Upgrading from onboard video

gr00m · 12-27-2008, 12:10 PM

I'm working on a relatives computer and they bought a new widescreen monitor but the onboard video does not support widescreen format so the resolution is all messed up. I had an old GeForce 6800 AGP card at home which supports widescreen but am having some issues installing it. Hopefully someone can help!

System Specs:
HP Pavillion a510n
AMD Athlon XP Socket A 2.1GHz
512 GB RAM
ASUSTek MOBO w/ KM400 chipset (VT8237 southbridge)
VIA/SG3 UniChrome IGP onboard video
I got this info from CPU-Z, so let me know if anything else is needed

I installed the video card and booted up to a continual beep as windows starts up and the system did not recgonize the GeForce card installed. Not sure where to go from here. Typically the system recoginzes the card, install the drivers and then disable the onboard video. One thing that might cause an issue is I was not able to hook up power to the video card because the extra power connector was not long enough, though I don't think that would cause it not to work or be recgonized at all.

As I said, if any further info is needed please ask and I'll provide. If no good solution can be found I'll just have them replace the widescreen with a standard (or hopefully buy a new PC!).

gr00m · 12-27-2008, 12:27 PM

As another note, I checked the label on the PSU and it's only 250W. The GeForce card I'm putting in would probably exceede the PSU's output limit. Would that be the issue with the beep and not recgonizing the card since there's probably not enough power to run it? Wanted to get some opinions before swapping out the PSU also.

I've read other threads where people have successfully added a video card to this specific HP model and nothing about getting the beep I'm getting. but most said the system should recgonize the new card and switch off the onboard. I also checked the BIOS and there was nothing about disabling the onboard video, so there must be something specific to what I'm doing that it's not working.

donfrigo · 12-27-2008, 01:43 PM

My sister has an Nvidia 8800 GT which also requires auxiliary power. If it's not connected the computer starts with a continous beep, so the problem is probably caused by that.

**magnethead** · 12-27-2008, 04:05 PM

what makes you believe onboard doesnt suport widescreen? Did you install the monitor drivers? Rarely will the resolutions be added based on EDID information.

gr00m · 12-30-2008, 01:30 PM

Hooked up the monitor, restarted and no widescreen format is listed in the display properties. Do you think I need to install the monitor drivers? I've really never done that to a PC in the past.

gr00m · 12-30-2008, 01:47 PM

I'll try the power next time, though I'm leary about hooking it up to a 250w PSU. It's only a 6800 LE, so it's not a power hungry card, but still.

12-27-2008, 12:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
gr00m Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 101 OS: WinXP	Upgrading from onboard video I'm working on a relatives computer and they bought a new widescreen monitor but the onboard video does not support widescreen format so the resolution is all messed up. I had an old GeForce 6800 AGP card at home which supports widescreen but am having some issues installing it. Hopefully someone can help! System Specs: HP Pavillion a510n AMD Athlon XP Socket A 2.1GHz 512 GB RAM ASUSTek MOBO w/ KM400 chipset (VT8237 southbridge) VIA/SG3 UniChrome IGP onboard video I got this info from CPU-Z, so let me know if anything else is needed I installed the video card and booted up to a continual beep as windows starts up and the system did not recgonize the GeForce card installed. Not sure where to go from here. Typically the system recoginzes the card, install the drivers and then disable the onboard video. One thing that might cause an issue is I was not able to hook up power to the video card because the extra power connector was not long enough, though I don't think that would cause it not to work or be recgonized at all. As I said, if any further info is needed please ask and I'll provide. If no good solution can be found I'll just have them replace the widescreen with a standard (or hopefully buy a new PC!).

12-27-2008, 12:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
gr00m Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 101 OS: WinXP	Re: Upgrading from onboard video As another note, I checked the label on the PSU and it's only 250W. The GeForce card I'm putting in would probably exceede the PSU's output limit. Would that be the issue with the beep and not recgonizing the card since there's probably not enough power to run it? Wanted to get some opinions before swapping out the PSU also. I've read other threads where people have successfully added a video card to this specific HP model and nothing about getting the beep I'm getting. but most said the system should recgonize the new card and switch off the onboard. I also checked the BIOS and there was nothing about disabling the onboard video, so there must be something specific to what I'm doing that it's not working.

12-27-2008, 01:43 PM	#3 (permalink)
donfrigo Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 6 OS: WinXP 32 bit	Re: Upgrading from onboard video My sister has an Nvidia 8800 GT which also requires auxiliary power. If it's not connected the computer starts with a continous beep, so the problem is probably caused by that.

12-27-2008, 04:05 PM	#4 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Upgrading from onboard video what makes you believe onboard doesnt suport widescreen? Did you install the monitor drivers? Rarely will the resolutions be added based on EDID information. __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System

12-30-2008, 01:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
gr00m Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 101 OS: WinXP	Re: Upgrading from onboard video Hooked up the monitor, restarted and no widescreen format is listed in the display properties. Do you think I need to install the monitor drivers? I've really never done that to a PC in the past.

12-30-2008, 01:47 PM	#6 (permalink)
gr00m Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 101 OS: WinXP	Re: Upgrading from onboard video I'll try the power next time, though I'm leary about hooking it up to a 250w PSU. It's only a 6800 LE, so it's not a power hungry card, but still.