Graphics Card Not Detected

[SmitherJenkins]

Hello Tom's Hardware Forums!

My system is a Dell Vostro 400:

Q6600 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Quad
4GB RAM
500 Watt PSU

And until recently, I have been rocking a Radeon HD 2600 XT. I recently purchased a Radeon HD 6670 from MSI. So I uninstalled all of the AMD drivers and software, slotted the new card in, and fired up the dinosaur. However, the monitor told me that there was no signal coming from the DVI connector. the same happened with other monitors i tried with, so I ruled out the possibility of it being a monitor problem.

The next thing I did was plug my monitor directly into the VGA on the motherboard. Both the BIOS and Windows 7 worked fine, and i did a little digging around, and found that the system was not detecting the card at all; it was telling me that there was nothing in the PCI-E slot. The AMD driver installers would also bail out on me for not having an AMD card present in the system too. However, the fans were spinning on the card.

I then attempted to slot the Radeon HD 2600 XT back into the system. It worked, and the drivers installed without any problems. But I put the Radeon HD 6670 into the system and I was back to where I started.

Adding another interesting point to the mystery, the Radeon HD 6670 worked on my friend's system.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem with this installation is? I should also note that this Radeon HD 6670 does not have a PCI-E power connector on it, so there's no way I missed that. But am I missing something here? The graphics card should have displayed some sort of signal, right?

Thanks in advance

 

[ASHISH65]

Please give your mobo info.

 

[SmitherJenkins]

I believe it is a Foxconn dg33m03.

 

[hytecgowthaman]

Disadvantages of branded system: Branded systems only give 1year warenty,Assembled system give 3years warenty (2year extra warenty compare to branded).
branded systems give limits for users examples: 1:limited sata ports ,2:low space for extra hdds ,3:upgrade processor also not supported (many processors) because of branded system bios. 4:upgrading gpu also not supported (many gpus )because of branded systems psu and bios limitations. 5:if u r linux user don't spend money for ms os and softwares. etc.....

 

[ASHISH65]

You need bios update.as pci exp 2.1 have problems with old pci 1.0 slot.go to your dell website and find there is any bios update.

 

[SmitherJenkins]

Thank you for your reply! Yes, however, I seem to have the latest version of the BIOS.

 

[SmitherJenkins]

Resetting the BIOS also does not seem to be doing anything either.

 

[RazberyBandit]

More than likely, the BIOS is simply unable to detect the card due to a PCI-Express compatibility issue. Your motherboard likely has a PCI-Express 1.0(a or b) slot, or possibly an early 1.1 slot.

You can download TechPowerUp's GPU-Z and view the PCI-Express interface it detects in the system. You'll find that information in the middle-right side of the "Graphics Card" tab. If it says PCI-E 1.X, then there is a compatibility issue.

A lot of people have run into this same problem since AMD released the HD5000-series cards, all of which use the PCI-Express 2.1 interface. (And yes, they are ALL 2.1 despite many product descriptions stating they are 2.0 cards.) This problem was very common when those cards launched, and still continues to this day. This is because not all PCI-Express 1.x motherboards received BIOS updates that allowed for the detection of cards which use the newer interface.

If you can find a BIOS update for your board that was released in the latter half of 2009 or later (HD5000 cards were released in Sept. 2009), then there may be some hope. Otherwise, that card (and other PCI-Express 2.1 cards) simply will not work in it.

 

[SmitherJenkins]

Ah ok yes it looks as though my BIOS was released mid-2008. The slot is a 1.1

 

[SmitherJenkins]

Silly question but there probably isn't a workaround for this issue, is there?