could be a really stupid question....

[slyfxsi]

hey again all,
well after much scouring searching and plenty of enquiring on here as to how to further upgrade my pc, oh big thanks to b1gapl, Krazyq and vernong1992 for the help and advice!
i may have hit a small problem my lcd moniter has a 15-pin D-Sub, connector, whereas my new grapics card hasnt!! its a MSI 8600GTS 256MB Overclocked version DVI HDTV HDCP PCI-E. Is there some sort of converter avalable to help me connect the two???!!!!

 

[Andyf]

yes! I have one right here in front of me.

The Dplug you are referrring to is a VGA plug, the old analog input. DVI is the new digital one. modern screens often come with both inputs.

You could do what I did, using a simple plug converter, which is effectively just the two different plug ends with the appropriate wires connected (this kind of thing only mines just a connector). This works, but not very well, the picture is lousy. Good for a short term fix.

You can get boxes which convert the signals properly. Prolly more expensive, haven't tried, so don't know how well it works.

The last option would be to buy a new monitor. As everything is going DVI these days, I would recommend this, its a good long term investment. You'll notice the difference as well.

 

[Andyf]

Ah, here you go, this is what I have

And yes, proper converter boxes seem almost as expensive as monitors anyway

 

[slyfxsi]

In The words of THe killers "Andyf your a star", just the part i was looking for i knew maplins would do them just coundlt find them! cant afford the new screen just yet so this will do! where did you see the converters?

 

[Andyf]

Oh, just search DVI VGA converter in google- and now you know as much as me!
Now that said, I've been reading up, and I'm not sure it will be that bad, just using the plug.

Ysee I was viewing a widescreen laptop, out of my DVI port, through the converter and into a VGA CRT screen.

Now since it was a widescreen laptop, and the CRT screen was one that came with a sun computer, I reckon the poor picture might have been as much to do with screen incompatibility as with the fact that I was using a converter plug. Have a try, anyway, they plugs are only a few £ from maplin.

 

[slyfxsi]

yeah just checked them all out! may have to buy a gender changer aswell though as my screen plug is male, and the only sell male dvi to male vga, hence the screen plug wont fit into the adapter!! soon find out whe ni pop in2 maplins in the morning!

 

[slyfxsi]

and you really could vote this as the most stupidist question!! as upon arrival of said graphics card, there was not one but two adapters in the box with it! patience was never one of my virtues hahaa

 

[Trotter]

I was about to suggest you to check your GFX card packaging. Most do come with at least one converter, usually two.