graphics card installed but no display, HELP!

[klopez]

I have a dell optiplex 3010 and a amd radeon video card.


When the video card is installed, there is no display at all. Whether I connect from the on board or the video card slot, I cant get a display. The only time i get a display is when I take out the video card. Sorry, Im a complete noob but HELP!

 

[uplink-svk]

Greetings,

What graphics card did You purchase? What power supply unit do You have in Your DEll Optilex 3010?

 

[klopez]

I purchased an AMD Radeon Graphics Card, not sure what model since it is installed inside the PC already. Sorry, Im really new to this and I am not tech savvy!

 

[uplink-svk]

Hmm, well, in general can You open the computer and check whether the there goes a cable, or two. from the power supply unit to Your video graphics card?

 

[klopez]

Hmm, well, in general can You open the computer and check whether the there goes a cable, or two. from the power supply unit to Your video graphics card?

When I look inside, the video card is just a slot. There are no cables that would connect to it.

 

[uplink-svk]

And here we're starting to get to the problem. See, there's 6-8 pin connector on Your graphics card [most likely]. Can You confirm it?

They may be 6, 6 + 6, or 6 + 8, or 8 + 8 pinholes on the connectors.

 

[klopez]

And here we're starting to get to the problem. See, there's 6-8 pin connector on Your graphics card [most likely]. Can You confirm it?

They may be 6, 6 + 6, or 6 + 8, or 8 + 8 pinholes on the connectors.

it is just straight a straight line of 2 rows of 8 pins
so 16 total

 

[uplink-svk]

So You have something like this?

 

[klopez]

So You have something like this?

http://s58.photobucket.com/user/kerrr_sell/media/20141120_141553_zpsqaw62a3h.jpg.html
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g268/kerrr_sell/20141120_141534_zpssiuqvihm.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g268/kerrr_sell/20141120_141524_zpsk7onjyik.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g268/kerrr_sell/20141120_141511_zpscwzsydde.jpg

 

[uplink-svk]

Thank You. So on these sides, there are no connectors after all?

Your motherboard, it has a cable, that is wide, connected in it from the power supply unit. Is there a free space of 4 pins in the connector, where the cable is connected to the mother board?

P.S.: Am hitting bed, will response more tomorrow. Take care!

 

[klopez]

Thank You. So on these sides, there are no connectors after all?

Your motherboard, it has a cable, that is wide, connected in it from the power supply unit. Is there a free space of 4 pins in the connector, where the cable is connected to the mother board?

P.S.: Am hitting bed, will response more tomorrow. Take care!

Unfortunately, there are no connecters.

 

[uplink-svk]

Okay, and what about motherboard? The "slot" I showed in the picture, is the cable filling it whole, or did it leave 4 pins free?

 

[klopez]

Okay, and what about motherboard? The "slot" I showed in the picture, is the cable filling it whole, or did it leave 4 pins free?

Nope, all the cables are connected to something already.
This PC that im working on had the same video card installed before and it worked with dual monitors, then someone handed it back to me because the "dual setup" wasnt working anymore.
So I plugged the computer in, in hopes of fixing the problem, the monitor connected to the video card turned on, then it turned into a black screen. Now, neither monitors will turn on.


It worked before but now, I'm curious as to why it isnt working anymore and why the monitors wont turn on.

 

[uplink-svk]

Do You have any chance to test the VGA [graphics card] in some other machine?

 

[klopez]

Do You have any chance to test the VGA [graphics card] in some other machine?

I checked the surrounding machines I have but the video card that I am currently working with is a different size (smaller) than the ones in the other machines.

 

[uplink-svk]

Well, it's kind of hard to dedicated whether the problem is in Your computer now, or in the graphics card itself. Therefore test in other computer of this graphics card is kind of...needed :\

 

[klopez]

Well, it's kind of hard to dedicated whether the problem is in Your computer now, or in the graphics card itself. Therefore test in other computer of this graphics card is kind of...needed :\

I've read in some threads that i should go into my BIOS and enable the PCI-E but I don't even have that option on my BIOS. Then I read about going into my Device Manager and uninstall the driver for the graphics card (The driver doesn't show up). Currently, I'm trying to find the driver and download it from the website.

 

[uplink-svk]

Wait a second. You can turn on Your computer with the dedicated [ATi Radeon] graphics card installed? Disabling onboard graphics card in BiOS, or selecting to boot from PCi-e may result in unfunctional system, since it doesn't want to detect it automatically. Though, if You study up how to "clear cmos" [reset bios], You could try it.

 

[klopez]

Wait a second. You can turn on Your computer with the dedicated [ATi Radeon] graphics card installed? Disabling onboard graphics card in BiOS, or selecting to boot from PCi-e may result in unfunctional system, since it doesn't want to detect it automatically. Though, if You study up how to "clear cmos" [reset bios], You could try it.

When the graphics card is in, the computer will turn on, if you're speaking of the fans working and the machine being on itself. Unfortunately, that is all it does, I just cannot get an image to the monitors at all. I'll study up on how to clear the cmos since I've tried everything else

 

[uplink-svk]

I understand Your problem. Hmm, okay, and what about Your BiOS, is it the latest version?

 

[klopez]

I understand Your problem. Hmm, okay, and what about Your BiOS, is it the latest version?

Yes, my BIOS is the latest version and I reset my BiOS as well but unfortunately, when it still does not give me a display

 

[uplink-svk]

Any luck testing the graphics card in different system yet? To find out whether it works at all?

 

[klopez]

Any luck testing the graphics card in different system yet? To find out whether it works at all?

Not yet, I'm working on finding another computer to test graphics card. Yesterday, I spoke to dell tech support to find out what it could possibly be and the representative said it could be the motherboard. I informed him that I read some threads about the graphics card fan running but it doesn't necessarily mean that it works. He then told me that the graphics card is always designed to work. Now, I'm all kinds of confused.

 

[uplink-svk]

klopez - since it's old graphics card, and older motherboard, I don't think that direct incompatibility is the issue here. Though, if DELL put some stuff into BiOS, like they like to, it's possible that it's not possible to upgrade the computer with any graphics card out there, just those, which DELL directly support.

This is one huge downside of brand computers, that they have from slightly to heavily modified software/firmware/BiOS-es, and therefore they're sometimes hard to upgrade.