Dual monitor set up

[kristell]

Hello I hope you can help me. My son has bought a new desktop and an extra monitor to go alongside the one he already has. He purchased an HDMI splitter but this doesn’t seem to be working properly, when you plug in one screen to the splitter it works fine but when you add the second one both monitors go black and we can’t then make any changes for example to choose extended displays. Is this because the splitter he has bought was a cheap one or could it be some other problem. Any suggestions on the ideal splitter to purchase, ideally from Amazon, that isn’t going to cost an arm and a leg that would work perfectly where he could keep both monitors connected on and when he turns on the desktop computer, both monitors activate when you turn them on.

The desktop has Windows 11 installed on it.

Appreciate anything you can do to help us resolve this. Many thanks

[Porthos]

9 minutes ago, kristell said:

My son has bought a new desktop

We need to know the exact model of the desktop to advise.

Edited August 18, 2023 by Porthos

[David H. Lipman]

I am not 100% but a HDMI splitter duplicates the output of one HDMI interface such that the display is now on two monitors showing the same content.

For external device you will need a HDMI Extender.  That will use the USB 3.x interface and provide and additional HDMI display interface and allow either the same screen to be duplicated on both HDMI monitors or allow the Windows Desktop to be extended to the second monitor allowing one to drag a Window from the Desktop to the second monitor.

Additionally, depending on the make and model of the desktop, it may have a built-in be ability to use two monitors.

[kristell]

@Porthos

[Porthos]

Quote

DisplayPort x 3
HDMI™ x 1 (Supports 4K@120Hz as specified in HDMI™ 2.1)

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-RTX-3060-GAMING-X-12G

If the monitor supports display port you need to use it for one of the monitors. If not you need a HDMI to display port adapter.

Edited August 18, 2023 by Porthos

[David H. Lipman]

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-H610M-E-DDR4/Specification

What are the exact models of BOTH monitors ?

[kristell]

@David H. Lipman

 

[Porthos]

Then get a display port cable for that  other monitor

[David H. Lipman]

@kristell

To sum it up.

One must look at the Specifications of the Computer and purchase periphery, such as monitors, that match the specifications.

Please return the splitter. 

The PC is high end.  Just based upon the motherboard it supports HDMI and VGA.  However it was integrated into a platform that has a high-end video card that supports multiple monitors.

 

[kristell]

So am I understanding this correctly, connect one monitor via HDMI and one monitor via the display port which I need to purchase a cable for. I really appreciate your support on this and has been really helpful and hopefully will have resolved the issue. The splitter was only a few pounds and I don’t know if we can return it at this point, so not a lot of money wasted if we can’t, but I appreciate your suggestion.

[Porthos]

You are correct

[kristell]

Last question is this row of three the display port? 

[Porthos]

Yes

[kristell]

That’s brilliant, thank you so much for answering everything so very quickly. We will order the display port and will let you know that it has worked. Once again, I can’t thank you enough for your support and everything you do to help people like me

[Porthos]

You are welcome. You can use 4 monitors if you wish, not to give your son any ideas.

[kristell]

😮 

[AdvancedSetup]

Common Hardware Ports
https://it.nmu.edu/docs/common-hardware-ports

 

[kristell]

It worked!  Two screens working perfectly.  Thank you again.

[David H. Lipman]