[Nfiniti2010]

Good Evening:

I apologize if this has already been addressed, but I have a question about adding another monitor to my system. I have a Dell Inspiron 530s. I recently purchased another monitor because I really like having the dual monitor capacity when I'm working from home. Problem is I don't know how to hook it up. I thought that I might be able to use a splitter, but the male piece on the splitter is too big for the female piece on the back of my PC. And I don't want to blow out my system. Of course the warranty on my system has expired b/c I brought it in 08, and frankly I can't afford to spend $50 to have Dell answer a question for me (that's how much tech support said it would cost.) What should I do?

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Well, you can buy a splitter (your PC uses a D-Sub 15-pin connection so you would need a D-Sub splitter), but those will only clone the display from monitor 1 to monitor 2. I recommend adding a graphics card that supports two monitors. Then you can extend your desktop across the 2nd monitor so you can have different windows open on each monitor. It will cost more than a basic splitter, $50 or more, but a card will support both monitors, and will likely improve the over all performance of your computer because the card's GPU is likely more powerful than the on-board your system is using now, plus the card will have its own RAM dedicated for graphics. And since it has its own RAM, disabling your on-board graphics will free up the system RAM your current graphics is using, giving you a little RAM boost in the process.

[Digerati]

Well, you can buy a splitter (your PC uses a D-Sub 15-pin connection so you would need a D-Sub splitter), but those will only clone the display from monitor 1 to monitor 2. I recommend adding a graphics card that supports two monitors. Then you can extend your desktop across the 2nd monitor so you can have different windows open on each monitor. It will cost more than a basic splitter, $50 or more, but a card will support both monitors, and will likely improve the over all performance of your computer because the card's GPU is likely more powerful than the on-board your system is using now, plus the card will have its own RAM dedicated for graphics. And since it has its own RAM, disabling your on-board graphics will free up the system RAM your current graphics is using, giving you a little RAM boost in the process.

[Nfiniti2010]

Great Digerati, thank you!