DVI to USB-C

Long-time subscriber here: I have an LG 29-inch 2K monitor, model number LG 29UM59-A. This monitor has one HDMI and one USB-C port. I have been trying to connect a second computer to the USB-C port without any success.

The motherboard with the

USB-C port is an MSI X370 Gaming Pro (with AMD Ryzen 1700X CPU and 32GB RAM), with an MSI GeForce GTX 750TI video card with 2GB of memory. I’m hoping to upgrade to an RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 when prices come down.

I’ve tried both USB-C-to-VGA and USB-C-to-DVI adapters and neither works. I’ve not tried a direct USB-C cable yet as I do not have one. Is there some reason why these adapters don’t work? Is USB-C bidirectional?

Roger

TechLife responds: First up, you won’t be able to connect the USB-C port on your PC to your monitor – that’s because the USB-C port on your monitor’s connector is more accurately described as a DisplayPort or Thunderbolt over USB-C one, so it needs connecting to your graphics card as you’ve tried using the two adapters.

The issue with the adapters is that they’re one-way, so are designed to connect a DisplayPort/ Thunderbolt over USB-C port on your PC to a DVI or VGA port on your monitor. You want something that works in the opposite direction – a DVI to DisplayPort adapter. We found a StarTech.com DVI to DisplayPort adapter for $24 from Mwave. You will need to pair that with a bi-directional USB-Cto-DisplayPort cable to complete the connection to your display. These two items combined should enable you to use your PC with your LG monitor and when you come to upgrade to an RTX 3070 or 3080, you’ll be able to use the cable to connect it directly to your monitor,

allowing you to retire or redeploy the DVI-to-DisplayPort adapter elsewhere.