Dimension E521, graphics card not working

I don't understand... :TongueTied:

EDIT: Thread title says E521 but body of post says E520. So which is correct?

How can you look in BIOS if the new video card isn't working? You should have moved the monitor cable from the onboard video port to the new add-in card before booting the system after that card was installed.

• Is the new video card a PCI-e x16 card?
• Did you get the same error in BIOS with the old card?
• Is the Video option in BIOS set to Auto?
• What are you calling PCI slot 1?
• Did you try reseating the card in the slot?

With monitor connected to new video card:

• What color is power button and is it steady or blinking when it won't boot?
• What color are 4 diagnostic LEDs on the front panel? Error codes in manual.

When was last time you replaced motherboard battery?

You can try clearing BIOS:

1. Power off, unplug
2. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
3. Open case and remove motherboard battery
4. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
5. With new card installed and properly seated, install (fresh?) battery
6. Close up and boot with only mouse, monitor (on new video card) and keyboard

And I guess it's possible the PCI-e x16 slot has failed...

And there's always the possibility that some recent Windows update doesn't play nice with your motherboard and/or with those add-in video cards...

Sorry, missed that it is a Dell Dimension E521. I checked the BIOS on switch on after I had connected the monitor to the on board graphics card. The old graphics card was still plugged in, but only connected to the Digital input of the monitor, which can be switched from Digital to analogue.

The new graphics card, like the old one is a  PCI-e X16 card

I did get the same error with both cards

Yes the video option in BIOS is set to Auto

PCI slot one is the X16 slot at the top, this is marked "slot 1" on the motherboard

I have tried reseating both the old and the new card to no avail.

When I had the problem, on boot up the power button was green and all the diagnostic lights when they settled down were out apart from the HD light which was blinking and or steady.

The motherboard battery has never been replaced, but the time and date are correct.

I will try as you suggest when I get a new motherboard battery and report back.

Many Thanks

Colin

If I understand correctly, you have the monitor connected to both an onboard video port and to the add-in video card at the same time.

That's unlikely to work.  You should connect the monitor to only one source at at time. Since Video is set to Auto in BIOS, the PC will automatically use the add-in card, but it sounds like the monitor is set to use an analog signal, so it won't accept a digital signal from the card.

Completely remove the onboard video cable from the PC and the monitor. Connect the monitor to the add-in card and switch to digital input.

And Windows typically syncs date/time automatically every time the PC is connected to the internet, so it's unlikely you'd see the wrong date or time if the battery was weak/dead.

Hi,

The monitor will read either analogue or digital signals depending on which one is selected. I tried with only the digital signal from the card after going through the battery change you suggested, but didn't get a response from the monitor it was only when I connected the monitor to the onboard analogue output that I got any response from the screen.

Thanks

Colin

Did you disconnect the cable from the PC's onboard video port when you connected the monitor to the add-in video card? On some PC models, just connecting a cable to the PC, even if it's not connected to anything at the other end, can cause strange problems.

Does the PC boot to desktop when monitor in analog mode is connected to the on-board video port?

Can you test this monitor in digital mode on another PC with a known working digital video cable or another monitor in digital mode that's connected to the add-in card on this PC with a known working video cable?

You might have either a monitor failure or a video card slot failure on the motherboard...

EDITED

Hi,

The PC boots up normally when connected to the on board graphics and the monitor is in analogue mode.

The only way I could try the monitor in difital mode would be to try and connect my laptop to it, this I haven't tried as yet, but when I select the monitor in digital mode and ask it to do a self test all the colours etc. seem to work OK.

It seems to me to be adding up to a video card slot failure.

Newer Radeon R Series cards DO NOT and WILL NOT EVER work.

They require UEFI Bios.   Dos VESA Video mode 103 does not work on these cards.

All the previous Radeon HD series 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000 etc work aka 2400, 3450, 4670, 5450, 6450, 6670, 7750.

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-PCI-Express-EAH6450-SILENT-1GD3/dp/B004X8EO6Q

The newer ASUS Graphics Cards R5 230-SL-2GD3-L are not working EVER.

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@Colynne wrote:

Hi,

The PC boots up normally when connected to the on board graphics and the monitor is in analogue mode.

The only way I could try the monitor in difital mode would be to try and connect my laptop to it, this I haven't tried as yet, but when I select the monitor in digital mode and ask it to do a self test all the colours etc. seem to work OK.

It seems to me to be adding up to a video card slot failure.

---

Running the monitor's self-test doesn't test its ability to detect/decode a digital signal, so that doesn't prove anything. You need to connect the monitor through a digital port on another PC using the same type video port (eg HDMI) you normally use on this PC. And test it on that other PC with a different digital video cable.

Your original add-in video card worked with this PC but now that one and the new one don't work, so it's a coin-toss whether it's the monitor or the video card slot on the motherboard.  And since you can't directly test that slot, you have to test the monitor and cable on a different PC, or borrow a monitor and cable and test this PC.