Why wont my computer recognize my widescreen monitor???

Ive updated the display drivers and went to dell.com and downloaded the drivers for the monitor, and i still cannot get the the right resolution (1366x768@60hz The only resolutions that show up are standard aspect ratio (1024x768, 1280x720, 1280x1024, etc...) Ive tried different display drivers and still no luck. Ive read that updating my BIOS may help the problem but i have a feeling that wouldnt actually fix the problem, and i dont wanna do anything that drastic until im sure. Can anyone give me some advice or have any idea what i can do?? Heres some info on my hardware: (I have Everest installed so i could provide more info if needed)

Field Value
CPU Properties
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 2018 MHz (20 x 101)
CPU Alias Northwood, A80532
CPU Stepping B0
Instruction Set x86, MMX, SSE, SSE2
Original Clock 2000 MHz
Min / Max CPU Multiplier 20x / 20x
Engineering Sample No
L1 Trace Cache 12K Instructions
L1 Data Cache 8 KB
L2 Cache 512 KB (On-Die, ECC, ATC, Full-Speed)

CPU Physical Info
Package Type 478 Pin uPGA
Package Size 3.50 cm x 3.50 cm
Transistors 55 million
Process Technology 6M, 0.13 um, CMOS, Cu, Low-K
Die Size 146 mm2
Core Voltage 1.475 - 1.55 V
I/O Voltage 1.475 - 1.55 V
Typical Power 38.7 - 89.0 W (depending on clock speed)
Maximum Power 49 - 109 W (depending on clock speed)

CPU Manufacturer
Company Name Intel Corporation
Product Information http://www.intel.com/products/browse/processor.htm

CPU Utilization
CPU #1 0 %

Field Value
Motherboard Properties
Motherboard ID 05/21/2002-SiS650-P4S266VX
Motherboard Name Asus P4S266-VX

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 101 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 404 MHz
Bandwidth 3229 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type SiS MuTIOL
Bus Width 16-bit

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 478
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR
RAM Slots 2 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset SiS650

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Product Information http://www.asus.com/products1.aspx?l1=3
BIOS Download http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Field Value
BIOS Properties
BIOS Type Award Medallion
Award BIOS Type Award Modular BIOS v6.0
Award BIOS Message BIOS Revision 1003
System BIOS Date 05/21/02
Video BIOS Date 03/07/20

BIOS Manufacturer
Company Name Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Product Information http://www.phoenix.com/en/products/default.htm
BIOS Upgrades http://www.esupport.com/biosagent/index.cfm?refererid=40

Problems & Suggestions
Suggestion Are you looking for a BIOS Upgrade? Contact eSupport Today!
Suggestion System BIOS is more than 2 years old. Update it if necessary.

 

I think you will find that this is a video card problem. Your card doesn't support the resolution of the screen.
It's a while since I've done this, but I think it goes like this:
An option is to select a resolution that has a similar ratio (1366:768 = 1.779:1, and, for example, 1280:720 = 1.778:1 - very close)
You can then change the display size by going to display settings : right click on desktop>Properties>settings tab>advanced tab, and change the DPI setting to something more suitable (larger or smaller).
Also, some video card software allows you to customise your settings (my NVidia GeForce 8500GT allows this - but it will check on whether the card supports any selected resolution). Look for a Change Resolution setting.
Here is an explanation from another NVIDIA card:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/custom_resolutions.html

 

Thanks for the help but ive tried that and no luck. I still cant get the right resolution so everything isnt squished

 

Interesting. May need more info here.
Which way is it squished - sideways, vertically or both?
What video card do you have?
What OS are you running?
What happens when you try to change the resolution to one of the standard options and when you change the DPI setting? Does it refuse, give an error, pretend that it's done it but doesn't change, or what?

 

The screen is stretched across sideways. Video card is SiS 315 Integrated (i think) OS is Windows XP SP2. When i change resolutions sometimes it will refuse and go black, but most of the time it excepts the new res but it still is stretched across. Changing the DPI does nothing but change the font sizes.

 

The refresh rate is not set to anything higher that 60 right? Maybe bite the bullet and buy a new(ish) video card?

 

yea the refresh rate is 60. I was afraid i would have to get a new video card, which im not crazy about the idea since im not big on gaming or intensive graphics. anyone know of a cheap card i could get?? would i still be able to installed it even if my current video card is integrated into the motherboard??

 

Of course, you'll just have to get into BIOS and disable the integrated one, under the "onboard xxxxx" something something.. it's usually called

What kind of card are you most interested in? I prefer nVidia everyday! ATI sucks donkeys *** when it doesn't work

Although you only have an AGP slot on your mo/bo, so it would be cheaper to get an ATI AGP card rather than upgrading mo/bo just to get a new gfx, but those AGP cards usually screw everything up.. (by experience, I'm standing by what I just wrote)

Where do you live etc.? Thinkin' about prices and sucha' such!

 

I dont really have a preference for what kind of card i want. Like I said im not really into gaming, and the most intensive stuff i do is some photoshop, youtube videos, movies, etc.. So im pretty much looking for the most affordable card i can get that will let me do these things. I live in massachusetts.

Ive shopped a little on newegg, would either of these be compatible??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121310
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125250

 

Okay, well the second one there might be a little overkill I think, since it's a ddr3 memory on it, and that's not necessary, though the first one could have been fine, if it had been an AGP slot-card.. That's a PCI-Express card, and according to your earlier info:


"Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 478
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR
RAM Slots 2 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset SiS650"

It says "Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR", which means you must have an "older" card, look for a card with AGP in the name, some sites even has the option to choose "show AGP cards" - only, something like that.. or just search for it, something like "AGP ddr2 512mb" ..


EDIT: I would probably go for something easy like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102814

Though.. I wouldn't really go get a HD widescreen for such an old computer I don't know, tough decision I might add!

EDIT 2 : Read the reviews! Just a note =)

 

This is the monitor i already have:
http://www1.ap.dell.com/my/en/home/...refid=monitor-dell-in1910nwfp&cs=mydhs1&s=dhs
so I just need a card that is compatible with it

how about something like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3&cm_re=agp_video_card-_-14-187-043-_-Product

again im looking for something as afforable as possible that will work

 

Yeah sorry, I think that the FX5500 should be enough, I checked it out and the spec's says: Maximum Resolution: 1920x1200p
And the monitor can only handle: Maximum Resolution: 1366 x 768 at 60 Hz

So it's a little bit more than enough I would buy it, no doubt!

Though you must remember that it's a pretty slow card, so don't be sad when you can't run certain games etc. IF you would start gaming

 

Here's another video card to look at.

http://3btech.net/chnvge5625ag.html

 

That was even cheaper and better


Just buy it

 

thanks for the help!!