PCIe x16 slot seems to be dead

[billabong78]

need some help
i am installing a PCIe 16 graphics card and once installed it cannot be found
If i plug the monitor into the new card then the monitor stays blank
if i plug the monitor back into the onboard graphics and look in the divice manager the new card is not listed

I have looked in the bios and the only choices i get are onboard or pci, pci is enabled but i dont get a PCIe option

Dell Vostro 400
3gb Ram
Vista Home Premiom
Intel Core2 Duo 22GHz
600gb memory left

 

[jay_l_a]

Damn, with a CPU that fast and that much memory, do you even need a graphics card?

Find the manual for that PC, it should have some info on adding graphics cards. As it's a Dell, there may be some limitations on what you can put in there.

 

[billabong78]

the manual doesnt say that there is a limitation

and oops i left oue a decimal point in the CPU

 

[jay_l_a]

Do you have access to another graphics card? This would give you a better idea where the current problem lies.

 

[billabong78]

i have tried an old 128mb card but that fits into the standard PCI slot not the PCIe x16 and that works ok

 

[chuckels59h]

I have run into a situation on an asrock where in the Bios the video had to be set on auto to allow any cards added to be reconized by the motherboard, any other setting it wouldn't reconize the new pci-e card, I suspect something like this is what's happening to you. Go download the manual and pay close attention to installing a PCI-E card, good luck.
The manual: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/manuals?~ck=ln&c=us&cs=04&l=en&lnki=0&s=bsd

 

[chuckels59h]

I dug farther, install the PCI-E card then reboot and go into the bios, navigate to advanced setting on video, change priority to PCIex first, then reboot and see if the new card works, then hopefully load the drivers when windows boots up.
heres some of the bios :
Advanced Chipset Features
Init Display First PCI Slot, Onboard, PCIEx (PCI Slot by default)
Video Memory Size 1 MB, 8 MB (8 MB by default)
DVMT Mode FIXED, DVMT (DVMT by default)
DVMT/FIXED Memory
Size
128 MB, 256 MB, MAX (128 MB by default)

 

[billabong78]

many thanks
i have tried changing the video priority in the bios but i only get two choices
PCI or onboard there is no choice for PCIe
I have chosen PCI but this still does not work

Could it be possible that my PSU is not powerful enough?

 

[danbfree]

many thanks
i have tried changing the video priority in the bios but i only get two choices
PCI or onboard there is no choice for PCIe
I have chosen PCI but this still does not work

Could it be possible that my PSU is not powerful enough?

I seriously doubt it's the PSU. I am thinking either bad motherboard or "possibly" the slot isn't enabled at all for Dell to save a few bucks. you should call them next if you can...

 

[V3NOM]

i needed a bios update to recognise my 9600GT.

 

[billabong78]

Dell have now said it is a compatability issue!!!!! aparantly the 8300gs and the 8500gs are compatable but not the 8400gs.
does this sound right or is this a cop out from Dell