help; connecting monitor and pc

Walsandrew · 21 Dec 2010 at 14:48

hi guys, excuse the noobish questions but i recently purchased a pre-built system off ocuk and yes i am even having trouble setting it up/connecting it to my monitor.

as i have never really owned a proper desktop before, this isn't something i am familiar with, and the instructions which came with my monitor are very confusing.

but how man cables do i actually need connecting the two? apart from the power cables i mean, i think i have just about managed that. so far i have connected what i believe to be the hdmi to dvi cable from the hdmi in port to the dvi port of the pc. i have also attached the d-sub cable to the back of the pc..but i can't for the life of me find the d-sub port of the pc.

please help!

stulid · 21 Dec 2010 at 14:49

you only need to use one cable.

Walsandrew · 21 Dec 2010 at 14:51

is that the hdmi to dvi cable stulid? and why have they supplied me with so many other cables if that's the case..?

Brian8bit · 21 Dec 2010 at 14:54

Walsandrew said:
and why have they supplied me with so many other cables if that's the case..?

So you can pick and choose which you would prefer to use. If you only have one monitor you only need one cable to connect it to one graphics card.

You don't need to connect the d-sub to the back of your PC. Your graphics card should over-ride the onboard graphics (at least mine does).

stulid · 21 Dec 2010 at 14:55

Walsandrew said:
is that the hdmi to dvi cable stulid? and why have they supplied me with so many other cables if that's the case..?

Just use the DVI, you have so many cables for different age pc's/consoles, some people will have a old graphics card which is DSUB only, some people like to connect there XBOX360 to the monitor which will need a HDMI etc.

Walsandrew · 21 Dec 2010 at 15:01

ok thanks guys. only got the one monitor but just to make sure, the fact that i have dual graphics cards doesn't mean that i need two cables to attach to each one does it?

stulid · 21 Dec 2010 at 15:02

Nope, the two graphics cards will be connected internally using a sli/crossfire bridge, then just use the one cable to the monitor from the top card.

If you take the side panel of the case off, you will see a thin ribbon cable attached on the side of the two cards.

Walsandrew · 21 Dec 2010 at 15:07

great. in fact i think i can actually make it from just looking through the glass panel. certainly a nice piece of handiwork from the guys at ocuk. thanks again for the quick and helpful replies