monitor problems..

[efee24]

Alright so I just finished building my pc and everything seems to have came out fine. I bought a GTX 460 video card for it and it has two dvi ouputs and a hdmi output. It came with a VGA to DVI converter but when I plug it in my monitor still doesnt work. I also found another converter in a drawer and that one didnt work either.. Could someone please help me.

 

[MindoverMaster]

What exactly mean? The converter goes straight on the card, a VGA cable to your monitor, if thats what you were doing wrong.

 

[efee24]

I'm just using a dell monitor and it has a vga plugin which the d-sub cable that came with the monitor plugs into. Then the graphics card is a dvi plugin and I have the convertor for it but when I plug the monitor into the converter it just goes straight into power saving mode and it will not connect to the computer.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Ok, umm, is this a new graphics card, meaning you had one before? Or were you just using onboard video?

 

[efee24]

this is a brand new graphics card I don't know how to use the onboard video honestly.. I'm not sure if it has it? Or do all motherboards automatically have it? If it does, then where is the plugin for the monitor because I don't see a dvi plugin or a vga

 

[MindoverMaster]

Where was your monitor cable plugged into before this?

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

Many motherboards do not have onboard video. Have you tried both DVI ports? Make sure the VGA cord is attached firmly to the adapter and the monitor. If the monitor has multiple inputs (my Dell monitors have HDMI, VGA, and DVI inputs) make sure you select the right one. Also if your graphics card has power inputs, make sure they are connected to your power supply. Higher end graphics cards will have one or two PCI Express power inputs which must be connected for the card to work.

If you have another monitor (or TV with HDMI) try hooking it up to make sure the monitor isn't the problem. Similarly, if you have another VGA source (another desktop, a laptop, netbook, etc) try plugging it into your monitor to make sure your monitor works. If the monitor works fine on another system, the problem is your computer/graphics card. If your computer works fine on another monitor, the problem is your monitor. It could also be a bad VGA cable or (less likely) a bad adapter.

 

[efee24]

Yes, I tried both dvi ports and i firmly plugged the cable in. Also my monitor only has the VGA plugin and the power plugin. Also I did plugin the two pci express power inputs to the power supply and the video cards fan seems to be running fine. I also tried another tv/monitor that has a VGA plugin aswell. It didn't work either. It seems that its just the adapter or something thats not working because on this computer's graphics card there is a dvi & a vga plugin.. the vga plugin is what ive always used of course but when i put the dvi adapter on the cord and plug it into the dvi plugin it doesnt work. Also I have two adapters and both of them are doing the same thing.. mabye they are both bad? but what are the chances of that?

 

[efee24]

@mindovermaster It was plugged into the VGA plugin on my computer im using right now without a adapter.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

You have two computers, both with a DVI output? If the DVI to VGA adapter doesn't work on either it might be the adapter, but there isn't much to those adapters so I really don't see how they would get broken (there's no electronics inside, just wires). Make sure you start the PC with the monitor connected. If you do not have the monitor connected when the PC first turns on, it won't detect it and will probably assume a DVI monitor. Having the VGA monitor (with adapter) connected at startup should indicate to the card to use VGA instead of DVI (it sends VGA signals through the DVI connector so the adapter will work). If your monitor is old or is a TV it may not have display identification (EDID) signals which may confuse a graphics card, though a Dell flat-panel should have this functionality.