No video out with new Jaton NVIDIA 8400 GS video card. Please help!

[klopus]

My HP m8100n (Athlon64 X2 5600+ 2.8GHz, 1MB + 1MB L2 Cache, 2000Hz System Bus, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD) has an on-board NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 with 128MB. This chipset has a pretty weak video and game performance and also doesn't have DVI output. I decided to replace it with Jaton PX-558DLP card which's based on NVIDIA 8400 GS. It's a cheap but relatively decent slim profile PCI Express 16X card with 512MB DDR2.

Jaton card installs nicely and securely into free PCI Express slot of m8100n. Problem is that as soon as I switch PC on there's no video signal at all - no BIOS prompts, nothing, blank screen. It doesn't matter if I connect the monitor to DVI or VGA port. Same if I connect to the old built-in VGA output. As long Jaton card remains installed no video output no matter what. Interestingly judging by hard drive activity PC proceeds to load Vista Home Premium SP1.

I guess there's some kind of conflict and somehow I need to disable an on-board chipset. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[AmberClad]

There's usually an option in the BIOS where it'll give you the option of selecting between Onboard/PCIe/Auto for video. Which key combination is used to bring up the BIOS menu varies from system to system though, so you'll need to check the documentation.

 

[Arkaign]

Doesn't sound like a conflict, sounds like a DOA card or a bad PCIe slot. Any other PCs to try that card in?

QA isn't perfect, and Jaton, while a good value, is not exactly a top-tier group.

 

[klopus]

@AmberClad - Thanks, but unfortunately there's no video signal whne new card is installed and thus I can't even see Bios prompts.

 

[klopus]

@Arkaign - Thanks. Unfortunately I don't have desktop around with a free PCIe 16x slot. Maybe I'll get at nearby BestBuy some other card so that it's easy to return. If it works then Jaton s*cks and I'll send it back to newegg and keep BB card. If another card also doesn't work then either PCIe slot is fried or I have to configure something in Bios prior to installation. Sound like a plan?

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: klopus
@Arkaign - Thanks. Unfortunately I don't have desktop around with a free PCIe 16x slot. Maybe I'll get at nearby BestBuy some other card so that it's easy to return. If it works then Jaton s*cks and I'll send it back to newegg and keep BB card. If another card also doesn't work then either PCIe slot is fried or I have to configure something in Bios prior to installation. Sound like a plan?

:thumbsup:

Spare systems and parts are golden when troubleshooting.

 

[nosfe]

onboard video cards usually turn themselves off automatically when there's a video card detected in the pci-e port

it could be that the 300w PSU isn't up to the task

 

[PCTC2]

Take out the Jaton, look in the bios for the external PCIe video boot up option, shut down, and then put in the Jaton and boot up.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: PCTC2
Take out the Jaton, look in the bios for the external PCIe video boot up option, shut down, and then put in the Jaton and boot up.

+1

Do you have experience with setting BIOS parameters?

you will get a choice somewhat like this:

--- boot with integrated graphics first
--- boot on external videocard first
--- if external videocard is present, boot on it first

Of course, if the last option is already selected, you might have a problem with the card or PCI-E slot. There is no problem with a 300W PSU for this configuration.

And I would also suggest updating to the latest version of the NVidia video driver before installing the 8400GS.

You can also try connecting through the VGA output on the Jaton videocard.

 

[Creig]

What is your monitor model number and manufacturer? Some monitors have been known to have trouble with certain video cards.