1. To change your Primary Video Adapter in your BIOS consult your motherboard or PC manufacturer. For most PCs here is how it is done:
    
2. Reboot your PC and watch carefully for the HOTKEY to enter setup, it only appears for about 2 seconds so be on your toes when rebooting. Normally F1, F2, or DEL.
    
3. Once you are in the BIOS screen you will have no mouse so use your arrow keys to navigate to the tab with the option referencing Primary Video Adapter or something to that affect.
    
4. Change this setting to the type of video card that you want your PC to recognize FIRST when booting. For example, PCI, PCI Express etc.

TECHNOTE: Only change your BIOS to another video adapter when you are ready to shut down the PC and install your new FireMV video card. Once you change your video setting the card MUST be installed that you told BIOS to look for before you reboot the PC or your will have no video. Also, some BIOS settings may not have a specific setting for your video slot, as they are all different. You may only have an AUTO setting which should be fine.

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Microsoft .NET 2.0 framework

• Prior to installing your quad video card you should first download and install .NET 2.0 + framework from Microsoft.

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Which card should I choose?

• Several Quad video cards will provide you with the same multi monitor functionality, some are just faster than others.
• Quad video cards usually come in two basic profiles, PCI and PCI Express (PCIe). Which card you choose depends on the type of slots that you have available on your computer's motherboard. All computer have at least one PCI slot, most new computers now have at least one PCI Express slot but it depends when you purchased your system so you have to check to make sure.
• PCI Express is faster, and slightly more expensive than PCI (for more information on bus speeds click here).

• There are different levels of PCI Express, referred to as x1(by 1), x16(by 16) etc.

• PCI Express slots are usually black, PCI slots are usually white and if you have an older system, AGP slots are usually brown in color. Note that some motherboards may vary in color.

• See picture below to determine which slot(s) you have available on your motherboard keeping in mind that your existing video card is normally removed so that slot may be available too and you may have more than one of each. To do this you will have to pop the cover off of your PC to get a look at your motherboard.

   

• The slots that you have available will determine which video card(s) you can use.
• You can install more than one FireMV card in the same system as long as you have the available slots.
• If you are unsure about PCI Express slots, then use PCI. Most all computers have at least 1 PCI slot.

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I am a trader, do I need a 3D video card?

No. 3D will be useless in a trading environment as it will never be tapped. Certain quad video cards are made specifically with traders in mind.

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One large screen or several regular size displays?

Q: I am inclined to use a single 30" monitor rather than several smaller ones. Which way should I go?

A: You will get better results by breaking it down into several monitors rather than demanding all that data to a single video port. Think of it like spreading the system resources. The end result will be plenty of screen real estate without putting all the stress on a single video port.

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DVD Movie playback

• Some DVD decoder software may cause various conflicts with the quad video cards. Contact your software vendor for assistance with this.

Are my monitors compatible with an LCD mounting system?
If you already have LCD monitors and you are purchasing an LCD monitor mount/stand just make sure your LCD displays have a VESA mount hole pattern on the back which most of them do. Sometimes they are covered up by the manufacturers sticker. It is simply a four hole mounting pattern.

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Multi Monitor Laptop Video Cards
Technically the only video card in a laptop is the one that is built in due to the limitation of laptops in general. However there is good news. Recent technologies now make it possible to add additional monitors to your laptop using special VGA to USB adapters. The result is basically the same you will add more displays to your setup however there are some limitations. Here is the best way to get the most out of your laptop.

First the laptop display of course will count as one display. Newer laptops normally have an external VGA port which depending on your onboard video card in the laptop, will give you a second display as is. To add a third display you can purchase a VGA to USB adapter. These adapters are fairly new as of May 2008 but the ability to add multiple USB to VGA adapters is on the near horizon. So for now 3 displays with a laptop using the procedure above. More in the future perhaps.

How many displays can I have in my system?
You can have up to 12 independent displays using multiple video cards however it is very technical to do so. You can install a 4 port video card yourself fairly easily but if you need more than 4 displays you should really consider allowing a professional to build a system for you. For more information view the QuadStation Systems by NTI.