[Tyler5690]

I have a GeForce 6600 PCI-Express video card in a Dell Dimension 4700 PC with Windows XP, 1 GB RAM, and 320 GB hard disk. I installed the card and the drivers, however, during boot up I recieve a message that says the card is running in 1x mode instead of 16x mode and asks if I want to continue or enter BIOS setup. However, there is nothing to configure in the BIOS about the video card or the PCI-E slot on the mboard. What would cause the card to run at 1x?

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Did you go to Dell and see if there was a bios update for your computer?


http://support.dell....id=308&devlib=1

Edited by OneCool, 11 June 2005 - 05:16 PM.

[OneCool]

Did you go to Dell and see if there was a bios update for your computer?


http://support.dell....id=308&devlib=1

Edited by OneCool, 11 June 2005 - 05:16 PM.

[Tyler5690]

Yes, no new updates. My BIOS is actually newer than the one on Dell's website.

[OneCool]

If you have the latest nVidia drivers.

Check in the driver control panel if its running 16x.

Are you playin any games?

If so how do they play?

[Tyler5690]

Yes, latest nVidia drivers. In the NV control panel, it lists the card as running in x1 mode, but there's no way to change that setting. No games yet, just getting it setup, so I don't know how they'll run.

[OneCool]

Hmmm...thats really strange!

I hate to say it but you might have to call Dell and tell them your problem.


could be a motherboard or bios problem



What brand name is the video card?

[Samm]

Did you have a pci express 16x card in the system before this one?
If not, it could be possible that the PSU can't deliver enough power to the card - they require about 75W on average to run at 16x, your PSU is only rated at 270W. The recommended minimum power rating for psu when running pci express 16x is about 350W.

[Tyler5690]

I emailed Dell tech support, phone is unbearable. The brand is Gigabyte, model DV-NX66256DP (I bought it on reccomendation of a local computer parts store).

[Tyler5690]

I had no previous card, but the power supply is rated to 305 watts. I'll swap it out with something 350 or higher though.

[Samm]

You may not be able to, I believe your system uses a proprietry PSU - ie non-standard one. I may not be the psu anyway, you would expect Dell to provide a PSU that was capable of supporting a 16x PCI-Express card seeing as they designed the system to use one.

Was your previous video card onboard then?

[OneCool]

found this http://forums.us.del...ssage.id=113698


The dell rep suggested re-installing the bios..

You could post your question there and see if they can help

Edited by OneCool, 11 June 2005 - 06:39 PM.

[Tyler5690]

I did reinstall the bios, and am now posting to that dell forum. Thanks. Also, the previous video was onboard.

[OneCool]

I did reinstall the bios, and am now posting to that dell forum. Thanks.  Also, the previous video was onboard.

Did you turn off (set to "disable") the onboard video in the bios?

[Tyler5690]

In the Dell bios, there are two video options, onboard and auto. The default was auto, so I left it there.

[Andrew 2.0]

Have you had any luck? I'm having the same problem with a different video card. Dell tech support just told me that my dimension 8400 just isn't compatible with the card but I find that difficult to believe given that it is a vanilla ATI X800 card. But I think my support tech had just run out of ideas and didn't want to offer further help. Anyway if you have any info on resolving this problem it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

|Andrew|