do you have the pci express in the slot then if you have it enabled as "Initial Display First"? I read earlier you did not plan on doing that but the motherboard may not like that. i would try if you haven't tried this already to install both in there and hook up to only the pci card. either that or enable onbord video first and then install only the pci card and hook up to that only. btw the software drivers have nothing to do with it when it initally boots up but when the operating system comes into the picture. anyway hope it works for you. imo it is not a faulty pci bus/slot you have, just a configuration/compatibility issue. if your motherboard is faulty it most likely would not even start to begin with or beep every time you turn it on. im not an expert though so take with a grain of salt.
1.) I do not believe that there is a feature in my BIOS that allows me to enable/disable the PCI bus controller. As it is, I am showing no hardware conflicts in "Device Manager". 2.) Yes, I did not originally have the PCI-Express enabled as my "Initial Display First". It is now. But I am still unable to power-up the machine when the GeForce 6200 is installed in one of the PCI-slots and the PCI-Express slot is empty. 3.) True, about the only thing I haven't tried is installing the GeForce 6200 all by itself and having the "Initial Display First" set to onboard integrated video. However, I'm not really sure if that would really be of any help in the info gathering department. 4.) The G33 motherboard for my Dell Vostro-400 is 32-bit. The eVGA GeForce 6200 PCI slot card supports 32-bit interface. 5.) My issue is being forwarded to the engineering department at Dell. It is apparent ( if not obvious ) to me that Dell does not have much experience with trader "types" such as myself that are interested in adding a 3rd monitor to a Dell system. As it is, they are unable to give me a definitive answer as to whether or not this particular motherboard (G33) will support an additional PCI graphics card. In the meantime, they are sending out a tech early next week to install a new motherboard.
There would not be a switch in the BIOS to disable/enable PCI Bus. However, if you were using a PCI card as the primary/only, you'd need to select "PCI Video as Primary/First" in BIOS... also, you'd want to disable the "onbaord video" if it wasn't done automatically.
Understood. That would literally be the ONLY configuration that I have yet to try, as I believe that I still had "PCI-Express" enabled as my "Initial Display First" instead of what Dell calls the "PCI-slot" option. It is interesting to note that what Dell calls the "PCI-slot" option ( in the "Initial Display First" category of the Advanced Chipset Feature portion of the BIOS is actually the "integrated" onboard video. I claim this because under this category there is a setting to change the video memory from 1 mb to 8mb. Either, or.
"2.) Yes, I did not originally have the PCI-Express enabled as my "Initial Display First". It is now. But I am still unable to power-up the machine when the GeForce 6200 is installed in one of the PCI-slots and the PCI-Express slot is empty. " no i am saying you should have it there then. pci and pci express. either that config or pci card and onboard video enabled. other than that let the dell folks take care of. seems like it is not worth the stress of trying to figure it out. they should know right away what it is especially if it is a common problem(pci bus compatibilty problems etc). btw 16 32 bit does not matter. pci bus/pci express bus are standards(ieee prob) the fact you have a pci bus there should mean it work with a pci card. "It is interesting to note that what Dell calls the "PCI-slot" option ( in the "Initial Display First" category of the Advanced Chipset Feature portion of the BIOS is actually the "integrated" onboard video. I claim this because under this category there is a setting to change the video memory from 1 mb to 8mb. Either, or." that is because the onboard video uses shared physical memory therfore utilizing the pci bus. that is why is is slower.
My BIOS only provides for one setting. It does not allow for any kind of sequence. I currently have the "Initial Display First" set at: PCI-Express
i am not talking about the sequence but having the actual cards themselves installed. same time. pci card and pci express card installed. how about this? what happens if you have no pci or pci express cards installed. does it boot up? if not then try putting them both in at the same time.
Jeff, the computer never powered "on" with both cards installed. That has been the issue from the very beginning. Also, the computer will not power "on" with only the 6200 PCI slot card installed. ( for what it's worth, the card is fine because it worked in my old Dell Dimension 8300 with no issues whatsoever ). The computer will only power "on" with the 8600 GTS PCI-Express (16x) installed.
Ok my apologies for misunderstanding. I don't know... it makes no sense to me. ok im sure you maybe tried this but lastly.... did you try to put both cards in with the bios configured with the pci express setting? that is all i can think of. Well I hope that the dell tech guy can solve your problem.