Use any graphics card on 64-bit Windows (7 or 10)?

[glnz]

Hey, team - A few Qs --

1)  Can I add ANY graphics card to my dual-booting Win 7 Pro 64-bit // Win 10 Pro 64-bit Dell PC (Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower)?  Or must the card be 64-bit itself?
My motive for asking is that my dual-booting PC has NO graphics card and I want to hook two monitors up to it instead of one.
By the way, I am booting that machine with UEFI, Security Off and Legacy On.

2)  On my old XP 32-bit machine, is its old graphics card already a 64-bit card?  If yes, I might move it to the dual-booting machine.  Speccy says the card in my XP machine is "Bus Width 64 Bit".    Here's the full speccy info:

Quote

ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro
    GPU    RV610
    Device ID    1002-94C1
    Subvendor    Dell (1028)
    Current Performance Level    Level 1
    Voltage    1.100 V
    Technology    65 nm
    Die Size    82 nmІ
    Transistors    181 M
    Release Date    2007
    DirectX Support    10.0
    DirectX Shader Model    4.0
    OpenGL Support    3.0
    Bios Core Clock    650.00
    Bios Mem Clock    500.00
    Driver    ati2mtag.sys
    Driver version    6.14.10.7267
    Temperature    61 °C
    Core Voltage    1.100 V
    BIOS Version    113-B27602-113
    ROPs    4
    Shaders    40 unified
    Memory Type    DDR2
    Memory    256 MB
    Bus Width    64 Bit
    Pixel Fillrate    2.6 GPixels/s
    Texture Fillrate    2.6 GTexels/s
    Bandwidth    8.0 GB/s
        Count of performance levels : 1
                Level 0

 

Thanks, as always.

Edited August 25, 2017 by glnz

[Mcinwwl]

2 hours ago, glnz said:

has NO graphics

You meant 'has no dedicated graphics card', or 'has integrated graphics card' :>

2 hours ago, glnz said:

I want to hook two monitors up to it instead of one.

Tech specs are saying this computer has two Display Port sockets and a VGA. So, actually, you should... :> Depending on your monitors and the inputs they have.

2 hours ago, glnz said:

2)  On my old XP 32-bit machine, is its old graphics card already a 64-bit card?  If yes, I might move it to the dual-booting machine.  Speccy says the card in my XP machine is "Bus Width 64 Bit".    Here's the full speccy info:

This 'bitage', that is commonly used while describing OSes and processors, cannot be referred to graphic cards 1:1 when building a PC from parts.

Not to mention that this '32' or '64' bits in modern CPU's does not describe every part of this device, and, as far as I remember, nowadays it refers to the size of address bus. Which not always has been like this, since good old 8-bit NES had 16-bit address bus :>

[glnz]

EDITED BELOW

Mcinwwl - thanks for fast response.

1)  My dual-boot Optiplex 7010 MT 64-bit machine currently has

Quote

Intel HD Graphics
    Manufacturer    Intel
    Model    HD Graphics
    Device ID    8086-0152
    Revision    A
    Subvendor    Dell (1028)
    Current Performance Level    Level 0
    Driver version    10.18.10.4425
        Count of performance levels : 1
            Level 1 - "Perf Level 0"

 

2)  The tech specs you mention are for this 7010 MT, yes?  Actually my two existing 17" monitors are older and I don't think they use the Display Port plug.  I think BOTH of them use VGA plugs that plug into VGA sockets.

3)  Right now, each of my computers has a single monitor attached.  The XP machine has an Acer AL1717 monitor that is currently running Analog off the ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro card (but indicates it might be able to run digital), and the dual-booting 64-bit Optiplex 7010 MT has a DELL E176FP running off the Intel HD Graphics, and I don't remember whether it's digital or analog.  I think digital.  Now that I'm looking, speccy says both monitors are "Monitor BPP    32 bits per pixel".

Well, if I want to move the Acer AL1717  from the XP machine to the Optiplex 7010 MT, should I bother to put a card into the Optiplex 7010 MT or just plug the dang Acer AL1717  in and also run it off the Intel HD Graphics?  I have a VGA splitter cord, and so that would plug into the 7010 VGA socket, and both monitors would plug into that splitter cord.

Thanks.

Edited August 25, 2017 by glnz

[Mcinwwl]

13 hours ago, glnz said:

I have a VGA splitter cord, and so that would plug into the 7010 VGA socket, and both monitors would plug into that splitter cord.

Depending on what is the maximum resolution your built-in can provide, and what is these monitors resolution. Take a try, they should not burn, at worst screens won't display properly.

Check if here are Windows 10 drivers for this Radeon. I doubt, but there might be. You might also play around with different drivers for win 7/8/8.1 or some generic from AMD. Make a system restore or full disc backup before playing with these.

That might not be the best solution, but that's what I would do.

This card should work with windows 7, it's not new enough to be incompatible.

[glnz]

Mcinwwl - Thanks for pointing out I might have a driver problem.  Hadn't thought of that.

Both PCs are currently running at 1280 x 1024.  Right now, in the Intel HD Graphics Control Panel in the no-card 7010 with only one display hooked up, that's the highest res in the dropdown list.  When I connect two displays, that will stay the same, yes?  Need to experiment.

Or should I just buy a new video card that works with 7 64-bit and 10 64-bit but will accommodate these two older displays?  Ideally with two VGA sockets??  Is there such a card?  I'm not a gamer - these are home machines for family work, including this week lots of excel to prep bookkeeping to give tax accountant in Sept.  So card doesn't have to be fancy.

Thanks.

[Mcinwwl]

8 minutes ago, glnz said:

Right now, in the Intel HD Graphics Control Panel in the no-card 7010 with only one display hooked up, that's the highest res in the dropdown list.

Because PC knows that this is the highest supported by the display.

9 minutes ago, glnz said:

When I connect two displays, that will stay the same, yes?  Need to experiment.

Well, depending on the standard that is implemented in your hardware, your split VGA might or might not be able to support two screens at that resolution - won't be able to send 2560x2048 pixels sixty times per second. I'm to little experienced to find out whether your card will do. At worst you will not get the output required.

13 minutes ago, glnz said:

Or should I just buy a new video card that works with 7 64-bit and 10 64-bit but will accommodate these two older displays?  Ideally with two VGA sockets??

If none of the previous will work, you might. But prepare for a bit of web searching. It's possible to get a nice card from dismembered business PC at a bargain price.

But first, uh, experiment.

[glnz]

Mcinwwl -- Well, after shutting down all my PCs and vacuuming them and checking the existing cards, I discovered (or actually re-discovered) the following mostly useless combo of old stuff:

1. My old Optiplex 755 Desktop has a low profile/half height video card with a DMS-59 socket to which my splitter cable is attached.  At the end of everything, I left it alone and connected my second monitor to that.  So I have expanded monitors off my old Optiplex 755 Desktop XP machine, as I've had every year at this time for my tax prep work.  All working, including on an expanded Excel 2003 workbook, but I'm a bit sad I'm not doing this in my newer Win 7 + 10 64-bit machine with my O365 Home (Office 2016).  (That XP machine is running good thanks to MSFN and the POS thread that's now 457 pages long.)
   Because the Opti 755 card is low profile/half height, I cannot move it into my newer Win 7 + 10 64-bit machine, which is full height.
2. Before finishing with the above, and without a full height card at the moment, I tried to connect both monitors to my newer Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower (full height, no card yet) as follows:  One to the VGA socket (as before), and one to the DisplayPort socket.  That DisplayPort connection was a little nutty, as I had a short cable that was DisplayPort plug ending in a DVI-D (Dual Link) socket, and then a converter from DVI-D (Dual Link) plug to VGA socket, and then the connection to the second monitor.  That DisplayPort connection did not work at all.  That monitor connected to DisplayPort did nothing, even if it was the only one connected.
3. In an old unused PC shell, I have another old low profile/half height video card with a DVI-I (Dual Link) socket.  But not useful because is not full height.  It's a Pegatron D10M1AB1H that is apparently the same as a NVIDIA GeForce G210 512MB DDR2 PCI-Express 2.0 x16 HDMI DVI Half Height Low Profile Graphics Video Card.  Never tried it - it came with that shell which I needed three years ago for parts.

So after all that, I emailed the IT guys at my company to ask whether they have a leftover full height card with two sockets, with a few options but at least one VGA.  Or a full height card with DMS-59. 

Thanks for encouragement.  At least my PCs got vacuumed !! 

[Tomcat76]

On 8/27/2017 at 12:46 AM, glnz said:

Because the Opti 755 card is low profile/half height, I cannot move it into my newer Win 7 + 10 64-bit machine, which is full height.

Usually, when you buy a low profile card, it comes with the full height bracket connected to it.  The low profile bracket is included as an accessory.  Do you still have the full height bracket?

 

On 8/27/2017 at 12:46 AM, glnz said:

At least my PCs got vacuumed !! 

I just did four in the past week, including two repastes.  Always a pleasure

[bphlpt]

On 10/13/2017 at 4:26 PM, Tomcat76 said:

Usually, when you buy a low profile card, it comes with the full height bracket connected to it.  The low profile bracket is included as an accessory.  Do you still have the full height bracket?

Also, just for testing purposes, you could probably get away with CAREFULLY using the card without a bracket.  At least that way you might get a better idea if a different card could possibly solve your problem.

Cheers and Regards

[glnz]

Tomcat and bphlpt - thanks for your responses.

Tomcat - please give your favorite link to repasting instructions for a newbie.  In my wife's SOHO, I have an old Dell Optiplex 780 running Win 7 Pro 64-bit, and Speccy shows that the CPU gets hot.  Time to cool it down.

[Tripredacus]

On 8/26/2017 at 6:46 PM, glnz said:

 a converter from DVI-D (Dual Link) plug to VGA socket

Be aware of the terminology you are referencing:

To my knowledge, there is no simple (pin to pin) DVI-D to VGA adapter that is sold. If you bought one, it is trash. Video cards and computers come with DVI-I/A to VGA Adapters because those connectors have the 4 pins for analog signal that can be converted into VGA. DisplayPort is a digital signal and you would need a processor or decoder (or active adapter) to convert the signal to analog in order to them connect it to VGA.

In most cases, sending a digital signal (or a video+audio) signal into an analog only input will cause it to not work. In some cases however, it can cause physical damage.

[Destro]

seems like this topic is already answered.  Display port is digital only, you cannot convert that to VGA with a simple adapter.  Your adapters work fine on DVI-I because DVI-I has both digital and analog signals. Those DMS-59 Y adapters to VGA work fine because DMS-59 caries both analog and digital.

There is no such thing as a 64bit graphics card.  Unless you are talking about PCI-X which is a 64bit PCI slot that nobody uses or Nintendo 64.  64bit is simply the Driver that interfaces with the card and the OS.  The same Card can work on 32bit  with 32 bit driver.

All of the computers you are talking about use PEG or PCI express Graphics.  get a PCI-E X16 card and put it in there.  Find one that has Dual DVI-I or atelast one DVI-I since you are using analog monitors.  Stay away from HDMI ports on cards since you can't use that with your set up.