Windows 7: Can't find GeForce 6 series graphics card, please help

I've got a Dell Inspiron 580, not very old...everything about it is okay, except the integrated graphics card. Someone recently gave me a GeForce 6600 card, and my GF bought me GW2 in anticipation.

I've got it installed, it seems to be properly seated on the motherboard, and it's connected to the power supply(had to get an adapter to make that work, it's got a 4-pin molex connector and all mine are 15-pin SATA's), but my computer doesn't seem to want to recognize it.



I've been to the GeForce site to try and download drivers, but it says it can't detect any hardware. Likewise, when I'm under Device Manager and I scan for hardware changes, nothing comes up under Display Adapters, it's still just the "Intel(R) HD Graphics" all by its lonesome.

I'm at the end of my rope here. Just lost my job, don't really have the disposable income to take it in to get looked at or get a different card or anything, I REALLY need this to work. I'd be eternally grateful for any assistance.

Have you entered bios to check settings normally separate gfx card will override onboard gfx but you may need to adjust manually

How would I do that? I know how to get to the BIOS menu, but once there I have no idea what to check and don't want to just start doing things at random and have my computer blow up.

heh, you need to navigate in the chipset configuration menu, and find an entry about GPU, with possible answers IGPU (or IGA, or whatever with I and G that stand for Integrated and Graphics) and another for dedicated graphics.

All BIOS are different, so it's the best I can say to guide you.

Something I can tell about those multi-driver packs is that they suck at installing the right driver if the card is old (and a card from 2004 is old) or if it is a card fitting in an AGP slot.
So, try the drivers from here (select the windows 7 64 bit ones of course, you will get an installer for Vista but it's the best you can possibly get for that card as they never made drivers for win 7, flip side of the coin is that vista drivers should work fine). It's an "outdated" multidriver installer or even a single driver installer, but it contains the most updated driver for that card (yes, they stop updating drivers after a while).

It should be able to run GW2, not at max settings though.

Why would even use an older card if theres newer and cheaper ones?

If you don't see it in Device Manager, either your PSU is too weak to power it, a common Dell issues, or it isn't properly installed. The card could be toast as well.

Hi SPAZwazza,

I checked the 'System Setup'; 'BIOS' in 'Inspiron 580' may not offer the functionality to manually 'Enable/Disable' video card.


(Please share the slot number where the GPU is currently installed)

nVidia offered 6 series GPUs in both PCI Express and AGP 8X versions: Performance
Inspiron 580 is receptive to 'PCI Express x16 graphics card' only and an 'AGP card' may not function with it. Please ensure that a 'PCI E x16' is being used and should be installed correctly; you may want to refer to the 'user manual' of the GPU for correct 'hardware installation' procedure: http://www.emprex.com/var/manual/EMSE6600.pdf

You may also find the 'Service Manual' for 'Inspiron 580' useful: Documentation
(Note: Please follow the safety instructions as mentioned in the manuals)

The 'power supply' in this system is 300W and may be modest in terms of handling your GPU; however the card should get detected in 'Device Manager' (If functional and compatible). While researching on the issue, i've come across situations where users have been using 6600 GT with 300W power supply. You may want to find if the 'GPU' was in a functional state before you got it.

The '4 pin molex power connector' on the GPU may only work with 'AGP slots'; try to unplug the 'power adapter' completely. I tried but could not find too many relevant details; came across that reference on few occasions while researching.

Also take a glance at the 'GPU specifications': http://http.download.nvidia.com/ndem..._series_24.pdf ; not sure about its performance with 'Windows 7'.

Hope this helps. Do reply if you have any further questions. Glad to assist.

He said someone gave that card to him. Free is better than cheap, I think. And maybe his rig is too weak to operate properly a bigger CPU anyway.

I'm confused by what you post.

I don't find any GeForce 6600 or 6600GT PCI-E cards online that require any power other than what they get through the PCI-E slot. The AGP 6600GT requires a Molex connector, but you aren't using an AGP card. (At least, not if it fits any slot on your Inspiron 580's motherboard.)

Here's how to tell, with the graphics card out of the system. An AGP slot is very different from PCI-E.



A stupid question: do you have the monitor connected to the nVidia card?

The minimum recommended power supply for a 6600GT is 350W with a rating of 18A at +12V. The Inspiron has a 300W PSU. I doubt that's the immediate cause of your problem, but it suggests that the card may not be all that happy in your system.

I see that the H57 chipset on your motherboard supports Virtu graphics (using the Intel graphics to save power, discrete graphics card for 3D performance). I don't see anything online about the BIOS settings on your system, but on some boards, there's a setting to enable or disable the onboard graphics. If you have one, turn off the Intel graphics.