Any PC guru's out there? | FerrariChat

Any PC guru's out there?

Discussion in 'Technology' started by Dave328, Dec 20, 2003.

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  1. Dave328

    Dave328 Formula 3

    Nov 24, 2002
    2,133
    Katy
    Full Name:
    Dave
    I'm in a bind. My brother in law has a Dell 2350 PC. It has the POS Intel 82845G integrated graphics chipset on the board. This PC has trouble playing any game made after 1991. :) I bought him a GeForce FX 5200 for Xmas and am having one HELLUVA time getting it to work. It plugged into the PCI slot with no problem and the drivers all loaded OK, but with the monitor plugged into the new card there is just a blank screen. It still displays fine through the original monitor plug. According to PNY, the old graphics card must be deactivated. Dell tech support says that it automatically disables when it detects the new card. I've done research on Dell.com and get that "it should work" all the way down to "the FX 5200 WILL NOT WORK". And ,of course, Intel.com would never tell me how to disable their crap in order to use something from the 20th century! :) Anybody with any suggestions?

    Thanks,
    Dave
     
  2. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    You will have to configure the BIOS to make sure that the video is set to "PCI" (not "AGP/Onboard"). Also set AGP aperture size to 128MB.

    What monitor(s) are you using?
     
  3. SefacHotRodder

    SefacHotRodder F1 World Champ

    Dec 20, 2003
    11,148
    NJ
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    Chris
    i know the feeling about having a POS computer....:(


    What Admiral said is the 1st thing you should do, tell us if that works or not..


    also, check device manager to see if the other is really dissabled

    what o/s are you running?
     
  4. Enzo

    Enzo F1 Rookie

    Feb 14, 2002
    4,088
    MinneSOta
    Full Name:
    Pat Pasqualini
    Yes please let us know the details and let us know if we can help.
     
  5. Dave328

    Dave328 Formula 3

    Nov 24, 2002
    2,133
    Katy
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    Dave
    Thanks for the replies!

    First off, it's a Dell 2350 P4 1.2 Ghz (I believe) The brother in law bought it for himself without asking for any advice. The OS is XP.

    I fiddled around with it a little this evening.I use 98 SE so I'm not too familiar with XP, but I was able to disable the onboard graphics card. The system is now using the GeForce card,but the wierd thing is, I still have to plug the monitor into the motherboard socket to get any display. (not the GeForce card monitor socket) Also, the resolution is now stuck in 600X480. While trying to fix that, I attempted to update the monitor driver but it won't take. The current date driver is 2001 but the "wizard" says the 5/2002 (latest) driver isn't needed. There is alot of BS going on and I don't know if by trying to fix one thing, I'm F'ing up something else. I told him to next time ASK for help before buying. I never never never would have let him go without a good 3D card from the get-go, cuz that POS onboard graphics is the cause of all of this!

    I'm going to try these things tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep y'all posted.

    Oh yeah, its a Dell M992 monitor. (CRT)
     
  6. tvrfreak

    tvrfreak F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    Mar 31, 2003
    3,879
    Arkansas
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    F K
    Another possible solution...buy a new motherboard and CPU and RAM. Using the old case and remaining components, swap out these items.

    It will cost you under $400. (I spent $360).

    Under $500 if you have someone else do it.
     
  7. Dave328

    Dave328 Formula 3

    Nov 24, 2002
    2,133
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    Dave
    Yeah, that's what I'd do. Of course, I wouldn't have bought this bottom of the line PC either. :) I'm trying to help the brother in law as much as I can without telling him that his brand new PC is already obsolete!

    Dave
     
  8. Schatten

    Schatten F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Apr 3, 2001
    11,237
    Austin, TX
    Full Name:
    Randy
    won't work. sorry, the motherboard is a modified ATX - which means the power switches are different, as well as the power supply. so a typical motherboard will plugin and not work at all unless you get another power supply and case, which has the plugs up front to plug into a typical ATX motherboard, not a modified one (which is what OEM's do).
     

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