to be the refresh rate difference? I dunno.

[Navy Chief]

I have tried using the monitor's HDMI port connected to the GPU HDMI port, but no signal. Also tried using a HDMI to DVI-D adapter with same results.

Took me a while, but did manage to access the reset menu, but dod ot help.

It's quite strange. It is a situation where I scarcely use a second monitor, but now that the dual setup is not working, I want to solve this! NC