Replaced video card but cannot install new drivers

Hi Robear5,

Are you able to see the BIOS screen when you first power on the computer?

If not, please ensure that the monitor cable is connected properly to system and monitor. You may also test monitor by disconnecting the video cable and power on the monitor. it should show a floating box of no signal. You may also test the system with an alternate monitor.

If you are able to see the BIOS screen, I would suggest you to try boot the system in Safe mode and uninstall the old drivers and restart the computer. Upon restart, you should be able to install the new video card drivers. For starting the computer in safe mode, you may refer to link Here.

If the issue persists, please share the system model in use along with the video card you have purchased.

Sundeep B

Thanks for the reply.  I am not a able to see the BIOS screen.  The monitor is blank.  The monitor does show the  floating box of no signal when the cable has been removed.  However, with the cable connected to the new card, there is no floating box.  If I understand it correctly, this means that the monitor is getting a video signal, but not one that it can use.

The machine is a Dell Dimension 8400 with a Pentium 4 Processor.  The video card that failed was a ATI Radeon X300 and the new card is an nvidia GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR3 PCI-E 2.0.

Regards,

Robear5

Hi Robear5,

Dell has not tested this system with nVidia Geforce 8400 GS. However, based on its requirements, it appears it should work with your system. The monitor also appears to be working fine. Please share the status of power button light indicator on system and if you are receiving any beep code error messages when you power the system on.

Also, if possible try installing the video card on a good known system to isolate if the issue is with system board or video card.

Please reply with the findings. Will take it further from there.

Dear Sundeep,

The Nvidia Geforce 8400 GS video card did not work.  I talked with Nvidia customer support and they told me that this card needed 400 watts.  I note however that the box showed 350 W.  The Nvidia rep. told me that a GeForce GT 520 should work.  It only requires 300 W.  It generated the Windows screen, but it disappeared quickly and then a blank screen.

I don't have another machine to test the video card.

The power button light is green as are the four LED lights on the back of the machine.

I have ordered another ATI Radeon X300 card, which I am hoping with work.

Regards,

Robear5

Hi Robear5,

I researched on this issue and it seems nVidia Geforce 8400 GS has a minimum power supply requirement of 350W and your system is also shipped with a 350W power supply. So, ideally it should work on your system. Strange that it is not working. As you have ordered ATi Radeon X300, keep me posted with the results.

Hello Sundeep B,

I installed the ATi Radeon X300, and to my surprise the monitor blanked out again.  At this point, I thought that since the monitor had the floating box when it was disconnected from the computer, it was a good monitor.  From this, I concluded that the computer had died and I purchased a Dell XPS 8700.  When I turned it on, the monitor once again blanked out.  I purchased a new monitor and everything works.  The floating box on a monitor that is disconnected from the computer is not a reliable test.

At any rate, thanks for your help.

Regards,

Robear5

The Nvidia Geforce 8400 GS video card did not work.  I talked with Nvidia customer support and they told me that this card needed 400 watts.  I

No, it doesn't need anything approaching 400 watts; power consumption is probably under 25 watts and thus any power supply should work.

I have one of these in my Dimension 2350 and it is working well with the stock power supply (250 watts or so).

You should be using a Geforce 8400 PCI-E card not a PCI card in a Dimension 8400.

Hi Robear5,

I regret the inconvenience. The monitor no cable no signal test is a reliable test. We have been successfully using it to diagnose monitor related issues. Strange that it didn't yield accurate results in your case.

Thank you for sharing the resolution. Feel free to reach us if you need any further assistance.