help with video card upgrade

[eddie722]

help, I have a gateway gt5034 media center computer with nvidia geforce 6100 on the motherboard. It has an anthlon 4200 dual core processor with a 300 watt power supply.
the red in the monitor flashes on for a few minutes then off for a few days. I have a
geforce 7300 gt card, but I have not been able to get the computer to regonize and install it. Is the problem with the red in the 6100 or somewhere on the c51gu01 foxconn motherboard? I have swapped monitors, and its the same on either one.

 

[KainXS]

Did you add the video card, I checked the specs and that video card does not come with the system, in this case I have no real idea, the problem could be anything because that system's psu has only 300 watts and 16A on the 12V rail but the bad thing is that 3 rails, the 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails can only output a combined maximum of 280 watts from what I see in the specs, can you double check

the card could also be the problem, if you can get a hold of another system, test the card using 3dmark even if the card is new

what your saying is that when you put in the card you get no output at all right, but what do you mean by red.

these are your system specs right

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/gateway-gt5034-media-center/4507-3118_7-31766769.html?tag=sub

 

[eddie722]

yes, those are the system specs. the 6100 is factory stock on the motherboard. the monitor started flashing about a month ago. just at random, the red color disapears. for example, the red mcaffee M turns black. my son uses the computer for fsx and train simulator 2006, so i figured maybe he had fried the 6100. i thought now would be a good time to put in a video card, perhaps take care of better graphics,(also use the monitor dvi) and get the red back into the picture. i bought the 7300gt at the recommendation of a gateway tech. they could not tell me where the problem might lie. i figured compusa for 45 after a rebate would be reasonable for the 7300. the 7300 fan does spin, but there was no output on the vga or dvi connection. thanks for your help !!

 

[KainXS]

does your motherboard have the option of totally disabling onboard graphics

also do not be tempted to open the monitor, a monitor has enough volts in it to seriously hurt your or kill.

 

[eddie722]

the monitor is a samsung 930-b and works fine on my older computer. i have not been able to disable the onboard graphics. using the device manager i click on disable on the 6100 display adapter but then it tries to reinstall it on the next boot up. when i put the install cd in for the 7300, it reinstalls the 6100. when i check the device manager, the 7300 is nowhere to be found. the blue is driving me a bit crazy.

 

[KainXS]

You need to disable it completely by enetering the bios upon boot, when you turn the computer on it should say gateway and show the keys to press to enter the bios
'
then you should be able to 1 disable it or 2 switch the primary graphics adapter

before you disable it make sure you have the card installed

if you don't see the option then tell me your motherboard model

 

[keakar]

to answer your question, yes the red means the onboard video is going out so you do need a video card.

if it was the motherboard the computer would have more serious problems than a little color.

follow the advice you already got to make it work, you must disable the onboard grafics before the new card will take over.

when rebooting keep hitting the DEL key continuosly and the bois screen will come on, then you must find the area where the video settings are and disable onboard grafics

 

[KainXS]

come back okay

 

[eddie722]

the motherboard is a foxconn c51gu01

 

[eddie722]

i did not see the option in the bios to disable the primary or switch adapters. are these features locked out on my motherboard?

 

[JrRacinFan]

to answer your question, yes the red means the onboard video is going out so you do need a video card.

if it was the motherboard the computer would have more serious problems than a little color.

follow the advice you already got to make it work, you must disable the onboard grafics before the new card will take over.

when rebooting keep hitting the DEL key continuosly and the bois screen will come on, then you must find the area where the video settings are and disable onboard grafics

Then save your settings and exit, before you push "Y" for yes switch the monitor cable from the onbaord video port to the video card.

 

[KainXS]

i did not see the option in the bios to disable the primary or switch adapters. are these features locked out on my motherboard?

the only alternative i can think of is flashing the unlock bios for your motherboard, it is on this thread

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40005

its for the Foxconn C51GU01

this will unlock your bios

think about it before you proceed

 

[eddie722]

i had found that thread also, and did download and unzip it. i can't get the computer to boot to the cd drive. do you know how to do that part>?

 

[trog100]

in a bios there is a boot priority order.. it needs setting so the cd gets looked at first..

if a bootable cd is in the drive the system boots from it.. if not it skips and goes for the hardrive which should be second in the list..

if u have a floppy u can make that the first choice.. it could be floppy.. CD.. then hardrive for instance..

trog

 

[eddie722]

i got a gateway bios update to work, but i still cant get the unlocked bios to work.