Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
2 Posts
0
48686
September 9th, 2011 02:00
Graphics card compatibility issues on Optiplex 780?
Hello,
I don’t know what is wrong on my optiplex 780MT. Originally, the system has a graphics card ATI RADEON 3470. For different reasons, I needed to change it and I bought a Gigabyte Geforce GV-N440D3-1GI.
Once installed, the system does the following: (i). I press the power button and green light turns on, (ii) Three seconds later, system turns off by itself (light keeps green), (iii) a couple of seconds latter, system starts again. (iv) System turns off and on again two times more, and at the third time, windows start and no sign indicates bad function. This occurs every time I turn on the computer. When I suspend the system, it doesn’t wake up because this start steps.
I called to Dell assistance and suspected on graphics card, PSU or motherboard. I change the PSU to one of 450 W temporally and the system followed with the same symptoms. I got a second graphics card (Point of view GF7300GS) and the system stopped in the POST, with a message that indicates that graphics card cannot be initialized. At this point, I tested both graphics card on a second computer (intel motherboard) and both worked fine.
So… I called again to Dell assistance service and a technical came to change the motherboard. After this, the error persists on both graphics card. He changed also the microprocessor, and no change.
Finally, I tested both graphics card on another Dell computer (Optiplex 760MT) and the symptoms were the same.
It seems to be a incompatibility issue between the motherboard and the graphics card, but it seems very strange, since PCI express is a standard well defined. Where can be the problem? Thanks!
Kelbear1
1.5K Posts
0
September 9th, 2011 08:00
It's hard to say on this one if there is an incompatibility with the Nvidia cards and these business class machines or not. There shouldn't be, but sometimes there is based on what you have already tried and they seem to work in another computer. It would seem like the GT 440 should have worked on the original power supply if you have the 305 watt unit unless there is just some wattage limitation on the PCIe bus. Check to see what your amp rating is on the 12V of the PSU. Some cheaper power supplies have a low amp rating on the 12V which can cause issues with some video cards.
When changing from ATI to Nvidia, I would recommend a clean install with Driver Sweeper HERE (installer version) to see if this helps. Use this in safe mode after you uninstall the ATI driver and software.
I'm not sure what your reason what for changing the video card, but if all else fails, try another ATI card and see if it works. Three cards equal to or better than the GT 440 would be the HD 6570, HD 5670 and HD 6670.
gonso34
2 Posts
0
September 12th, 2011 11:00
Kelbear, thanks a lot for your comments. I really have no idea about what could be the cause of such incompatibility. When I write these lines, I think that perhaps Optiplex 760 and 780 has the same mainboard model but, on the other hand, if both systems had an incompatibility with some graphics cards, it would be reasonable to find it referred on forums, and I didn’t find.
Well… I tested the GT 440 with a 450W PSU, and it showed the same symptoms. This PSU has a 12 V line with a maximum current value of 16 A. This means near of 200 W for moving HDs and for the GPU. It seems enough, isn’t it?
Thanks for the Driver Sweeper. It seems an interesting tool to clean old drivers. However, in this case, the problem appears during the POST, and no driver is still loaded. For the season, I have also even discarded hypothesis related to the operating system.
I will try to check some other possible reasons. Thanks again!