Upgrading Dell E510 with a geforce6800gs oc

Wyatt Bessing · January 7th, 2007, 12:05 AM

Hi all,

Please help me.... I think of myself as fairly computer savvy, but I'm totally stumped on this one. My wife is trying to install a geforce 6800 gs oc into a dell E510. The system has a gig of ram and a 305watt rated power. When we attach the card with its 4-prong connector to the power supply (with an extension cable since the original cables in the computer weren't long enough) and try to boot, we get...

computer fan and card fan come on
computer power light on
no monitor activity
no sounds as if booting up

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Wyatt

carl33p · January 7th, 2007, 01:20 AM

Welcome to TechIMO.

Could be a couple things here.
First and foremost, make sure the card is pushed in flush, and down all the way.
Many people mistakenly think the card is pushed down fully, but ITS NOT.

Your PSU may not be able to supply the power needed to run that card.
An extension cord may not work for a GPU connection.

GPU may be defective.

In my opinion(IMO), I think the problem here is the power supply.
If you end up wanting to upgrade your PSU, heres a great performer for a very good price:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104953

Wyatt Bessing · January 7th, 2007, 01:54 AM

I'm pretty sure it's not a power problem- I've read of people using the card in computers with lower watt output. Maybe it's a connector issue?

Wyatt Bessing · January 7th, 2007, 02:24 AM

My computer runs the card just fine, and its power supply puts out less watts and volts. The box does mention possibly needing an optional dongle. Is this just another word for connector? Do we perhaps need a special connector?

Thanks again!

nwo75200 · January 7th, 2007, 02:31 AM

You need to make sure that you hook up the graphics card to your PSU if there is 1 or in some cases, there may even be 2 4-pin molex connectors on a graphics card.

Wyatt Bessing · January 7th, 2007, 02:46 AM

Thanks for the ideas, but still not working. It is connected to the psu with one 4-pin connector, but actually the fan doesn't even come on on the card when comp is turned on. On another computer, with less wattage on the power supply, it works fine. Could it be a graphics card driver issue? The last card in the computer was a radeon 600, but we tried installing new drivers first, to no avail.

carl33p · January 7th, 2007, 10:39 AM

No, its not a driver problem. The way you want to go about replacing a GPu is:
Remove old drivers.
Uninstall old card.
Install new card.
Install new drivers.
But if a PC doesnt even boot, the drivers cant even come into play.

Try not connecting the 4pin connector to the GPU. I have my 6800XT hooked up right now, and i dont have the 4pin hooked up.

It may be b/c you are using an extension. Ive never heard of anyone using a PCI-E extension. But ive read that the PSU that comes with that model has a very short PCI-E power cord.(Most reviewers upgrade their PSU)

JPMiller · January 7th, 2007, 12:32 PM

Just because a PSU is RATED at lower Amps or Volts does not necessarily mean anything...
What are the brands of these PSU's?
I can set a Raidmax or Logysis PSU rated at 600 watts next to a 300W Fortron Source PSU, and guaranty the FSP will outperform, and out power either of the 2 SUPPOSEDLY 600 watter's

If the card works fine in another system, then obviously this is the case of a bad PCI-E slot, or a power issue...
Theres very little else left to troubleshoot

Is the old card PCI-E?
Does the old card work when put back in?

.