Dual monitor with Ryzen 5 2400G

[jALLAD]

Hello everyone, I built a system after many years, and I'm still catching up with the latest tech, so some help would be really appreciated . I will be primarily using this machine as a workstation for scientific computation (on Linux), and occasional gaming.

I wanted to run my machine with a pair of mismatched monitors:

1. a 24" Dell with HDMI, DP, and VGA inputs
2. a very old 22" LG with DVI-D and VGA inputs

The mobo has one each of HDMI, DVI-D, and VGA (Gigabyte AB350M Gaming 3). After looking at the AMD products page for my 2400G, I'm very confused. When it says it doesn't support "Dual Graphics" what does it mean? Does it mean simultaneously running a discrete GPU alongside the IGP (unrelated to my problem, or does it say multiple monitors? Also under display outputs it says DP, and HDMI; does that mean I'm out of luck thanks to my choice of mobo? Thanks for any help.

 

[LTC8K6]

Hello everyone, I built a system after many years, and I'm still catching up with the latest tech, so some help would be really appreciated . I will be primarily using this machine as a workstation for scientific computation (on Linux), and occasional gaming.

I wanted to run my machine with a pair of mismatched monitors:

1. a 24" Dell with HDMI, DP, and VGA inputs
2. a very old 22" LG with DVI-D and VGA inputs

The mobo has one each of HDMI, DVI-D, and VGA (Gigabyte AB350M Gaming 3). After looking at the AMD products page for my 2400G, I'm very confused. When it says it doesn't support "Dual Graphics" what does it mean? Does it mean simultaneously running a discrete GPU alongside the IGP (unrelated to my problem, or does it say multiple monitors? Also under display outputs it says DP, and HDMI; does that mean I'm out of luck thanks to my choice of mobo? Thanks for any help.

https://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/dual-graphics
"Dual Graphics" refers to two graphics cards.
DVI-D and VGA probably is not supported by the APU. Maybe a converter can be used?

 

[moinmoin]

When it says it doesn't support "Dual Graphics" what does it mean? Does it mean simultaneously running a discrete GPU alongside the IGP (unrelated to my problem, or does it say multiple monitors?

It means this, essentially Crossfire between iGPU and a Radeon dGPU.

 

[LTC8K6]

To be clear, you can have the IGP and another video card, they just won't do Dual Graphics/Crossfire. They will still work as independent cards.

 

[teejee]

Linux support for Ryzen APU seems to be work in progress, wait until it is more stable. Check for example phoronix for more info.

 

[Kenmitch]

https://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/dual-graphics
"Dual Graphics" refers to two graphics cards.
DVI-D and VGA probably is not supported by the APU. Maybe a converter can be used?

It wouldn't really make sense to put dvi and vga ports on a motherboard if there not usable. Typo on specs as there clearly visible in photos.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Hello everyone, I built a system after many years, and I'm still catching up with the latest tech, so some help would be really appreciated . I will be primarily using this machine as a workstation for scientific computation (on Linux), and occasional gaming.

I wanted to run my machine with a pair of mismatched monitors:

1. a 24" Dell with HDMI, DP, and VGA inputs
2. a very old 22" LG with DVI-D and VGA inputs

The mobo has one each of HDMI, DVI-D, and VGA (Gigabyte AB350M Gaming 3). After looking at the AMD products page for my 2400G, I'm very confused. When it says it doesn't support "Dual Graphics" what does it mean? Does it mean simultaneously running a discrete GPU alongside the IGP (unrelated to my problem, or does it say multiple monitors? Also under display outputs it says DP, and HDMI; does that mean I'm out of luck thanks to my choice of mobo? Thanks for any help.

The gigabyte motherboard has dvi-d and hdmi out, the big question is if both will work with the 2400 g.
If history tells something, in the past i also used my A10-6700 apu with a uATX gigabyte motherboard to send a dvi signal to my dvi-d monitor and hdmi out to my television simultaneously . And that worked, both as independent screens but i had the image cloned so that my tv would show the same picture as my monitor and that worked .

When i look at the site of gigabyte it mentions the following :

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-AB350M-Gaming-3-rev-1x#sp

On board Graphics Integrated Graphics Processor:

1. 1 x D-Sub port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200@60 Hz
2. 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200@60 Hz
   * The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter.
3. 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@24 Hz
   * Support for HDMI 1.4 version.

Support for up to 3 displays at the same time
Maximum shared memory of 2 GB

According to the website it should work with the 2400G as well.

 

[LTC8K6]

* Actual support may vary by CPU.

 

[William Gaatjes]

* Actual support may vary by CPU.

I think that is about hdmi 1.4 or 2.0 support for higher resolutions.
Dsub on dvi- is equal to dvi-a.
Nobody should ever go back to analog signals.

 

[LTC8K6]

It wouldn't really make sense to put dvi and vga ports on a motherboard if there not usable. Typo on specs as there clearly visible in photos.

I agree that it would be odd. Perhaps they work with other AM4 APUs such as Bristol Ridge?

 

[William Gaatjes]

If you want to be sure before buying, the AMD community forum would be the best start i guess.

https://community.amd.com/community/support-forums

Seems the op is not the only one asking or maybe the same person ?

https://community.amd.com/message/2847367

 

[jALLAD]

To be clear, you can have the IGP and another video card, they just won't do Dual Graphics/Crossfire. They will still work as independent cards.

Thanks for this pointer. I have an old XFX GeForce 7950GT lying around, I can try to use that to drive the second display. If my understanding is correct, extended display won't be an option in that case.

If my memory serves me right, the solution was to run a second display on the same X server. But it was difficult to get things like moving windows between displays to work smoothly. I'll have a look if it's any better these days.

The gigabyte motherboard has dvi-d and hdmi out, the big question is if both will work with the 2400 g.
If history tells something, in the past i also used my A10-6700 apu with a uATX gigabyte motherboard to send a dvi signal to my dvi-d monitor and hdmi out to my television simultaneously . And that worked, both as independent screens but i had the image cloned so that my tv would show the same picture as my monitor and that worked .

When i look at the site of gigabyte it mentions the following :

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-AB350M-Gaming-3-rev-1x#sp

According to the website it should work with the 2400G as well.

Correct me if I'm wrong, the motherboard supports all the ports as long as the CPU/APU does. And according to the AMD products page, the 2400G does not. So the VGA and DVI-D ports on my board are as good as dead. I tried using a DVI-D directly, as well as using a DVI-D to HDMI adapter, didn't work. Maybe those ports are usable with BIOS support or with older APUs?

I was thinking, if I could somehow attach an extra DP or HDMI to the mobo, maybe I could get it to work (since the APU has support for two outputs). But so far I have not found any pin headers/sockets to that effect. All I have are these:

• several pin headers for USB 2 and USB 3
• an M.2 PICe x4 connector
  
• couple of serial port headers (COMA/COMB)
• and a parallel port header (LPT)

I don't suppose either of them would do the job?

 

[William Gaatjes]

Thanks for this pointer. I have an old XFX GeForce 7950GT lying around, I can try to use that to drive the second display. If my understanding is correct, extended display won't be an option in that case.

If my memory serves me right, the solution was to run a second display on the same X server. But it was difficult to get things like moving windows between displays to work smoothly. I'll have a look if it's any better these days.



Correct me if I'm wrong, the motherboard supports all the ports as long as the CPU/APU does. And according to the AMD products page, the 2400G does not. So the VGA and DVI-D ports on my board are as good as dead. I tried using a DVI-D directly, as well as using a DVI-D to HDMI adapter, didn't work. Maybe those ports are usable with BIOS support or with older APUs?

I was thinking, if I could somehow attach an extra DP or HDMI to the mobo, maybe I could get it to work (since the APU has support for two outputs). But so far I have not found any pin headers/sockets to that effect. All I have are these:

• several pin headers for USB 2 and USB 3
• an M.2 PICe x4 connector
  
• couple of serial port headers (COMA/COMB)
• and a parallel port header (LPT)

I don't suppose either of them would do the job?

I guess you are right, that the 2400G does not support it, maybe later driver updates or indeed a bios update.
Strange, my old apu on fm2 socket has dvi-d and hdmi and not an issue. vga i am not so sure altough the board has a dsub connector as wel.

Unfortunately, connecting hdmi or displayport through the other connections as you mentioned above is not going to work.
The only way is a discrete gpu.
I think you can better ask the question at the community forum from AMD.
Because it is so weird that an apu only has a single hdmi output. Does not make sense.

 

[jALLAD]

If you want to be sure before buying, the AMD community forum would be the best start i guess.

https://community.amd.com/community/support-forums

Seems the op is not the only one asking or maybe the same person ?

https://community.amd.com/message/2847367

Thanks for pointing at the thread . That isn't me. I will wait for a response on that thread.

 

[William Gaatjes]

It is strange, the website of AMD does not show a ryzen apu or .

Thanks for pointing at the thread . That isn't me. I will wait for a response on that thread.

I wish i could help you more, but right now i am not even able to find the 2400g through the AMD website only through google.

 

[jALLAD]

Strange, my old apu on fm2 socket has dvi-d and hdmi and not an issue. vga i am not so sure altough the board has a dsub connector as wel.

Strange indeed! My four year old ThinkPad x240 can drive two external displays simultaneously (mini-DP and VGA) with an Intel IGP.

 

[jALLAD]

I wish i could help you more, but right now i am not even able to find the 2400g through the AMD website only through google.

They are there, in fact they were there even before the launch (12 Feb) .

• The regular page
• On the AMD products site

Thanks a lot for the discussions, it's been really helpful. I have a lot of clarity now. I'll live with a single display for now, if using the discrete GPU turns out too cumbersome.