3 monitors on HP Compaq 8000 Elite SFF PC

[goombawaho]

I've got a customer that may want three monitors on the PC mentioned above. The parameters are:
- Low profile video card needed
- Windows 7 compatible
- VGA outputs for their ancient monitors

I know the onboard video is disabled when you put in a PCI-E X16 card, but this thread seems to say the onboard will be functional if using a PCI-E X1 video card.
Link

If that sounds reasonable, then I could get something like a used low profile Nvidia NVS 290 PCI-E X1 with DMS-59 to dual VGA and then use the built in VGA for the third monitor.

The hoops I have to go through to use this guy's old technology!! No monitors in the entire place with DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort. God forbid buying new monitors he gets them at the pawn shop.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ChrisHirst]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-of-...Graphics-Card-DVI-I-Dual-Display/282810432147

Output port splits to 2 x SVGA or 2 x DVI.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[goombawaho]

Meh - never liked to use ATI. I'm talking theory not specifics though at this point.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ChrisHirst]

Well the theory is there also,

2x Dual PCI-e video cards the manufacturer or the supplier is unimportant.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[lopes1211]

Lots of them. Will just need some adapters to convert the hdmi for the 3rd port. here's one:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487055&cm_re=nvidia-_-14-487-055-_-Product

-CL

 

[MikeHalloran]

<tangent>
When VGA was the hot setup, I was running a CAD app on a Dell desktop with two monitors, and doing okay.
Then the company decided that I needed to also run a CRM app, that was incredibly busy keeping up to date with everyone else in the company and doing whatever the hell it did. It brought the CAD system to its knees.
I begged the IT department for a second computer just to run the crapware, and a third monitor for it. The hardware was available because the company was shrinking, and the crapware didn't need CAD capable hardware.
It worked out pretty well.
</tangent>

Make sure that the customer can actually run all the apps he wants to run on one computer, and if that's likely to be a problem, gently suggest adding a second computer to run the third monitor, using the surplus hardware he's probably kept for a rainy day.

 

[SamirPD]

If this is just for general computing, I'd add some usb2.0 external solutions and be done with it. It won't need to be that fast. Worse case, 2 monitors from a pcie card and 1 from a usb solution. This will be a cheap solution too so the client will be happy enough.