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graphics cards not working with GX280
I have recently bought a second hand dell GX280 and every graphics card i have tried to use has crashed. At first i thaught it may have been the PCI-E slot was not working but have since tried a PCI graphics card because i know the PCI slots have worked with sound cards and modems and such, but still no luck.
Can any one give me a reason for this happening and any idea of a possible fix. I would be very grateful as i have been pulling my hair out with this computer.
fireberd
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June 13th, 2009 07:00
First, exactly what "crash"is happening? A "crash" can mean many different things to different people.
Second, maybe that is why the GX280 was sold?
Third, there is a Primary Video option in the BIOS (setup), if you can get it to work at all you can try that setting (or reset the BIOS back to factory default settings).
Also, if you can get it to load to Windows, reinstall the Intel (motherboard) chipset drivers. One of the main things the chipset drivers do is define what is on or attached to the motherboard. And on a new install the correct (and required sequence) is (1) Install Windows (2) install chipset drivers (3) Install device drivers such as sound, video, etc.
There are at least four different versions of the GX280, which one do you have?
dittocg
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June 13th, 2009 18:00
the first graphics card i tried was a ASUS EN8400GS PCI-E when running before drivers were installed the screen was distorted, as in there was lines of 'blocks' that were not right with the rest of the picture. after the drivers were installed the computer failed to restart windows with a blue screen error of 'computer has entered an infinite loop'
the second graphics card i tried was an ATI 9200 128mb ddr PCI. i tried this thinking that mabey it was the PCI-E slot that was not working. again there was some distortion in the picture before the driver installation though not quite as bad as the first card. after the drivers were installed windows again failed to restart but without any piture at all justa black screen.
the onboard graphics card seems to work fine but is not exactly a fantastic card as it has no 3D support and has only 8mb of shared memory.
i know this is probably why the computer was sold but this is the only problem left on it. i have already spent weeks chasing down drivers for the mother board, and everything seems to be working now except the graphics card issue
all i can find with dxdiag is that it is an optiplex GX280.
thank you for your help
fireberd
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June 14th, 2009 04:00
First, the different models of the GX280 are the physical size of the PC. There is a "Small Form Factor" model, "mini tower" model, etc.
I wonder if it has something to do with the Power Supply and maybe the power supply won't handle the additional power load of a separate Video Card. That would be my guess, at this point.
RobinBredin
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June 14th, 2009 04:00
Hi dittocg, Your manual is HERE, and you have an PCIe slot on your mobo. With that in mind that second card will not work in an PCIe slot, because it is only an PCI card, like an AGP will not work in an PCI slot. As for your first card, if you have the desk top(210w) version, or small form factor (160w) version of the GX280, then your PSU is not powerful enough, if you are running any other model of the GX280, then I would suspect an fault on the card. Any other model of the GX280 can run the ATI 4550, or the 4650.
dittocg
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June 16th, 2009 22:00
also the PCI card a tried was in a PCI slot not the PCI-e slot and neither stoped working completely until the drivers were installed. thanx again for your help
dittocg
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June 16th, 2009 22:00
i had a look at the actual psu and it is rated at 250w is this enough or is it borderline?
mattman63
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March 31st, 2010 09:00
Don't know if you still need and answer to this but here goes. The GX280's had a quirk in them. These are the steps to get a graphics card to wrok with them:
There is no BIOS setting that directly disables the onboard video. There are two
settings: Auto and Onboard. Onboard is exactly what it implies, the onboard video
adapter is used. Auto means that if there is another video card installed, that one will be
used instead of the onboard. The problem is that using the Auto setting corrupts
Windows (XP, in this case) if the onboard video isn't disabled within Windows. It just
freezes when Windows is loading. The workaround for this situation is this:
1. Install the graphics card in the PC as you normally would, but keep the monitor
cable hooked up to the onboard video card.
2. Make sure the BIOS video setting is set to Onboard.
3. Boot up Windows. You can install the cards software and drivers at this point.
4. Use device manager to disable the onboard video adapter. Reboot and enter the setup.
5. Change the BIOS setting to Auto. After you do this, move the monitor cable to
the new graphics card.