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Replacing a graphics card on an old desktop.
My current desktop is an old Studio Slim (http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/studio-slim/pd) from about 4 years ago. I took the time to look for a graphics upgrade that would fit well and be a decent upgrade. I came across the Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 low profile video card (http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1088&pid=1352&psn=&lid=1&leg=0) and purchased it.
The card itself fit perfectly but I had some trouble with the installation and eventually talked with a Dell technician. The tech said that there wasn't anything wrong with my computer, but the card itself. I thought that was kind of weird, but seeing as how my computer didn't recognize the card, I went with that said solution and asked for a replacement. I received the replacement a week later and went about the same installation. Not much to my surprise, I got the same result (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q197/ultimate_x_117/report2.png).
I've come to the conclusion that the card itself just isn't compatible with my computer. The question I'd like to know is, why is it incompatible? If you have any information on this problem, I'd greatly appreciate it. This situation is driving me crazy.
Azuremelody
2 Posts
0
March 8th, 2012 22:00
I did some research and found out that my computer itself its just too old. Its PCIE slot is a version 1 while the card that I bought supports version 2 and higher. The card itself doesn't use much power, so I wasn't worried about that. The BIOS themselves were the most recent.
The reply that I received is below.
"If your system is 4 years old, most likely you are having compatibility issue, reason why is our HD6K series are PCIE 2.1v slot cards. and your 4 year old MB should be on PCIE 1.0v and they are not compatible with each other, you need a MB that supports PCIE 2.0v in order for them to work together."
In the end it wasn't the card or software that was the problem, it was my computer :p I figured it was time to move on to a new system, I just didn't have the cash >.< Thanks for the help though. I appreciate it.
fireberd
9 Legend
9 Legend
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33.3K Posts
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March 8th, 2012 05:00
One thing that the specs state is "minimum 400 watt power supply" which can be an issue since the Dell manual states "250 watt" power supply.
Power supply wattage is an issue in the slim or compact case model PC's (all not just this model). You will have to try and find a low profile/low power requirement video card.
Kelbear1
1.5K Posts
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March 8th, 2012 07:00
I did see on Newegg that others have run this card on their 235W and 250W power supplies. Did you install the driver from the CD or download the latest driver from the AMD web site? Is everything updated on your system including Bios and all drivers?
Kelbear1
1.5K Posts
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March 9th, 2012 16:00
If your computer is only 4 years old I would think that you would have version 1.1 not 1.0. Most have had no issues getting the 2.1v cards to work on 1.1v motherboards and the 2.1v is suppose to be backwards compatible with all older versions even though some, but not all, reported having issues working with 1.0v. I had a 2.1v card that worked fine on a 4 year old computer with 1.1v. Nvidia cards are all 2.0v so you may have better luck even though nothing comes close to the performance of the HD 6670 that will be low profile and work with your power supply.
speedstep
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
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March 11th, 2012 17:00
The 6670 uses wayy too much power. A Radeon HD5450 would work because it uses 19W whereas the 6670 uses
70W of power.