Dell Support told me my Dimension DV051 (same as E310, I think) would not support a new graphics card, though I've seen many posts on these forums by individuals who've successfully done so. I had bought an Nvidia GeForce 9400 GT, 1 GB DDR2, thinking it would work in the single PCI slot I have available. I called Dell because I've been unable to get the new card to work, though the integrated graphics card has always worked fine, though slow. Here are some specs on the new card.
300 W power
18 Amps on +12 V rail
PCI 2.1 compliant
Windows XP
I configure the BIOS to Auto, which I believe is supposed to switch from the integrated card to the new one if it's installed. I then power off, put the card in, connect it to the monitor, and power back up. The Windows logo appears, and the progress bar does its thing for a few seconds, and then freezes indefinitely. Grrr.
Here are some specs on my PC, from MyComputer.
Dell Dimension DV051 (same as E310, I think)
Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family
Pentium 4, 3.20 GHz CPU
3.19 GHz, 2 GB RAM
1 TB disk
My power supply looks small, and that was my original question to Dell, if upgrading it would fix my problem.
230 W
14 Amps on +12 V rail
I'm new to this whole video card business, and thought an $80 card would be an easy way to get more life from my desktop PC before finally replacing it. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Jim
300 W power
18 Amps on +12 V rail
PCI 2.1 compliant
Windows XP
I configure the BIOS to Auto, which I believe is supposed to switch from the integrated card to the new one if it's installed. I then power off, put the card in, connect it to the monitor, and power back up. The Windows logo appears, and the progress bar does its thing for a few seconds, and then freezes indefinitely. Grrr.
Here are some specs on my PC, from MyComputer.
Dell Dimension DV051 (same as E310, I think)
Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family
Pentium 4, 3.20 GHz CPU
3.19 GHz, 2 GB RAM
1 TB disk
My power supply looks small, and that was my original question to Dell, if upgrading it would fix my problem.
230 W
14 Amps on +12 V rail
I'm new to this whole video card business, and thought an $80 card would be an easy way to get more life from my desktop PC before finally replacing it. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Jim