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New video card won't work

K

kenokai

Junior Member
Hi I recently bought a video card and it isn't working properly. I have a dell inspiron 660 . Here is a link to the card I bought. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tent-_-text-_- After installing the drivers and disabling the integrated card through device manager I cannot get the display to work when it is connected to the card only when the VGA cable is connected to the integrated connector. I have tried installing newer drivers from amds website and it hasn't helped. Whenever I start my computer I get pop-ups telling me the drivers aren't right or working properly. I have tried booting the computer while it is connected to the new card and not the integrated card but when I do that the screen will stay black and the light on the screen will go the same color as when it's in standby mode. Sometimes a message will come on the screen saying there is no signal coming from the computer and to press anything on the keyboard to fix it but it doesn't do anything. If i reconnect the cable to the integrated card after this happen the screen will say the current input timing is wrong and needs to be changed. If i start the computer while it's connected to the integrated card it works like normal. I think the problem may be that the computer is trying to use integrated card even though it is disabled in device manager. I have checked the bios and there isn't an option to disable the integrated card and there doesn't seem to be a jumper on the board to disable it either. When I try to reinstall the drivers from the disc or update automaticly through device manager it tells me that my drivers are up to date. I can't seem to figure out what the problem is and any help would be appreciated.
 
Disabling the integrated graphics via Device Manager won't work. You need to go in the BIOS setup, disable integrated graphics, enable the discrete graphics card you installed, then save and reboot. Your link to the card you got from the egg comes back with: "The page you requested is unavailable."
 
You will need to follow the procedure for installing an add on video card which are given in the user/setup manual for your motherboard.

A possibility is that the particular chosen video card is not compatible with your motherboard (eg, I have found add on video card compatibility to be the most problematic component if/when building a new computer).
 
Sorry about that this link should work http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127687 I have checked the bios but I can't find an option to disable the integrated card. I've checked the user manual to see if there are any jumpers to disable it and there don't seem to be any. I have a dell inspiron 660 running windows 7 if that helps. When I first initially installed the drivers when I switched the cable from my monitor from the integrated card to the new card it worked but when I restarted the computer it has been doing what I described in my first post.
 
Even though Windows 7 x64 is installed, I'm pretty sure that Dell has the 660 BIOS setup with the Secure Boot feature enabled by default, as it's also available with Windows 8. That would be why you can't install your card.

In the BIOS Setup Utility, move to the Boot tab and verify whether or not the Secure Boot option is enabled. If it is enabled; disable it, then save and exit BIOS setup. You should now be able to install your new card.

It appears you don't need to be worried about trying to disable the onboard graphics since it's Intel HD Graphics, which has no problem running alongside a discrete graphics card. But, I'd still look carefully for any settings pertaining to enabling a discrete PCIe graphics card.
 
I've checked the bios but there is no Secure Boot option or something similar to it anywhere in the bios.
 
From what I can gather, AMD indicates that a a PSU with a minimum of 500W should be installed on the system, in order to power up that card. The Dell Inspiron 660 appears to come with a 300W PSU (correct me if I'm wrong, please). This could constitute a problem, even though it would be more likely for the video card to crash after you had managed to successfully install it and access the OS, instead of presenting an incompatibility problem as you describe it.

Then there's this thread on a [the] Dell forum, regarding the installation of another discrete video card on the same system, in this case the HD 6670, where the solution ended up being the replacement of the motherboard and PSU. Given that you might be experiencing the same issue, try installing the video card on a different computer, if possible.

The very last post on that thread brings up Secure Boot, which as Bubbaleone mentioned, may complicate the installation of a new video card. Instructions on how to disable said feature are displayed there.

Finally, although this should be your 2nd step of the 4, you may want to consider upgrading the BIOS to version A03, if you haven't yet. No guarantees here either, since a user pointed this out as being the culprit and a couple posts down another refuted the solution.

Hope this helps.

JD
 
When did you buy it? I'm starting to think your BIOS may be corrupt and that it would be a good idea to flash it with the latest version. But before you consider doing that, first try clearing the CMOS. That will return the BIOS setup utility to it's default settings and may be all that you'll need to do.
 
I bought the computer back in September of last year. I don't think the bios is corrupt, I was looking in the owners manual and it doesn't seem like I am missing any options. Here's a link to the manual ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_inspiron_desktop/inspiron-660_Owner%27s%20Manual_en-us.pdf
I'll try clearing the CMOS and see if that does anything. I'm starting to believe that the card might be defective but I don't have any other rigs to test it out in, and I don't have another card to see if it's the slot.
edit - I've also forgot to mention I also that I also upgraded the power supply to a 600w so a lack of power shouldn't be an issue.
 
Thanks for the link to the sevice manual. It appears that the version of BIOS setup utility Dell uses for 660's that come preinstalled with Windows 7, is missing a few of the settings that are present in 660's that come preinstalled with Windows 8. Secure Boot is one of them.
 
I'd update the BIOS to the most recent version available on the Dell website to see if it opens up any additional options related to legacy boot and secure boot. You can also google how to permanently disable driver signing enforcement in Win7 x64 as a possible solution as well.

Unfortunately, as you've learned the hard way, the Inspiron 660 happens to be a miserable excuse for a computer that is known to have major problems with pretty much every type of add-in card currently on the market. It is all BIOS related, but Dell has made it clear they really have no intention of fixing the issue (if they are even actually capable of doing so, given that this problem has existed for a long time and they haven't done it to date).

If it is still in warranty, contact Dell support and make them walk you through getting the video card installed and working. If they can't, make them send out a technician to fix the obviously defective machine for you (if you do this, make sure the technician doesn't leave until the video card is actually working and continues to work through at least one restart...).
 
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