Video / Graphics Card For Dell Optiplex GX150

momfor2gifts · Post by **momfor2gifts** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:56 am

Ok I got taken on Craigslist. I needed a computer for my autistic son to use for homeschooling and his personal use...well... the guy told me it had a graphics card and guess what??? it doesn't and I have no idea what to get because it seems nothing fits due to the monitor connection being in the way of the lineup with the graphics card slot, so what do I do? I can't afford another computer and we had to get a desktop because of his gross motor control problems, he can't use a flat keyboard on a laptop.

It is a Dell Optiplex GX150 and has a rather short and thin case. I am not sure I am asking for the right part though. What I want is a card that will let him play his online homeschooling games and other games he likes to play. He doesn't have friends, most autistics don't due to the social interaction component of autism so the computer is his life, so I really want to resolve this and figure out what we need, so any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Angela

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:10 am

that should have an onboard video card built into the motherboard

a search shows it does have video built in

"Product Description

- CPU: AMD Sempron 3000+
- Memory: 1 GB of DDR or DDR2 Memory Included (Supports up to 2 GB's)
- Audio: 6 Channel Onboard
- Video: 3D Graphics Onboard
- Ethernet: 10/100 Lan
- Form-Factor: Micro-ATX
- Designed by Axitron"

it should be the blue female plug on the upper right (rear of unit) VGA port

it may not be good enough to play advanced games,but simple kids games should play,

momfor2gifts · Post by **momfor2gifts** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:18 am

On mine it is simply a monitor connection, no graphics card built in the computer even says graphics card not found when you try to go to a gaming site. On the general specs it said optional but also this was a state computer the guy said they purchase them and redo them and sell them, so I guess they did not put the graphics in for that reason, not totally sure though. Any ideas?

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:26 am

And the connector would not allow you to see a picture if it didn't have onboard graphics.

Odds are the onboard graphics chip can't handle or doesnt support whatever games your son is looking to play.

momfor2gifts · Post by **momfor2gifts** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:28 am

Well what do I do about that? How do I make it so he can play those games and why is it saying no graphics card found? I can't figure it out, it's weird

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:58 am

momfor2gifts wrote:Well what do I do about that? How do I make it so he can play those games and why is it saying no graphics card found? I can't figure it out, it's weird

so when you boot the pc ,what do you see on the monitor if anything?

the other thing I thought of was going into the bios and making sure the onboard graphics is enabled,

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:31 pm

What games does your son play?

Faust · Post by **Faust** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:40 pm

i kind of breezed through the thread, but im not sure at what point youre being told "no graphics card". the long and short of it is, if there was no VGA device (graphics adapter) you wouldnt see anything on your monitor at all. its the graphics adapter that feeds the monitor whatever its rendering. this one just happens to be built onto the motherboard.

what could be happening is, when you try and run the game(s), either windows or the game generates the error (?). that being the case, its more than likely refering to a card with hardware 3D support.

in any event youre not out in the cold. as you can see by Dan's linked image, it does have expansion slots that could support an add-in video card (AGP 4x - the green slot, and PCI - one of the white ones). the downside is, those are both legacy architectures, and are getting harder and harder to find on store shelves. and, to make things a little tougher, it looks like you will need a low-profile card due to how narrow the case is.

something like this:

runs about $35 from Newegg. i know buying retail means more money spent, but at least if you buy from a reputable retailer you can return it if it doesnt play nice with your system. im sure with more detailed searches ("low profile AGP card", for example) you could find something for less coin. i know it looks like the DB15 (monitor port on the computer case) is in the way of the AGP port but its not. the backplate of the card is actually offset from the card a little. it will clear.

not to worry, all is not lost.

momfor2gifts · Post by **momfor2gifts** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:10 pm

I solved the unsolvable, lol. I searched on the Intel 82815 chipset and found a ton of people having that problem, especially on Roblox. Of all things I needed to roll back the driver. I thought about everything and finally landed on the driver updates and thought maybe the update was screwy and if I roll back the driver to the 6.7 version it may work and sure enough... wahla it is fixed.... yeahhhhh

Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:17 pm

A no cost solution, excellent.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:45 pm

momfor2gifts wrote:I solved the unsolvable, lol. I searched on the Intel 82815 chipset and found a ton of people having that problem, especially on Roblox. Of all things I needed to roll back the driver. I thought about everything and finally landed on the driver updates and thought maybe the update was screwy and if I roll back the driver to the 6.7 version it may work and sure enough... wahla it is fixed.... yeahhhhh

Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it.

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Video / Graphics Card For Dell Optiplex GX150

Video / Graphics Card For Dell Optiplex GX150

On mine it is simply a monitor connection

So What Do I Do About That?