No Video Card?

[HelloWorl]

Hi,

I have attached a picture of all the connections available on the back of my computer. Is there no way for me to connect a monitor? Do I have to buy a video card that works with my PC? The computer is a Dell Precision 670.

Thanks.

 

[Jaxem]

From the empty slot, it used to have a video card, but many motherboards don't have any kind of video chipset with the expectation that you get your own...so to answer, no, you can't hook a monitor to it as is, you need a card my friend

 

[Chicano]

Most DELL PC motherboards don't have a onboard video chip... they include a basic PCI-Express x16, AGP, or PCI video card... seems in your photo that someone removed it (PCIe card) before getting rid of the PC.

Precision Workstation 670 Specifications
http://tech.madcatsden.com/Resources/DCSE/Desktops/Precision_Workstation/670/productpositioning.htm

 

[HelloWorl]

Thanks a lot for your quick replies guys - greatly appreciated.

Looking at the specs for the DELL Precision 670, can any video card that connects via X16 PCI Express be added to this computer?

Thank you.

 

[Jaxem]

Yep, which is 95% of cards, you have to look hard to find something that's not PCIE. You can probably pick up a new radeon HD 5450/6450 for $10 or $15 if you watch the deals. Perfect for up to dual monitors running productivity apps (no gaming).

 

[nokiddingboss]

try plugging the vga cable on the one labeled "1". i don't think there is a mobo without some sort of onboard video - even my pc from circa 2007 has an "s3 savage" or some other shit they call on board.

 

[Jaxem]

There's tons of motherboards without any onboard, i have 2 of them...those "1" and "2" are serial ports, vga ports have the holes, not the pins.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625+600013659&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=22&description=&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=

 

[coastie65]

I have a Gateway FX6800-01e with no onboard chipset. These days, they will have a connection, but no onboard chipset, due to the integrated grapics on the CPU.

 

[nokiddingboss]

There's tons of motherboards without any onboard, i have 2 of them...those "1" and "2" are serial ports, vga ports have the holes, not the pins.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625+600013659&QksAutoSuggestion=&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Configurator=&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=22&description=&hisInDesc=&Ntk=&CFG=&SpeTabStoreType=&AdvancedSearch=1&srchInDesc=

well i guess i took onboard video for granted a little bit too much. i didn't realized that it was such a premium to have one up until now. i guess i shouldn't have called that "s3 savage" shit garbage after all eh? i feel guilty not using it already. anyways, thanks for the insight.

 

[Jaxem]

np It used to be on almost everything when discrete GPU's were an ultra-premium item and pretty much no one had them...They are nice to have to fall back on...

 

[Chicano]

I second that.. SERIAL ports have the 9 pins... VGA ports have 15 holes

 

[HelloWorl]

Thanks again for your help.

Would something like this work?
http://

A few questions...

1) What's the difference between PCI Express 2.0, 2.1, 1.0, etc? Will they all work with my PC?
2) What does the "1 GB 64-bit DDR3" part of the description in the link mean?
3) How do I "install" a video card? Or is it a plug and play type thing?

Sorry for all the questions...

Thanks a lot.

 

[Chicano]

Yes, that card should work.. if you need a basic low budget card for ordinary everyday use.

#1 question: Any PCIe Card should work in your PC.
This shold answer the differences between 2.1, 2.0, 1.0
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308337-33-difference-express

#2. 1GB is the total memory in the video card, DDR3 is the memory type. 64bit is the supported data interface... 64bit is slower than 128 and 128 slower than 256bit... for gaming you'd want at least a 128bit video card, a basic low budget card would probably be 64bits.

#3. How to install a video card depends on it's type.. higher priced cards have a power connection that's supplied by the PSU. The one in the link doesn't need a power connection. They all should work as plug and play but you may want to install a specific driver for better performance. The only configuration you may have to do is in the BIOS if you don't have display after the BIOS post or if the display goes blank as Windows loads.

 

[coastie65]

The idifference in PCIe 1.0,2.0, & 3.0 is the bandwidth. Obviously, 3.0 has a much wider bandwidth than 1.0, so more information can be passed thorugh 3.0 than 1.0. Another way of putting it is that it is a larger pipe. For the most part, if you have, say, a 3.0 card, it is backwards compatible with 2.0, but I would be reluctant to use it in 1.0. But doing so, it will degrade the card performance to some extent. I was running the 3.0 card i have in here in 2.0 until I upgraded in June and this MOBO is 3.0 ( Z87 ). I can say that there was a noticible difference. Not only that the benchmarks took a significant jump.