graphic card not detected after dust cleaning

Ominus · 18 Mar 2011

Hi

I've been trying to figure this out for the past day searching for any answers but I've usually found people having this problem on laptops.
I have a desktop computer from Packard Bell, it has been working fine up until yesterday morning when I decided to clean it of dust to prepare it for the warm months to come, to be able to clean it easier I removed the graphic card along with the hard drives and ram, but after I put everything back and started up the computer windows no longer detected my card but instead says "Standard VGA Graphics adapter" now i'm not sure if my monitor was detected differently before but now it says Generic non-PnP Monitor and the max resolution being 1600x1200 as opposed to 1920x1280 before.

The card is obviously working as I have no integrated graphics and my monitor is connected to the card and I'm typing this from the same computer but when I try to reinstall the drivers it says it cannot find compatible graphics hardware, I made sure I downloaded the right ones.

Other things that I have tried:
-in BIOS even though there was only choice between auto or PCIE for Primary Display Adapter I set it to PCIE.
-Checked if perhaps card wasn't properly inserted but everything seems fine.
-Left computer completely unplugged from power source over night, no changes
-have not tried installing drivers in safe mode, am going to try after this is posted.

I am including a screenshot of HWinfo which seems to be the only program that detects my graphic card correctly (other one I tried was Everest, dxdiag also detects it as VGA)

Please tell me if I missed any important info that might help solve this problem, in worst case scenario I'll have to send comp in for repairs but since it was bought in Germany it would take up to 2 months as a relative of mine works up there and comes back monthly and he is currently up there for the next month till he comes back, also my final attempt before sending it for repairs would be reinstalling windows if that would even help.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT:
Safe mode didn't help much, same issues when trying to install drivers but i noticed the monitor shows up as (Default Monitor) and the graphic driver is VGA save which seemed to have some conflicts under resources tab:
Input/Output Range 03B0 - 03BB used by:
Intel(R) processor PCI Express Root Port 1 - D138
Input/Output Range 03C0 - 03DF used by:
Intel(R) processor PCI Express Root Port 1 - D138
Memory Range 00000000000A0000 - 00000000000BFFFF used by:
Intel(R) processor PCI Express Root Port 1 - D138

That is all the differences I could find.

alphanumeric · 18 Mar 2011

Take it out again and have a good look at the PCIe slot to make sure there isn't any dust or other crud in it. Then have a look at the cards edge connector and if its clean put it back in again and see what happens.

Ominus · 19 Mar 2011

gave it another thorough check but no change, I'll try reinstalling windows tomorrow morning and see if that helps.

This is quite confusing, I've had a lot of experience with repairing/cleaning older computers and I have never had something like this happen, albeit this is my first computer with Windows 7 and if a reinstall wont fix it I'll have to rethink of where I am going to buy my next computer because it certainly wont be Packard Bell.

I always wear latex gloves when cleaning computers or removing components for which I also have anti-static bags to ensure I don't accidentally short circuit something, friends used to say I was overcautious but apparently I'm not cautious enough

Any more suggestions are welcome, but I hope the reinstall will fix this problem.

EDIT:

Yes well reinstalling didn't help, so now the question is, is the graphic card faulty or (the horror) is the PCIe slot faulty, wish I could get my hands on another PCIe card to test it, I cant afford much right now but I was thinking of buying an Nvidia Gainward GT 430 1024 DDR 3.

Any way to check if its the PCI slot or the card that's faulty, without having access to another PCI card? probably not

Oh and is there a way to find out how much more power the gt 430 needs over the gt 220? concerned the PSU might not be strong enough, only being a 200W PSU.

alphanumeric · 20 Mar 2011

Either I didn't get a notification of your last post or I missed it somehow, or I would have replied earlier. Do you have somebody that can test that Video card in their PC for you? Any video card I have looked listed the minimum power supply required in the system requirements. 200 Watt doesn't sound like enough even for the GT 220. I have one in my system and the documentation that comes with it states it requires a 300W PCI Express®-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 18A or more. Kind of sounds like you need a new power supply not a new Video card. My current power supply is 450 Watts.

Ominus · 21 Mar 2011

I didn't think of checking my sisters family computer, it does have a PCIe slot but its v1.0 unlike mine being 2.0, now I'll try to put the graphic card from that computer into mine but I don't think her husband would allow me testing my graphic card in their computer. I'm guessing if their card gives me the same issue it is either the PCIe slot is damaged or as you say the power supply is not strong enough.
The thing is, all the hardware except the second drive in my computer is still stock and I've had no power problems when I added my drive after a few days of getting the computer so Packard Bell could have done something to assure the graphic card got the power it needed and when I removed it whatever they did was undone, im just guessing though.

well I hope there isn't that much difference between the PCIe v1 and 2 and both cards should work in either, I do know they're both x16 and their card is an Nvidia Gainward 9500 if I remember correctly.

Was thinking of using the 450W PSU from my old computer in the new one but the pins are completely different, my old having those white 4 pin connectors while the new one has these black slim ones that look like sata cable connectors.

SledgeDG · 21 Mar 2011

Being not Laptop savvy myself I wonder if there is an additional power cable to be attached (like in some desktop models)
Laptop PSUs aren't all that strong anyways for obvious reasons so there must be some means to power such cards with higher demands.

Oh I see you were talking about a desktop...anyways just check for additional cables that might need to be attached
(That would explain why the standard-VGA mode still works)

-DG

Lordbob75 · 21 Mar 2011

No modern computer should have a 200w power supply... If that's what Packard Bell uses, no wonder everyone hates them.

That being said, check you power cables as Sledge mentioned, and run the WEI again, sometimes that helps with recognizing hardware.

~Lordbob

alphanumeric · 21 Mar 2011

Ominus said:

I didn't think of checking my sisters family computer, it does have a PCIe slot but its v1.0 unlike mine being 2.0, now I'll try to put the graphic card from that computer into mine but I don't think her husband would allow me testing my graphic card in their computer. I'm guessing if their card gives me the same issue it is either the PCIe slot is damaged or as you say the power supply is not strong enough.
The thing is, all the hardware except the second drive in my computer is still stock and I've had no power problems when I added my drive after a few days of getting the computer so Packard Bell could have done something to assure the graphic card got the power it needed and when I removed it whatever they did was undone, im just guessing though.

well I hope there isn't that much difference between the PCIe v1 and 2 and both cards should work in either, I do know they're both x16 and their card is an Nvidia Gainward 9500 if I remember correctly.

Was thinking of using the 450W PSU from my old computer in the new one but the pins are completely different, my old having those white 4 pin connectors while the new one has these black slim ones that look like sata cable connectors.

My PCIe slot is only V1.0 and my GT220 works fine in it. It's likely taking a performance hit but it works fine otherwise. It sounds like the 450 watt power supply has both the molex and SATA power connectors on it. That shouldn't be a concern, the ones to look for are the 20+4 main motherboard power connector and any supplemental 4 pin power cables. If it has all the required power cables for the motherboard it should be fine to try it. Are you sure the current power supply is only 200 watts? That just doesn't sound right at all, you usually only see supplies that small in those little micro atx systems used for home theater etc.

Ominus · 21 Mar 2011

Hmm, seems it is the graphic card afterall, just inserted the other one into my computer and as soon as I entered windows it detected it and installed the drivers for it, oh and yes I was mistaken, its a 250W PSU which is slightly better than I thought.
Strange, now it also detected my monitor properly, perhaps there is some dust in the monitor connector? No wait, I tried their monitor which is connected through DVI but the problem persisted. I guess I can either buy a new graphic card or send this one in for repairs.

I think I phrased myself wrong about the PSUs, the 450W one has those white connectors while the 250W one that is in my new computer has those slim black connectors, I should probably mention that the 450W PSU is atleast 5 years old.

Time for another thorough examination of the GT220 card just in case I missed something before, but it seems a new card will be in order.

Feels good to know what is causing the problem

alphanumeric · 21 Mar 2011

OK, the slim black connectors should be SATA power connectors. Just about any current power supply that you could buy will have them. I'm on my third GT220. The first one was DOA right out of the box, windows didn't detect it and the fan didn't even spin up. No.2 had a noisy fan. Third times a charm I guess because this one been going for about a year now problem free. They were all made by BFG, which has now gone out of business, coincidence?