Need help: W520 connecting 2 external monitors

[lance0108]

Hi,

I just bought two new monitors and trying to connect both of them with W520. Both monitors are 1920*1080 and have VGA, DVI, and DP. (No HDMI) 

I know one solution that probably going to work is to connect one with displayport and the other with VGA.

However, I really hope I could use digital signals for both of them since VGA is still not completely as good as displayport or DVI. 

As the displayport on W520 is the only digital output, I called the technical support to ask if I could use a dp->dvi converter and a dvi splitter to connect both monitors. The technical support confirmed this. But I still don't know if I should use a dp->dual-link dvi or just a regular dp->dvi. 

I've also read the reviews of USB->DVI adapters. The common problem they have is that videos could not be smoothly played. 

I don't want to buy the dock or an active converter since they cost too much. So, please suggest what is the most economic solution if I want to get 2 digital output from W520.

Thanks!

[ThorsHammer]

With no dock, your choices are really VGA and DP or DP->DVI.

[lance0108]

I just figured that this GPU only supports two displays. Currently, I have 2 external monitors and the display on W520. If I want to output video on both external monitors, the display on W520 won't work. 

Ugh... what a waste of money buying a fHD on W520...

[ThorsHammer]

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lance0108 wrote:

I just figured that this GPU only supports two displays. Currently, I have 2 external monitors and the display on W520. If I want to output video on both external monitors, the display on W520 won't work. 

Ugh... what a waste of money buying a fHD on W520...

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That is a supported configuration and it works on my W520.  See http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=HT037605 for the official support article.  There is also a link inside the tabook.pdf at http://lenovo.com/psref that is a PDF version of the guide.

If you can't get it to work, you aren't holding it right.

Your biggest issue(s) are making sure the BIOS display setting is correctly set, and you have the latest video drivers.

It does work.

[davidbak]

[Reviving this slightly old topic because it still comes up on Google searches ...]

I wanted to report my successes with 3 screens - the laptop screen and two external monitors - with a W520 quad-core and a MiniDock Plus 3 - 4338 - 90 Watt.  Both external monitors are connected to the MiniDock with DisplayPort cables.

a) Win7 Ultimate was easy to set up with the drivers 83de42ww (8.17.12.7593/8.15.10.2538, dated 2011-12-14).  BIOS in Optimus mode, but disabled OS detection.  I can use the Windows 7 "screen resolution" applet to configure the resolution and relative location of the monitors.  Only issue:  I have to do that each time I dock - otherwise it boots/revives from sleep using only the laptop's screen.  I never use the Intel or NVidia consoles to do anything.

b) Windows Server 2008 R2 was MUCH harder to get going - largely because I was doing it six months later and using the latest drivers.  The drivers in 83de44ww (8.17.12.7658/8.14.10.2538, dated 2012-04-20) just do not work for this purpose - I could not get all three screens going no matter what I tried.  So I uninstalled the NVidia drivers and Intel drivers (in that order!) and installed 83de42ww (as in (a) above) and now it works fine.  Even better: it remembers when I dock to light up all three displays without me having to adjust anything.  To get it to work, though, I had to use the NVidia control panel to set screen resolutions.  After that, the Windows "screen resolution" applet now works fine.

c) Back in November when I was trying to get 4 screens going I found a Lenovo PDF that described all kinds of display configurations for the W520.  Can't find it online now.  Anyway, it certainly implied that 4 screens (3 external) worked, but I couldn't get it to happen.  Now I'm glad you've pointed to this specification that contains the following remarkable facts:  First, that you can get 4 monitors working with the 170W MiniDock Plus, and you can also get it working with the 90W MiniDock Plus (which is what I have) ONLY IF you've got a DUAL-core, not a quad-core (I have a quad-core).  Very interesting!  Perhaps the quad core sucks up just enough extra energy that the NVidia chip isn't left with enough to power 3 video signals.  Unfortunate. 

d) I don't know why I have the 90W MiniDock Plus - Can anyone advise me?  I've got a 170W brick that says it delivers 8.5 amps at 20V, that's 170W alright.  But the bottom of the MiniDock says it accepts 4.5 amps at 20V, thats 90W.  So did they just ship me the wrong MiniDock with the right brick?

-- David

[ThorsHammer]

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davidbak wrote:

d) I don't know why I have the 90W MiniDock Plus - Can anyone advise me?  I've got a 170W brick that says it delivers 8.5 amps at 20V, that's 170W alright.  But the bottom of the MiniDock says it accepts 4.5 amps at 20V, thats 90W.  So did they just ship me the wrong MiniDock with the right brick?

-- David

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What is the full model number of your dock?

[davidbak]

Here they are, from the bottom:

Type 4338 20V 4.5A

P/N 75Y5730

FRU P/N 75Y5731

from the barcode strip: 4338 M2N6DZ4 11/07

Thanks!  -- Davd

[ThorsHammer]

The dock you have is the dock at http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?&LegacyDocID=MIGR-76767 and should have a 170W brick.  If you didn't get that, then you should have the order corrected.

[davidbak]

Looking around at that link it appears that both the 135W (now discontinued) and 170W mini dock plus series 3 use the same FRU numbers (75Y5730) (this is the dock part, not the brick).  So maybe there is actually no difference between the docks at all, just the bricks they ship with it, and the marking on the bottom 20V 4.5A is not a specification of how much power it draws from the brick.  Or at least, not anymore.

Thanks for your pointers!

(Still doesn't answer the question of why I couldn't get 4 screens (3 ext monitors) to work earlier - but I find it very easy to believe it isn't the power supply, but is a question of drivers.  Maybe if I try some other driver it will work better!  I already know it is a fact that with some other driver it will work worse!)

-- David

[focus16]

I am curious david if you are using a 30" on any of the display ports? I have  a two monitor setup and use PremierePro with the Quadro 2000 running in the bios - would adding the additional monitors not lower the rendering? Curious if you know the consequences as it pertains to Adobe NLE. Also, I have been having some real issues with the w520 and am wondering if you per chance run Xampp on your machine? I don't seem to have a way of pm ing you so sorry to be including a non-related item in this thread.

Sam