nvidia 8800 gt 512/ inspiron 531

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tool420

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Anyone know if there are compatibility issues with a dell inspiron 531 and an nvidia 8800 gt 512MB? It has a PCI-E bus. I know there are different versions of PCI-E. Could this create a problem if I have a somewhat older one? I just got the computer for christmas and found the video card grossly underpowered. I get this error every time I put the new card in:

"Cannot Display This Video Mode Optimum Resolution 1440*900 60hz".

The PSU should be good (500W). As far as troubleshooting you name it I've probably tried it. As far as I can remember here is what I have tried:
BIOS update
monitor driver update
chipset driver update
plugging into VGA to see if i could install drivers in safe mode
Using different combinations of cables (long shot anyway, i know)
etc, etc, etc

I got one suggestion that seemed kinda extreme- taking out the CMOS for a few minutes. I tried it anyway (call it recklessness). I don't think I preformed this solution correctly, as the card still won't work. How exactly should this be done for it to be effective?

I should add that I'm pretty sure there is some kind of disagreement between the card and the mobo because I here the corresponding beep-code. Also, my monitor is a 19" LCD (S199WFP). Please help, I've troubleshooting for a week now, about to give up. Thank You
 
i pretty sure its not even booting up. i cannot get the monitor to display anything other than that error.
 
A couple of things come to mind.

1) Have you connected the PCI-E power connector? I doubt your Inspiron's PSU even has one...

2) Just cuz it's 500W doesn't mean anything, and actually, the Dell website clearly states that you have a 300W power supply, according to the model number provided, and I'm sure that the PSU provided in such models will not supply enough amperage on the 12V rail(s) (doubt it actually has more than one).

So basically, I'm more than certain that your GPU is highly underpowered at the moment. Consider changing your power supply.
 
well lots of dell motherboards have proprietary parts on them... mean they have to be dell parts cuz they have specific things that a regular computer does not...

so w/ that said... have you called dell and asked if you can change the power supply before you did it?
 
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