Help.. Upgrade Motherboard.. :?

[UncoderMom]

LOL

Now I dont feel like the out cast... Besides.. I love my dell XPS! HAHA

[Brad]

Originally Posted by UncoderMom

LOL

Now I dont feel like the out cast... Besides.. I love my dell XPS! HAHA

If anything MAC users are the rarity.

Anyway what you read it right. The "correct" fix here is to add a new video card which will do a better job at rendering graphics and will free up some of your system RAM for other things.

You have 3 PCI slots so you have room for a new video card. When you go shopping make sure you get a "PCI" card. Do not buy a "PCI Express" or "AGP" card, your computer dose not have the proper expansion slots for them and you'll just end up having to take it back. Again you want to buy a plain old "PCI" video card.

Now there is a gotcha here if you're using Windows XP (and probably other versions of the OS). For some reason Windows always wants to use the on-board video card even when it's turned off in the BIOS. The "fix" I've always used requires booting into Windows with the monitor attached to the on-board video card, going into the device manager, and disabling the on-board video.

Your on-board connector is broken though so it'll be impossible for you to fix it that way. I'll have to do some googling to find another fix I guess. I'll let you know when I find it.

[UncoderMom]

You know, too... ITs my assumption that that is whats wrong.. The connector that holds all the pins straight broke off the motherboard. I assumed that just held it in place but I tried a different monitor and Im still getting "no signal".

Im not apposed to trying a video card but the processor is not a fast one.. will the processor support one? Could I put a decent one on it? I know they have good ebay resale value too.

Thanks for the Slot info Brad!!!

[Brad]

The processor is fine, putting in a video card won't effect it at all. You could also upgrade the processor if you want but it is not a trivial task especially when it's soldered directly to the motherboard.

The connector that holds all the pins straight broke off the motherboard.

This is what worries me. There is no telling what kind of damage has been done without looking at it for myself. I'm assuming the connector simply broke away and everything else is fine..but who knows.

It might be possible to repair the motherboard by re-attaching the connector. The problem is you'll have a very hard time finding someone that'll do it for you locally. "Repair" shops will just tell you to buy a new computer and claim it's not fixable. What it boils down to is hardware is so cheap there is no point in patching something up, hence why guys that can solder don't work in most "computer repair shops".

Anyway if you decide to put in a video card heres a good page on what you'll need to do to disable the on-board video: http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Onboa...-Your-Computer

Keep in mind that they assume that you still have working on-board video. In your case you'll just have to hope that;

- You can disable it with a jumper

or

- The computer will automatically prefer the new video card and allow you to turn the on-board one off in the BIOS before booting into Windows.

[Dismounted]

I believe you will be able to turn off the on-board graphics processor through the BIOS. If possible, could you take a photo of the damage on the motherboard and plug?

[UncoderMom]

Yep... it a little bit, since the kids are eating breakfast now

Thanks for your help! I'm afraid I might need a bit more too. I'm not exactly sure how to boot in BIOS. Hit F12 or something.. LOL *hidesunderchair*

It will be like Christmas for the kids to get this fixed.

[Dismounted]

When you power on, it should say somewhere the key combination. If you don't read it the first time, power off and then back on.

[UncoderMom]

Originally Posted by Dismounted

When you power on, it should say somewhere the key combination. If you don't read it the first time, power off and then back on.

Im not getting a screen that says the key combination.. Just "no signal" on the screen. Im sure I know how to boot in BIOS then, if thats what that is.. same as when you want to boot in safe mode.

I'll get the pic of the connector as soon as I rehi-jack my camera from my DH..

[Dismounted]

Try pressing F1 repeatedly to see if that works. Also try Alt+F1, Del, Shift+Del and Ctrl+Alt+Del.