Problem Adding GPU to Dell Machine

Fnz

Got a Dell Vostro 200 mid tower and now want to add a passively cooled, low profile ATI HD3450 graphics card. The PC has a G33 motherboard. The power supply claims a max power of 300 watts. This PC/motherboard comes with onboard graphics.

When I installed the card and booted the PC it simply reboots itself 3 times before starting proper. It only outputs to the monitor when connected via the onboard graphics' VGA slot.

The card doesn't require any (6-pin PCI-E) power cables, only the power it gets through the motherboard.

I've tested the card in my main PC and it works insofar as it can output to the display and the machine is perfectly useable (I didn't bother uninstalling my Nvidia drivers to test the official ATI drivers on my machine).

Can anyone offer any advice on solving this problem?

P.s. Here's the PC's spec:

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E2160 Processor (1.8GHz,800MHz,1MB cache)
Genuine Windows Xp Pro - English
1Yr Basic Warranty - Next Business Day Included - No Upgrade Selected
Monitor Not included
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
80GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X3100
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell 2 Button USB Optical Mouse

skuzzb

You need to enter the bios and disable the onboard graphics! How ya do that on a dell im not sure but im guessing, leave the gfx card in and hit del or f10 on boot, go through all the options in there till you find onboard graphics and turn it off, save and exit and turn off PC, connect monitor to new gfx card, should be in business.

Fnz

Thanks, will try that.

Fnz

It's working now. No option to disable onboard graphics in BIOS - could only ensure that PCI was set to initiate first (which it already was).

It seems the Intel display adapter had to be disabled in Device Manager.

skuzzb

That was my second guess