Tech help needed pls

Hi all
The answer to this question may already be posted but not being technically minded I am uncertain about the threads relating to multiple monitors.
Currently I use two monitors and wish to increase to three as a minimum with four being absolute luxury.

I know that my current graphics card is PCI-Express(felt like Bill Gates when I discovered that for myself) and somebody has donated to me a PCI-Express card which would meet my needs. However no second PCI-Express slot seems to exist on my machine. Woe is me.

Is it therefore possible to install a graphics card into one of the other slots which would normally be used for a sound card or whatever. The next challenge would be what type of slots are they??
Why can we not all have the same slots just like three pin plugs.

Having looked at cards which I think would run 4 monitors(Quad) I find the cost excessive relative to the benefit gained. Indeed I could buy a second machine for less but then the issue of software liceneses and data feeds rears it's ugly head.

Any help most appreciated
Nut

Your PC will have PCI slots, so you can add a PCI card. An Nvidia NVS 280 PCI dual head card would be suitable. You can pick one up on eBay for about $50, but make sure it comes with the Y cable.

There are a couple of reasons for the mix of expansion slot types.

1. PCI is a lot older bus than PCI-E and all PCs have PCI slots for compatibility with the many PCI cards that are available.

2. The motherboard chipsets can only handle a limited number of PCI-E bus lanes and consequently usually only one or two PCI-E 16x slots are available. To provide reasonable expansion capabilities, PCI slots are also provided for cards (such as sound) that do not need the high performance of PCI-E. A PCI video card is quite sufficient for trading, but inadequate for high performance graphics such as gaming, HDTV and any 3D graphics applications.

Hello dcraig1

Thank you for your response to my question. Whilst I know nothing of bus lanes other than they slow me down when driving the time taken to try and educate me is appreciated.
I am taking your response as a yes and if I aquire the PCI card you suggest then we should be in business.

Once again many thanks
Nut
:clap:

Nut said:

Hello dcraig1

Thank you for your response to my question. Whilst I know nothing of bus lanes other than they slow me down when driving the time taken to try and educate me is appreciated.
I am taking your response as a yes and if I aquire the PCI card you suggest then we should be in business.

Once again many thanks
Nut
:clap:

Click to expand...

I should have added that the NVS 280 also comes in a AGP bus (older graphics card slot type) variant as well as PCI. Make sure you get the PCI type.

Thanks for the warning, will make sure I get the correct item.
Nut

dcraig1 said:

Your PC will have PCI slots, so you can add a PCI card. An Nvidia NVS 280 PCI dual head card would be suitable. You can pick one up on eBay for about $50, but make sure it comes with the Y cable.

There are a couple of reasons for the mix of expansion slot types.

1. PCI is a lot older bus than PCI-E and all PCs have PCI slots for compatibility with the many PCI cards that are available.

2. The motherboard chipsets can only handle a limited number of PCI-E bus lanes and consequently usually only one or two PCI-E 16x slots are available. To provide reasonable expansion capabilities, PCI slots are also provided for cards (such as sound) that do not need the high performance of PCI-E. A PCI video card is quite sufficient for trading, but inadequate for high performance graphics such as gaming, HDTV and any 3D graphics applications.

Click to expand...

dcraig1 many thanks you just saved me a small fortune, bought the card on ebay £18, had I joined the bidding and waited a about a week I could have had it for less probably.

Thanks again
Nut

Just to add a note, try to ensure your trading platform computer is not the same one as the kids use for gaming. Sorry but I met someone last week who had his children on the same machine. Bad idea.