new monitor & display settings

I just purchased a new monitor - HP S2031 which has a 1600 x 900 resolution (16:9 aspect ratio). My original monitor was getting old and I wanted something a bit larger (getting older and my eyes just aren't what they use to be). Anyway, the old monitor had a pretty much standard square viewing area but this one does not. I am not looking to be playing all sorts of games on the pc so that is not an issue.

If I connect the monitor to my HP Pavilion 7865 (which is about a year older than the dell) I can go to control panel > display > settings > and set the screen resolution to 1600 x 900 and everything looks great!

However, when I connect the monitor to the Dell Dimension 4400 pc the image is all stretch out which is very annoying. I can go to the menu of the monitor and select the image control option and select custom scaling and select “fill to aspect ratio: but that leaves me with a bunch of black on either side of the monitor (which pretty much defeats the purpose of getting this larger 20” monitor.)

With the Dell the best I can do when I go to control panel > diplay > settings is 1152 x 864 and everything is still all stretched out and difficult to read the monitor at any of the settings available. I have gone to device manager and tried clicking on the Display Adapters and right clicking for properties and I tried updating the driver but that didn’t help either.

I’m guessing that perhaps it has something to do with the display / video card that is installed in the Dell pc. The display drivers / adapter information for the Dell is a Rage 128 PRO Ultra GL AGP
Chip Type: RAGE 128 PRO II, (AGP 4X/PCI)
DAC Type: Internal DAC (350 Mhz)
Memory Size: 16MB
Adapter String: RAGE 128 PRO Ultra GL AGP (M Display Adapter
Device Type: Display Adapter
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc
Driver Date : 7/3/01
Version 6.13.10.5019
Digital Signature: Microsoft Windows Component Publisher

As per the original system configuration the part # is 2G813 Card, Graphics, 16MB, ATI, Ultra, Full Height

When I went an looked at the specs information for this machine @ http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4400/specs.htm#1101572 it states
Expansion Bus
Bus types PCI and AGP
Bus speed PCI: 33 MHz; AGP: 66 MHz
AGP connector one
AGP connector size 172 pins
AGP connector data width (maximum) 32 bits
AGP bus protocols 4x/2x modes at 1.5 V
PCI connectors four
PCI connector size 120 pins
PCI connector data width 32 bits
(maximum)
Video controller AGP 4X


From what I have been able to gather if I want to replace the video card I need to get one that is an AGP card. Is there an update or some other settings that I can adjust on this Dell so that it will work with this monitor (just like it does with the Pavilion 7865 which is actually older than the Dell) or do I need to replace the video card if I want things to look the way they should on this monitor? I have also installed the driver for the monitor and that did not help either.

If I do need to replace the video card --- I am not looking for anything special or expensive and would be just as happy to get a refurbished older card for the machine. Any suggestions on how to adjust the settings on this Dell and or suggestions on a type of card to look for?

I did start to do a search on ebay for agp video cards but have no idea what to look for.

Any and all suggestions would be so very much appreciated.

TIA

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

Well, I took the card out of the slot and I don't actually see anything on the card that says 4x or 8x on it. Where on the card should I be looking?

There is a sticker / label with a serial number and part number

Stamped on it is "powered by ATI Rage" with what looks like RAGE 128 and Ultra

A sticker that has a bar code and Rev A01

another sticker with some numbers and letters a year? and then some stuff in chinese followed by more numbers and letters

There is also a declaration of conformity as well as information that states Complies with Canadian (what looks like ICES-003, Class 6 or maybe a B

Tested to comply with fcc standards for home or office use

E-VO 0152 94v-0 E171628


a check mark in a white circle and N625 next to that.

Another sticker / label with a car code and what looks like
DS/N CN-02G813-32881-21M-42OG


On the reverse side there is a little sticker on one part that says
R128P
73108


and 2 pieces (sort of look like the parts on a memory module) that have Samsung 148 and a bunch of numbers under that on them.


There is also a PN 109-73100-02

2001 ATI technologies imprints on that side of the card as well

I don't see anything that states 4x on it. Where am I supposed to find that on the card?


The HP machine that does have the setting for this monitor to look like it should is an Nvidia Vanta/Vanta LT Nvidia 16mb TNT-2 VANTA 16MG AGP Card installed in it.

Could I use the same type of card in the Dell machine?

If anything I know that the Dell would have enough Ram and a large enough power supply to handle the same type of card (if that is something consider as well) since the Dell has alot more RAM in it and the psu in a 430Watt unit and the psu in the HP is around 350watts.

The HP only has 512MB of DIMM memory and it is already at the max (came with just 128MB when purchased).
The Dell has 1GB of DDR SDRAM in it (and I have read that even though it states that the max is 1GB many people are running their machines with 2GB of RAM in them.

I would take the card out of the HP machine and put it into the Dell machine and see if it works - but somehow I don't think it is that simple (probably would need to uninstall the current drivers for the card that is in there now - for starters) and I don't want to screw it up either.

When the card is out of the slot the slot itself sits back further than the pci slots that are below it so I'm guessing that PCI is not a possibility - but I'm not at all knowledgeable about this.

Any suggestions would be so very much appreciated.

 

just an update to the information that I already gave (in case it is needed). I opened up the direct x diagnostics tool and according to that for the display it states:
Rage 128 Pro Ultra GL AGP
ATI Technologies
RAGE 128 PRO II, (AGP 4X/PCI)
DAC TYPE: Internal DAC (350 Mhz)
Approximate Total Memory: 16.0 MB
Main Driver: ati2dvaa.dll
Version: 6.13.0010.5019
Date: 04/14/08
DDI Version: 8

When I saw the (AGP 4X/PCI) I wasn't sure if that meant that a pci card could also be used but thought I better include this information in case it would help.

TIA

 

I may be mistaken but it sounds to me like the Dell needs a driver for that particular monitor.

Try installing the driver and then see if it allows you more resolutions on the Display screen in XP. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=4121893#N152

 

Actually, that is the first thing that I tried doing but it didn't help. But thanks for the suggestion.

 

Hi imhjcr,

4X/8X/etc was taken care of by the way the socket and board are keyed. Generally, if the card fits the socket the MB is capable of using the card properly. It's been a long time but I think I am correct.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Well, I have been doing some more searching and I have found out that there are other dell dimension 4400 pc's that do have different graphics cards in them (the thing is that I am having problems in finding out which ones will allow a display setting compatible with the HO S2031 monitor (16:9 aspect ratio ; 1600 x 900 resolution). I have also found information (here and there) with suggestions for cards that should work but I can't find information on the resolutions.

I know that the graphics card that is in the HP machine will allow me to set the display settings to the 1600 x 900. The card in that one is a Nvidia Vanta 16MB TNT-2 Vanta 16MB AGP CARD and as per the HP Pavilion product specs the resolutions are 640 x 480; 800 x 600; 1024 x 768 ; 1280 x 1024 --- but I have been able to go to control panel > display and change the settings to 1600 x 900 on that machine. The other info I found on that card states just NVIDIA Vanta/Vanta LT. And even though the specs as per the hp site for this machine do not state the 1600 x 900 resolution I have been able to set it up for that anyway.

If I thought that it would work without messing something up I would try taking the card out of the HP machine and putting it into the Dell and see if it does work and then I could just look for the same card --- but I'm afraid that I will mess something up by doing that.

 

Forgot to mention that I did go to the Dell forums and post the question there as well as at the HP forums but haven't gotten any assistance at either of those sites.