I have an ATI Radion 3600 series graphics card with 2 DVI's and 1 s-video hook ups. Can I use it with a VGA monitor or is it strictly digital?

When using a PCI or PCI-E graphics card, it will disable your standard VGA output port because the up-dated graphics card and your factory VGA port require different display drivers. Usually, the drivers are conflicting and will make your system unstable and cause it to crash. In short, you can't use both at the same time. I have a Radeon HD 5450 graphics card installed on my PC and it too has disabled my standard VGA port. If you are trying to use more than one monitor, you have to install a graphics card that supports a multiple display output. The graphics card will either have 2 VGA ports, 2 DVI-D ports or 2 HDMI ports or even any combination of the 3. My card, for example, has 1 VGA, 1 DVI-D & 1 HDMI. I can run up to 3 monitors at a time via my graphics card, but I cannot run a 4th monitor from my factory VGA port. My graphics card uses ATI/AMD drivers while my VGA port requires the use of Nvidia drivers.
I hope that you find this useful.

Doesn't work that way Max.

You can use EITHER the OnBoard Graphics,
OR;
the Add-On Card graphics. (Graphics card)

BIOS will NOT support both at the same time.

If you wish to use dual monitors, get an AGP card that has more than one graphics port on it.

For example, although I'm using a graphics card based on the PCI Express technology, and not AGP technology; my card has a VGA port, DVI port, and HDMI port.

1) VGA Connector; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_Connector

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Male_VGA_connector.jpg


2) DVI; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dvi-cable.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface#Connector

3) HDMI; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

I use the VGA port, and the DVI port.

RCA EN-V L26HD31, (26 inch HDTV) to the VGA port.
HP 2009M 20 inch Widescreen monitor to the DVI port.

Had to install drivers for HP 2009M.

Let's say I had two DVI ports on the graphics card.
(ATI Radeon HD5450 is the graphics card I have)

But I have a monitor with a VGA cable, and a monitor with a DVI cable.
I would (And have) use a VGA to DVI Adapter.
One example,

http://www.directron.com/dvi.html

Note that the DVI is Male, and the VGA is Female.
The graphics card DVI connector is Female.
The VGA Cable connector is Male.

So.............what is the manufacturer name, and model number of the graphics card; plus what type of monitors are you trying to use?
That is, what type of monitor cables do they have?

Know this;
My HDTV I'm using as a monitor is Digital. However I'm using a VGA cable on it. Best quality would be achieved if I got off my lazy rear, and attached a DVI Cable to it. It uses both.

VGA is Analog. A computer however puts out a digital video signal.
The computer has to convert the digital video signal to an Analog one. This slows the video signal down, and the quality is not as good.

Best to use a digital monitor. (Or a digital monitor WITH a digital cable. DVI Cable. Such as I need to do)

You are also using a PCI Express graphics card, NOT an AGP graphics card.

I'm wrong? OK.

In the meantime turn the computer off, unplug from power, and yank that AGP card out of the slot you put it in.

Tell me what expansion slot on the motherboard you put it in.

The Orange expansion slot on the motherboard, is a PCI-Express x16 slot. Uses a PCI Express graphics card -> ONLY

The white expansions slots are PCI.
Can use a PCI graphics card. CANNOT use an AGP graphics card.

Post back in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131338

Did the computer boot to a monitor before? Is this a new monitor for this computer? The GT5662 came with an ATI Radeon HD2400 PCI-e video card. There is also an onboard VGA port on the back of the computer. The VGA port should be disabled. The ATI Radeon HD2400 PCI-e video card comes with two DVI connectors. With the back of the computer facing you, you would use the one on the right. You would have to have an DVI to VGA adapter to use them unless your monitor has a DVI connector also. Hope this helps. This is what the VGA and DVI connectors look like.

A DVI-D signal is digital (whereas DVi-I is digital AND analogue) and can never be converted into a VGA signal without using expensive hardware boxes that convert the signal. These though tend to lose quite a bit of the signal quality. If I were you I'd look for a monitor with a digital connection, because I'm afraid this isn't going to work.

I'm sorry your problem can't be fixed...
Yannick.

@DickcanFixit: Catalyst 9.4 is the most recent.

Yes, through bios you can only select VGA but it wont have any effect on what you see on windows, so let bios aside. Is through Windows Display properties that you select all the different resolutions... (RIGHT CLIC YOUR MOUSE OVER THE DESKTOP, SELECT PROPERTIES AND LOOK FOR THE SETTINGS TAB ON TOP, MOVE THE SLIDER AT THE MIDDLE TO SELECT RESOLUTIONS) in windows is where you should have the latest drivers from ECS (now PCCHIPS) for your motherboard's onboard graphics. 1440x900 is widescreen type resolution, only available rather recently by new monitors that support it and so I guess it wasn't included in your original motherboard driver CD. Then it's a must to have the new drivers installed and the monitor's plug and play recognized by windows in order to attain the desired resolution from the card.

Any new AGP video card will be far better than the onboard type. DVI is just a digital type of conector and doesn't have to do with the resolution selection, but it will make the images in the monitor show a little better since there is no signal degradation in digital transfer through the monitor cable.

Yes, they both will act independently if you choose to use it that way or they will show the same picture, one is a DVI output and the other is VGA. Use the ATI’s CATALYST software suite provides the ultimate software required to enjoy the full acceleration of your ATI Graphics Accelerator card. You can use it to separate your Primary video from your Secondary video.

Yes you can but there should be an option in the monitor settings for DVI... Maybe if you go into safe mode and attempt adjusting settings for the ati for the dvi output, from what I hear that monitor is nice with the DVI option would be aa shame to lose that.

its because when you start putting to many moniter spliters the color data gets lost in the link.

Hey there Carol H, I would agree that the amplifier is the likely source of the distortion or picture break up. It is the last in the series of steps therefore most likely the problem. Also the problem did not appear until the signal ran through the amplifier, thus indicating that the amp created rather amplify the problem. If your need is to have multiple monitors installed on one machine, I suggest you consider a system which supports Scalable D.G.E., Crossfire, or SLi technology. These allow multiple video cards and therefore multiple connections, as well as improving overall performance, and reducing strain on system resources. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

what you have the ATI card hooked up can you see the boot screen? If you can see that you might want to try going into safe mode and making sure your graphics settings aren't set beyond the capability of your monitor. If you can't see the boot screen then your card might be dead.