Vid card not working,came with desktop....

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Dell OptiPlex 3020. The desktop has a video card that came with the computer when bought brand new. I tried hooking up to it and all I get is a blank screen. The one that I gotta use is the mobo one to use comp. How do I get it to recognize it? Thanks
 
couple things to check... if you open the case, is there a power connector on the card? some cards need power not provided by the slot (higher end ones).

The other thing to do is go into the bios (usually by hitting F2 at bootup) and make sure the pci-e slot is enabled.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
What kind of video card is it (brand, if any) and do you have drivers for it?
Not sure of brand, not sure if it has the drivers for it. This is what comes up on device manager; AMD Radeon(TM)R5 240
 
Shut down the computer take the cover off and make sure the card is properly plugged in and power lead connected if equipped. Disconnect the hard drive so the OS does not boot. Go into BIOS and tell it to prefer the add-in card. You should be able to reboot and get the BIOS screen on a monitor attached to the card. Don't plug any monitor to the internal video. (Generally you cannot use both at once. If you want dual screens, you will need a card that runs both from the card.) Once you have that working, reconnect the hard drive and boot the OS.
 
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Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Dell OptiPlex 3020. The desktop has a video card that came with the computer when bought brand new. I tried hooking up to it and all I get is a blank screen. The one that I gotta use is the mobo one to use comp. How do I get it to recognize it? Thanks


Garbage in garbage out.


The more details you give us the better answer we can give you.

What kind of cables are you using? VGA, DVI, HDMI?

What windows? Is this a fresh windows install?

What monitor some dont autoswitch between dvi and vga.

Did you have the other connector hooked up while trying one that didnt work?

How old is computer? Is this new to you or just suddenly stop working?

is it a refurb?
 
There's other reasons why you wouldn't have video. Are you hearing the computer boot up and stuff like loading windows? If you really think it's a bad video card just replace it with a new one, the basic ones are cheap.


Here is a great deal on the MSI Radeon R5 230 DirectX 11 R5 230 2GD5H LP 2GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card , https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-137-287
I found.
 
Check local Craigslist ads too if you want something really cheap or if you have a large computer store local like microcenter they might have a better deal.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Dell OptiPlex 3020. The desktop has a video card that came with the computer when bought brand new. I tried hooking up to it and all I get is a blank screen. The one that I gotta use is the mobo one to use comp. How do I get it to recognize it? Thanks


Garbage in garbage out.


The more details you give us the better answer we can give you.

What kind of cables are you using? VGA, DVI, HDMI?

What windows? Is this a fresh windows install?

What monitor some dont autoswitch between dvi and vga.

Did you have the other connector hooked up while trying one that didnt work?

How old is computer? Is this new to you or just suddenly stop working?

is it a refurb?
The comp works well with vga cable with integrated connection.vga on both ends. Comp is 2+ y.o. Win 7. Cheapie Dell monitor. Comp was brand new.Only 1 cable was connected at 1 time. Vid card was never connected before to see if it worked or not. It's a work computer. Boss says its alright to mess with. I use a vga hdmi connector to connect to card. Card has hdmi output, monitor only has vga
 
Devices that claim to convert HDMI down to VGA are a very kludgey affair. And rather pointless, like putting wheelbarrow tires on a sports car. That is probably where your problem lies, not in the card itself.

Get a HDMI or DVI monitor and report back. The HDMI to DVI adaptation is a simple passive connector change.
 
Originally Posted By: mk378
Devices that claim to convert HDMI down to VGA are a very kludgey affair. And rather pointless, like putting wheelbarrow tires on a sports car. That is probably where your problem lies, not in the card itself.

Get a HDMI or DVI monitor and report back. The HDMI to DVI adaptation is a simple passive connector change.


Yes. I tell people to ditch VGA and use the digital connections(DVI/DisplayPort and HDMI) all the time. Analog signalling with digital video is an afterthought most of the time.

DisplayPort is closer to DVI than it is to HDMI - HDMI is more of a consumer/media based interface than DVI is - DisplayPort supports both DVI and HDMI specs.
 
Originally Posted By: daves66nova
[/quote]The comp works well with vga cable with integrated connection.vga on both ends. Comp is 2+ y.o. Win 7. Cheapie Dell monitor. Comp was brand new.Only 1 cable was connected at 1 time. Vid card was never connected before to see if it worked or not. It's a work computer. Boss says its alright to mess with. I use a vga hdmi connector to connect to card. Card has hdmi output, monitor only has vga


HDMI is purely a digital standard, it doesn't have analog signalling in it. Lots of those cheap HDMI-VGA adapters don't work or are poorly made unless you get one from Apple or Bizlink/Foxconn(who also supply the OEMs with their DisplayPort to DVI adapters).

If you're careful in the BIOS/UEFI settings menu, you can go in and under one of the menus(usually Advanced or Devices), you can check the graphics settings. Most of the time, that's set to integrated graphics first. You can change it to set the external graphics card as the primary device - it will be seen by the BIOS/UEFI as discrete or PCI Express/PEG device. Try changing the order to see the external graphics first but don't set it to external/discrete graphics only or you'll be pulling the CMOS battery or shorting a jumper to clear the settings if that doesn't work.

Most OEM-spec graphics upgrade cards from HP/Dell/Lenovo/Acer don't need the 6-pin PCI Express external power plug to work either. Only the higher-spec Nvidia or AMD/ATI Radeon cards need that.
 
I have not read the thread but my guess is that if there are two video chips present in the system - one on the motherboard and other a plugin card - that the motherboard one is possibly set as the primary in the system's BIOS.
 
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
I have not read the thread but my guess is that if there are two video chips present in the system - one on the motherboard and other a plugin card - that the motherboard one is possibly set as the primary in the system's BIOS.


also questionable hdmi->vga converter in use.(might be whole problem)
 
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