Dell Vostro 230 low Profile Won't post with Dedicated GPU.

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SeymourHope

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Jun 11, 2017
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So I recently bought a Dell Vostro 230 mini tower for
music playing and streaming video. It has a decent core 2 duo E7500,
and 2GB DDR3 memory so i decided to give it my low profile GeForce GT 730,
that I am 100% sure works. I installed it in the computer and powered it up.
The fans all spun, and I got no beep code. I also got no output to my display.
I've tried all 5 of the settings for the GPU in the BIOS (PEG/PCI etc.) to no
avail. I'd really like to get this working so please let me know if you have ANY advice.
I am running windows 7 home.
 
Solution
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After talking to Dell about the issue, the GT 730 won't work with the Dell Vostro 230 slim tower.
I've ordered a lower powered card that is known to work with this system.
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TMTOWTSAC

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Jun 27, 2015
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You can try disabling Secure Boot and enabling the Legacy ROM. Dell likes to lock down their BIOS for any hardware that isn't expressly validated for it. Sometimes this lets you install certain cards. There may also be a BIOS update available since I think Dell later added the 730 to their build options.
 
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SeymourHope

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Thanks! I'll be sure to try this. i'll get back to you if it works.
 
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SeymourHope

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I updated the BIOS, there is no setting for Secure Boot or Legacy ROM.
 
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TMTOWTSAC

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Just did some googling and I can't find any good information on the BIOS in that model. But I did find a number of people who were able to install a new GPU, and also a number of people that couldn't. No real rhyme or reason, mix of older and newer cards than the 730 that both worked and didn't work.

You said you tried all 5 GPU settings, could you list them? Also, is there a separate setting anywhere to disable the integrated graphics? And for that matter, with the card installed does the integrated graphics still work, and if so does the system recognize the new card?

And just remembered, what PSU is in your machine? Supposedly most had a 300w, but some had a smaller supply that may not be able to power a discrete card.
 
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SeymourHope

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Mine has the 250 watt, I supposed it would work since a power supply calculator said it would use 240 watts on load.
Anyway, the GFX settings are as listed:
IGD
PCI/IGD
PCI/PEG
PEG/IGD
PEG/PCI
It also has DVMT settings, and video memory settings.
With the card installed, i get no display through the card or the Integrated graphics.
I've tried multiple monitors. When i turn it on with the GFX card, I get the Power light,
keyboard lights, a mouse light and fans spin. I don't know if I get audio because I have no speakers.
My options are: find a way to get this to work.
It doesn't seem to be a PSU issue though, everything gets power, there is just no display with any monitor.
 
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SeymourHope

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I was thinking, Could I get a lower powered card?
Would something like a HD 6450, or a Nvidia NVS 310 work?
 
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SeymourHope

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Yes, I have even dusted out the slot with canned air through the side.
 
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SeymourHope

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Do you think it could be anything else?
 
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TMTOWTSAC

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I'm not really sure. There are a lot of things it could be, but nothing jumps out as being something it's likely to be. As examples:

The PCIE slot could be bad.

Could be a specific motherboard chipset in your model that won't support the card, which does happen with some Dell model revisions.

Could still be a power issue, PSU's can lose efficiency over time and Dell's 250w seems to supply 18A on the 12V rail, for 216w max. And if you've got the 1 GB DDR3 version of the 730 it has twice the power draw (49w) of the 2 GB and GDDR5 models. Some prebuilt companies limit their PCIE slot power to 30w.

Then there are even less common (but still possible) scenarios like the 730 going bad from a static shock during installation.

There aren't a lot of diagnostics you can use to check these, without spare components lying around. Is there anything else installed inside or connected to your machine that could cause a conflict or draw excess power?
 
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SeymourHope

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I could try unplugging the optical drive... It probably wouldn't do much but I don't use it.
That's all I can think of that I could reduce.
UPDATE: Unplugging the Disk Drive did nothing. I didn't expect it to do anything, though.
 
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SeymourHope

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Jun 11, 2017
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520
After talking to Dell about the issue, the GT 730 won't work with the Dell Vostro 230 slim tower.
I've ordered a lower powered card that is known to work with this system.
 
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