Rez1026

Trying to get a new video card so I can play Spore, but going through some issues. I did recently buy a Nvidia Geforce 6200 OC and was able to install into my computer but whenever I tried to turn my computer on it would go through start up and stop at either a black screen or microsoft blue screen (not the blue screen of death but a screen that looks like the one when running a chkdsk command at start up). Anyway, I WAS able to run my computer on safe mode and install the driver but I could not get it to turn on normally, so I uninstalled the card. I'm guessing my computer can only give out 200watts of power while the card requires 250, and thus my error, but I could be wrong in my own troubleshoot. There was something funny with the card that although it was a PCI it had another knotch in the insertion side. If you could tell me what the problem was I'd be greatful.

Also I'd like some video card listings that could play Spore and also is compatible with a dimension 2400. Since not all the cards online display the power watt I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to get. If you need more information just ask.

emosun

That powersupply really isn't powerful enough for any videocard. Not even the low energy models from nvidia.

Also your computer has only pci slots. Pci video cards are a very specific part and there only a hand full of them that will support spore.

x1300 pci
x1550 pci
HD 2400 pci
geforce 6200 pci
geforce 8400 pci

Thats the entire list of cards that will support spore and come in pci versions. Although I wouldn't use any of them on a 200watt powersupply.

Rez1026

I see... well at least I was right. Is there any way to upgrade my power supply? My dell owner's manual says it can go 200wats OR 250. So does that mean an upgrade is possible or is it something too wired into the computer/ motherboard?

Mcninjaguy

you need to unplug all the plugs in your mother board and no power supplies are never permanent , a 500w or higher is recommended by a reputable company

I'd probably get the 8400 pci card

how to bench test your system (use it to put your comp back together)
How to Bench Test Your System

power supply selection
Power Supply Information and Selection

Rez1026

Yay! That helps! Are there any specs/ compatibility issues I need to concern myself with when searching for a power supply (besides the watts)?

emosun

Just make sure its the stadard atx size (which most always are) and that its not a cheapo.

Should at least cost more then 60$ to 70$ , but don't be afraid to invest alot into a good powersupply. The power supply can be used on your next computer as powersupplies barely change over the years. And actually since its just a pci card a 400 to 450w will work for your current setup , but 500w or higher will be more future proof for your next one.

Rez1026

Alright, thanks guys. I think I'm good to go from here. I'm buying this one that this site listed. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103940&Tpk=Antec%2bpower%2bsupply

Thanks for all your help and I hope I'll be able to run Spore soon!

Rez1026

Got new PSU, hooked it up, works fine. Tryed to install video card, SAME PROBLEM. I don't regret buying the PSU (at least now I have more power options) but ***, what is this card's problem

Make is a Nvidia Geforce 6200 OC for a Dell Dimension 2400. I install the card, plug in everything, go through the windows startup, then it stops before it gets to the "Welcome" page. By accident I inserted the monitor plug back to its original port and not the video cards and an interesting thing happens. The monitor doesnt go through the Dell load of screens but straight to my desktop (which had none of my icons for some reason and all of my new screens would come up on the far left...?) and I was given the installation prompt. I didn't intstall it however since the fact that I could not access several screen because they were too far right made me stop altogether.

Any thoughts guys?

emosun

See if there's an option in the bios to enable pci video.

Rez1026

And how would I go about doing that?

It's nowhere on the box that says it enables pci video

emosun

You go intot the bios by hitting del or one of the F keys before windows loads. it will say what key to hit to enter setup. In there there shoud be a setting that says enable pci video or somthing along those lines.

wrench97

You may have to remove the new card then enter the bios enable PCI video Save and shut down then install the new card and reboot.

Rez1026

well i wasnt able to find the option "enable PCI video" or any "enable video", but I did find an Integraded devices option, went to then, went to Primary Video controller and switched it from Auto to Onboard. Did that solve anything?

Doby

It could have solved something, at least windows won't find the onboard video and try and load the old video drivers, dell stores them in a folder on your hdd upon initial install and any time you boot windows it will try and find and install the drivers for the onboard video.

Remove the onboard video drivers, power off, then install the new video card, reboot tapping F8 and select vga mode, disable your virus scan and install the drivers for the new video card, reboot

Rez1026

Alright I'll try what you told me doby, now i need to locate my video driver... if its not one thing...

Is this my video driver? The Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller? Its the only thing on my device manager from display adapters that seems remotely right. Then right click and uninstall?

Doby

No you have to delete the video drivers folder, when you install drives from the dell cd it unzips them to a folder on your hardrive and if you remove the onboard video drivers the next time you reboot windows will search for and install the drivers again.

I don't remember the location or name of the file but its in the start menu and begins with dell.
You could run the dell drivers disk and begin install of the video driver to see where it unzips to then cancel. Once you find the file delete it. If for some reason you need it again to use the onboard video you simply run the dell disk and reinstall it

grimx133

Spore doesn't take a whole heck of a lot to run, so any of the cards listed should play it, once you have enough power to run them. The game runs fine on my laptop with an x1400 in it.

Rez1026

Back. Starting to think that it's not the driver but Dell that's the problem >=/

So i WAS able to get my computer to run with the card by disabling my current driver. However when I tried to install it and restart, it hadn't been installed at all and the process repeated itself. I read the manual for the driver (and it told me to disable, not uninstall) my current driver, and after i installed my new driver and gave me a string of steps which i fall short at step at. At my device manager, I'm supposed to click the Geforce driver, click the tab that says driver on the new screen that pops up, then click "Install from a list or specific location" button. THAT is nowhere to be found.

So I then tried to uninstall my old driver. Big mistake. Computer went on and we moving EXTREMELY SLOW, in fact i think unable to open new screens because it took at least five minutes to get the start tab to open. So I went into safe mode (where my old driver still functioned), did a system restore and wound up back at square one. So now the question is what do i do after i disable my old driver, install my new hardware, and preparing to install it as my new driver?

Again, driver is not the problem, it's Dell in general

Rez1026

Update~ Tried installing it again, this time went to add/remove programs and removed the Intel(R) extreme graphics program, THEN disabled the driver. Proceeded to install the new driver, no issues, then comes time to go to the device manager.

After installing from the disk prompt, the driver says its "The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)" Also there is a small explanation point encompassed by a yellow ball on my driver icon. So I tried to reinstall/ update my driver from the device manager menu. Reading the manual I tryed to install from one of three sources from the disk, the win2000 folder, winXP32, and winXP64. The XP64 is incompatible with my system, giving me the choices of the first to. Let it also be known that the manual tells me to install from the folder "win_XP_2000", this folder is nowhere to be found on the disk... Whenever I try to install an error occurs and says access is denied. Any suggestions guys?

wrench97

Are you installing the drivers from VGA or Safe Mode with Anti Virus and Malware programs disabled?