How can I setup a 2nd monitor on my HP Z420 Workstation please?

[Mancunian_Nick]

Hello. I am using an HP Z420 Workstation running Windows 7 64 bit and no problems at all. However I'm thinking about streaming poker on twitch and those who are 'in the know' about such things tell me I should use a second monitor. My workstation has an NVIDIA Quadro 44000 graphic card (the one that was in it when I bought it) and currently I'm using one HD monitor connected via an DVI to DVI cable. My monitor is an AOC 21" HD.

So what I'd dearly love to know is in order to run a second HD monitor, how can I set that up bearing in mind that sadly this workstation doesn't have the best selection of inputs/outputs for monitors but I'm sure they should be sufficient. Would have been nice if I could have simply used another DVI to DVI cable but it only has the one from what I can see. So if anyone can kindly advise me the best way to set this up (before I buy anything) including cable(s) and/or adaptors, I'd be very very grateful.

Thank you kindly in anticipation, Nick

[wb2001]

@Mancunian_Nick,

The NVidia Quadpro 4000 usually has 1 DVI-D and 2 display port

"Support for any combination of two connected displays>Dual DisplayPort (up to 2560x1600 @ 60 Hz and 1920x1200 @ 120Hz)>Dual-link DVI-I output (up to 2560x1600 @ 60Hz and 1920x1200 @ 120Hz)>Internal 400 MHz DAC DVI-I output (analog display up to 2048x1538 @ 85Hz)>DisplayPort to VGA, DisplayPort to DVI-D (single-link and dual-link) and DisplayPort to HDMI cables (resolution support based on dongle specifications)".     source document.

That said,  you can find a display port to whatever you need for the second monitor.  (which was not stated, I believe ?).

[Mancunian_Nick]

Thank you kindly for the quick reply wb2001. Much appreciated.

No you're right, I didn't stipulate what monitor I'd be using - I'm still trying to decide whether to get a normal PC HD monitor or, perhaps, although the unlikelier of the 2, to use my tablet. The point of the excercise would be to have my game (poker mostly) stream on my existing main monitor then twitch chat and my broadcasting software on the other so I can switch between the 2 as and when necessary. The maximum definition I'd be running both in would be 1920 x 1080 although the actual stream would broadcast in 1920 x 720 I believe it is? I'd be running from the one PC so would need to be able to use my keyboard and mouse on both monitors - which I believe you can switch by using alt and selecting any window or tab and then being able to write from either (one at a time obviously) or changing/viewing my broadcasting utilites on monitor 2 whilst remaining playing the actual game(s) on my existing main monitor. I should also add, perhaps, that my OBS software and game would be running 60fps and broadcasting in 30fps in order to put less strain on the processor/graphic card so I'm guessing 60 Mhz is likely to be the fastest needed.

Which brings me to my final question please - in view of what I've just told you, would a single-link do the job as I've outlined or would I need a dual-link cable please?

Thank you again. As I said in my original post, I've not yet bought a monitor as I was waiting to hear some advice first but basically I could hook up via DVI-I, VGA or HDMI, although I think DVI-I would be best - partly as that's how I have my main monitor connected and partly because my PC Workstation's HDMI port isn't very good - doesn't seem to hold the connector at all tightly, hence why I'm using the DVI option instead.

Cheers, Nick

[Mancunian_Nick]

Hello again. Look I appreciate this is a difficult time with social distancing, lockdown, isolation and so on but I wrote a reply to the very kind, nice chap Wb2001 on 17th April asking a final question (see further down in the thread to find it) regarding the cable I'll need ... ie single/dual link. Without wishing to sound ungrateful and whilst I appreciate the community here kindly respond to help others out of the kindness and generosity of their heart but I've been waiting very patiently to an answer on this. Either people have forgotten me or not seen my last question, Wb2001 isn't well or doing this any more (do hope that's not true!) but whatever the reason might be, is there SOMEONE here in the forum who can answer my question please? I'm ready to purchase a new monitor and cable (adaptor too if I'm going to need one?) and obviously I can't until I have an answer on whether I'd need a duel or single link cable.

To whoever gets back to me on this, thank you kindly. It's very much appreciated. Nick

PS Apologies - I meant 17th May not April. 🙂