Alienware M18xR1/R2/18 External Monitor Discussion Thread - Ask Questions/Find Solutions Here

How many monitors can i run with this laptop?

Seems like i could connect 3 external displays.

Would all of them be able to run independently?

Not to sure how the crossfire and sli works with this either...

 

I hope the Crossfire Setup will have no problem for play in Eyefinity on 3 external monitor, with the M17X R2 the performance from single to two card in Crossfire is the same ....

 

I believe if you go check the 6970 mobility specs you'll find it supports eyefinity 3. As for the Nvidia side, I don't know. They should be pretty good about supporting 1 or 2 external monitors, but I can't be sure.

6970 should be good
460 sli = maybe

 

I plan to drive 2 externals with this with the laptop screen closed. When mobile I will use the laptop screen.

 

Has anyone tried to use the laptop screen and 2 externals yet?

 

You can run two externals and also the internal at the same time so 3 screens
no problems

I haven't tried three external screens because theres no point using the low reolution VGA connection

 

Can you do the 2 externals while in crossfire or does it go to single gpu?

 

it stays in crossfire

 

awesome ty

 

Yes, really awesome! I was scanning the back messages for just this thing. Glad you guys already spoke up---kept me from having to initiate a new thread.

 

Questions re: Multiple Screeens

Q1:
Is it possible to have 3 different resolution external screens?
Im NOT interested in AMD EyeFinity, just want to know if it's possible. After all, eyefinity requires all the same resolution.

Q2:
Do I need 2 x GPU or can one handle it in the above situation?

regards

Paul

 

in dual gpu it can definatly run 2 external and the internal screen as well at full resolution. Therefore i assume that it would run 3 external screens, but vga resolution will not be the best.

eyefinity just puts all screens into one big resolution, which has many issues for desktop use, so dont worry about eyefinity. its something you have to switch on, but dont need for regular extended desktoping

 

Hi to everyone,
I would ask you a confirm about the max numbers for supported display for a dual-GPUs ATi's 6970m based: does it it 2 external + 1 internal?


Thanks

 

Yes, you can run 3 external screens all at different resolutions

You REALLY would need the x-fire to do this

D.

 

Thank you debaucher! And... can I apply the EyeInfinity feature for the 2 external screens?

 

Yes, it will scale based off of your lowest resolution screen (so your higher rez screens will look a bit wonky imho).

This is why I just run them independent and choose which I want as my "main" screen

D.

 

Hello, I have a M18X as you with Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970M - AMD CrossFireX but I can configure the laptop in the way I can use at the same time the monitor of the laptop and other 2 external displays.

PLEASE can you explain to me how to do!?!?!...I am becoming crazy!!!

Thank you in advance!!

 

You have to use the laptop display, a display attached to the hdmi output, and a display port display (or one using an active adapter) attached to display port. It is that simple...

I do this with my M18x and 2x Gateway FHD2400 monitors

 

I am using the display of my laptop + one external monitor via the HDMI port + one external monitor via the mini-port (using an adapter mini-port > HDMI), so I think exactly you were suggesting....but the thing is that the laptop / graphic card it seems not able to activate at the same time on the 3 monitors. When I try to configure the monitors with Catalyst Control Center for the 3 monitors at the same time does not allow me to do such a thing!!!! How did you configure? Thank you in advance for your help!

 

I had to add monitors in a certain order (which I dont recall) as well as open and close the laptop screen some before i got it all working.

 

I have a 1920x1200 external display, which is a bit bigger than the laptop's 1920x1080, I can't get it to use the max resolution permanently. It switches back to the laptop's resolution now and again, which is annoying. Stupid AMD drivers, but at least they're cheaper than nVidia.

And the external display doesn't work until the laptop's booted into Windows, even with the laptop screen closed, something that my old nVidia laptop was capable of.

 

You may have other problems then as I can go into the bios on my external displays...

 

What is the mini-port? Is it the small square one between the USB and the HDMI Out? Also, what is the adapter that you need to connect it to? Thanks for the help.

 

Could someone explain how exactly they attached two monitors to their m18x? I am trying to hook up two monitors of the same build, one with VGA and one with HDMI. When I plug them both up, only the HDMI works. If I unplug the HDMI, the VGA pops right up. I plug in the HDMI again and the VGA turns off and the HDMI turns on. In the display properties, it shows all 3 monitors, but when I try to do anything with the 3rd monitor, it will not allow me to change the settings. Any ideas?

 

You have to go into the Nvidia or Crossfire menus and adjust how you want the image to be, or hold function f8 to move through the options.

 

But when I have 2 monitors plugged in, only one is shown.

 

As far as I can tell, people with nVidia cards can only run 2 monitors at a time. No nVidia Surround for us.

 

My video card is an ATI 6990m. Not sure if that has the same problem as the nVidia cards.

 

I have an M18x with and ATI 6990m in Crossfire, and I am trying to use 2 monitors with it, using 2 HDMI cables. One of those cables is using a MiniDisplay to HDMI adapter. They both are able to be used with my computer if I use them independently. Both monitors are the same. When I try to use both at the same time, I am unable to. Here are screenshots of my Display Window:



This is when I select the third display and change it to extend:



This is when I try to apply the change:



The HDMI cables work fine because I have been using them for my Xbox 360 and PS3 with no problems. This happens in the Catalyst Control Center as well. I have also tried using one VGA and one HDMI(without MiniDisplay adapter). Any thoughts on how I can get 2 extra displays to work?

 

You need an active displayport adapter, otherwise it'll default to using HDMI/DVI via DP, and you can only have two of those connections simultaneously. One's used for internal display, one for your HDMI. In sort, use an active adapter and it'll work. Be wary though, active adapters to VGA are relatively cheap, while active adapters to any other digital output (hdmi, dvi) can get close to $100 easy. If you can do DVI, this one will work cheap: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814999030&

 

You have to use the mini display port to drive one of the external monitors with the ATI cards if you want to have 3 monitors total

 

I tried that and I am getting the same thing.

 

Hmm, well I don't have a port shaped like that on my laptop. I have 1 HDMI, 1 VGA, and 1 MiniDisplay.

 

i have a mini display port to display port adapter, does your monitor have display port?

 

You can try it: IDT ViewXpand - Simple Set-up - YouTube

It's a working option but not the only one in the market. It's seems the best (and simple) way to go...

Look @ my post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/610529-m18x-multi-monitor-support.html#post7905874

 

My monitors have 1 VGA, 1 DVI, and 1 HDMI.

It looks simple enough. You really need extra stuff just to get more monitors working, when you already have the ports on your laptop?

 

It's just as un1b4ll said.... you need an ACTIVE display port adapter to make 3 work.

It will cost you up to $100 but if you really want 3 monitors (Internal, HDMI, mini-dp) then you have no other choice.

The hardest part is making sure the adapter you buy is an active one.. so just do your homework.

Good luck

btw... the easiest and cheapest option is an active mini-display port to dvi.
They run about $30-100 depending on brand and if the adapter is dual link dvi or not.
I know that this is a good one here if you need dual link dvi and this one if not

Here is a good link for adapters
http://support.amd.com/us/eyefinity/Pages/eyefinity-dongles.aspx

D.

 

Doh, my bad.

Search Amazon for an Active Mini DisplayPort to HDMI or DVI. It appears as though converting to single link DVI can be done for about $30 with no external power but conversion to dual link DVI needs USB power and costs upwards of around $80+. I can pretty much guarantee the more expensive one will do it, and I believe the cheaper $30 adapters SHOULD do the trick, but I can't speak from experience on those ones.

 

Thank you all for the replies. I will look into the adapters and see which one would work better for me.

 

Let us know your outcomes

 

Did anyone here manage to make the two work together?

Damn M18x only has mini display port, and I can't get it to work even with the adapters.

Connection is pretty much Dual DVI to display port adapter from Dell, then display port adapter to mini display port adapter.

Thanks.

 

Are you using a dual link dvi model?

You have to. I use an apple mdp to dual link dvi for my hazro and it works fine. This one - Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter - Apple Store (UK)

 

Yes I am.

I'm using this, then the mini adapter.

DELL DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI Adapter for Dell Optiplex 790 Desktop / Precision M4600 Mobile WorkStations : Desktop Accessories | Dell

The monitor works just fine on my M11x via display port, but damn M18x only has mini.

 

What about dual-link DVI-HDMI cable would that work

 

I'm attempting to connect (2) 24" Asus LED monitors to my m18x (that has dual GTX 580s) I currently have one connected from HDMI out to DVI in at the monitor, the other is a simple vga to vga....It says only 2 screens are supported, but is there any way for me to use the 2nd GTX that apparently has no ports connecting to it? I'm very confused. Please help! See attached screenshots.

 

OK so I got an active display adapter mini display port to VGA and am using HDMI for the other connection the 3rd display does not show up in the nvidia control panel but does in windows displays. I cannot get it to extend on all three displays. Any help would be great. I have dual 560s btw

Thanks

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

I was under the impression u could do it with an active display adapter however I have one and am looking for some help as well

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

nomar5555 and cobrastangs, I think this is the type of thread you were looking for. Tip: use Google search with the prefix site:forum.notebookreview.com followed by key words. It's very effective at finding what you're looking for. The forum's built-in search feature does not work well.

Click the link in my signature and there are other threads that may be of interest.

Have a nice weekend.

 

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but can anyone post some pics of 3 external monitors running with the M18x? Need some proof

A video would also be nice...

 

EDIT: lol just re read, and eadgar was asking for three external screens.. my bad but i think you needa matroxdualhead to do that


try pressing fn + f6 key and select the extended mode. it may be that yours is in another mode.
also try using the windows desktop mode. Could be that 3 screens is amd only.



the fn + f6 menu




with 3 screens working in extended



using two external with laptop screen off