I have two ports on my graphics card- they are different colors, one is white and the other is blue…what do I do with them and why is there two?? Which one do I plug my monitor into?? I have an adapter for both.? Does one take more power than the other?
Two ports on the back of your graphics card is a great asset to any computer; it gives you the option for dual monitors!? Here’s how to decide what port to use and how to set up dual monitors.
If you’re only using one monitor, you can plug in your monitor to any port.? Traditionally a DVI (white) monitor will give you a much sharper and clearer picture rather then the VGA (blue).? It’s known to support much higher quality images and refresh rates and are becoming standard on the flat panel monitors versus the bulky CRT monitor.? If you have an adapter to plug into DVI, I highly suggest it.
To set up dual monitors, turn off your computer and plug in an additional monitor to the port that remains on your graphics card which is unused.? Boot up your computer and go into your display properties that can be found in the control panel.? You should look for your graphics card software (either from nVidia or ATI) and open the display properties section.? You might be able to access it quicker by right clicking on the desktop and looking for the option on the drop down menu that opens.
Look for setting up two monitors an choose the desired display you want, close or stretch screen.? The clone option will copy over what ever you have on one screen to another while the stretch will give you “another screen” to have different windows open on.? I prefer the stretch option so you can have an internet window or spreadsheet option on one screen and another document on the other…it’s been rumored to increase productivity by 20%!
Enjoy your single or dual monitor setup!
