THE VIDEO CARD DISSCUSION THREAD! Its time that someone made this thread! Please post and join the discussion!

since your under warranty Dell will only replace your card like for like and you cannot upgrade.  I would get on the phone and ring Dell to have them send you a new card as your does appear to be failing.

I don't know if you can help me I have a tv as my monitor I would like to use the hdmi slot to connect to my computer my computer is an inspiron 580 can you help me?

okay question 1 does ur computer has a hdmi slot

2 try another source that u have not tried

3div is better then the blue cable

if all dont work the either update ur card or call dell.calling dell should be ur last resort

Hi, I wonder if you could help me. I bought this game (Mine Craft) for my son but everytime we try to start it we get this message...

Bad video card drivers!          

Minecraft was unable to start because it failed to find an accelerated OpenGL mode.

This can usually be fixed by updating the video card drivers.

Do you think you could help me or direct me to someone who can.

Thank you very much.

Kind regards

Nick

JIMBOMBOM

you should really start a new thread with your question. Also post your Dell computer model number and version of windows you are running.

first of all, what pci port on your mothrrboard...do you have (express, etc.).  Since you don't have much electricity you can use at once with your psu, I would probably get the hd radeon 5670...ya its almost 2 years old, but nvidia doesn't have a card to match it at the price , graphics power and eficiency.  Otherwise, I would go with the 240 if you still want to stick with nvidia or wait two or 3 months for the new 28nm cards to come out(28nm meaning MUCH better efficiency and graphics power(but they might not support your pci port(still don't know it)).  Hope it helps;-)

Your top cards without changing the power supply are probably going to be the GT 240, GT 440 or HD 5670 listed by performance with the HD 5670 as the best.   The newer 200 series drivers have really only benefited the newer 400 and 500 series cards so sometimes it is a matter of finding the right driver that works best.  The 8300 GS is no gaming card so any of these far exceed it and the GT 210 is no gaming card either especially being only a 32-bit card (you want 128-bit and up for gaming) and like you said has had its problems on the system.  

I would probably just go with the least expensive one I could find for now since it sounds like you may upgrade more down the road.   HERE is one for only $39 and it has the faster GDDR5 memory vs GDDR3.   This probably does not cost much more than you paid for the GT 210.  I don't really care for video cards with passive cooling when you plan to do some gaming on them.  

I am sorry....I posted this question in the wrong place originally. Thought I had it right.

Hi.  I have a Dimension 2400 that we put a new hard drive in just this year, so it's like new.  I am beginning to work from home and I need to run dual monitors on it. I am having quite a time finding a video card for it. I understand I need a dual vga pci card but that is all I know.  I noted on this forum that the geforce cards are recommended but I don't understand the choices in mb or ram?? I am running XP. I know just enough to be dangerous....

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm at a loss....

I would look for either the PCI 6200 or 8400 GS card.  Most will have both VGA & DVI connectors on the card so you would just use the DVI to VGA adapter that comes with most for a VGA only monitor.  HERE would be a 6200.  HERE would be an 8400 GS.  With the 2400, you will need to disable your onboard graphics before these cards will work.  

Thanks Kelbear1 for the suggestions.  I'll look into the 240 and 440 and go from there.  

Earlier this year,  my 12 year old 19" CRT finally went out and replaced it with  a new 23" LCD.  I know the old CRT drew  more wattage than the LCD does.   With this added load taken off the PSU,  and the newer nVidia lower power usage cards, I had hoped this would make a difference picking a better upgrade.  Just don't have deep "pockets" right now....and went against what I read.

Well, lesson learned.

Since my last post, I replaced my OEM AcBel 300w PSU with an Antec Earthwatts Green EA-500Dw.  

I was (and still am)  on a very tight budget and couldn't afford a more powerful one.    However, this means my video card options for more than "casual gaming" has increased.   Something more "game card like" instead of a GT 240.    

Pretty sure it will support a GT 440 (only requires a 300w PSU)  But my new Antec 500w PSU support  a GTS 450 or GTX 460 without any problems?   Not sure about the 500 series, though.   ASUS or  MSI?  Not sure if I want to try another EVGA after what happened last time with the 210 incident.  

My Inspiron is pretty basic with only one HD and it's a WinXP Home 32bit.    If that's any help.  

The GTS 450, GTX 550 Ti or GTX 460 should all be fine on the Antec power supply.  Everybody has problems with the GT 210 so I would not be concerned about it.  I still prefer the EVGA brand when it comes to Nvidia cards.  I had several EVGA cards in the 530 without any issues.  

Thank you Kelbear1, your answer has been very helpful.  Really , it has :)   I'll see about getting a 550 Ti then.  

By the way, my son's Dimension didn't have any problems with the EVGA 210 card I gave him.  So buying it first wasn't  a total loss.    

Hopefully I'm posting in the correct thread here.

I have a Dell Vostro 430 with an Nvidia GeForce 310M card. All was working well up until a recent Nvidia update on 15/12/2011. Now my PC is doing the following:

• Freezing all the time - mostly when PC is left idle for a while
• Going into black screen
• Screen goes into power saving mode on start up

Solutions I've tried so far:

• Initially I though it might be a dodgy hard drive so that has been replaced.
• Updated BIOS from 2.2.0 to 2.4.0
• Managed to get an Nvidia driver update last night to version 285.62 WHQL
• Once Nvidia driver was updated a Dell display update was available
• Have updated power saving profiles so that the PC and display never goes to sleep
• Start up in Safe Mode and I have no problems. Go back to restore point without the current Nvidia driver installed and I have no problems

I've gone as far as I can myself and am hoping for another solution. If there is something I can do my current set up that'd be great. If not I'll be looking for graphics card upgrade.

Cheers