graphics cards

I have a 6 year old Dell XPS 8300 with new hard drive, PSU and monitor,keyboard and mouse. When it breaks I will get another and not sink money in this one. I can use some of the parts.

The graphics card, NVidia, is horizontal and works OK.

I also have a similar port which is vertical but do not know what it is there for.

Is the one I am not using the integrated card?

If I plugged my DVI cable into it would I have to make any adjustments in order to be able to see my monitor or would it be visible as is?

Also, how do I know what cable I have. I used to have a VGA but got DVI when the old monitor failed. I do know whether it is DVI-I or some other type I have read about like DVI-R. Does it matter when I get another PC as long as it is DVI?

How could I tell if I have HDMI?

I am asking b/c I am a bit elderly & ill and have trouble with mobility or I would do some experimenting.

Thank you
Peter

I've attached an edited picture (from the XPS 8300 setup guide) with the onboard HDMI port outlined in red. (It's the rear input/output panel.) There is also a VGA (mini 15 pin) graphics port in the I/O panel. Those are the integrated graphics.

I don't know which nVidia graphics card that you have. Common video interfaces are VGA, HDMI, VGA and Display Port (or mini Display Port).

I'm not highly familiar with DVI, but the common ones are DVI-I (integrated, with both digital and analog signals) and DVI-D (digital only). If a cheap DVI to VGA adapter works, then the port is DVI-I. (VGA is analog.) There is also dual-link DVI, required for high resolutions (like 2560X1600).

This seems to be a reasonably good article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

If you wanted to switch to the integrated graphics, you might have to remove the separate graphics card. The Dell BIOS might be capable of switching to the integrated graphics if nothing was plugged into the nVidia card, but I wouldn't bet on that.

The nVidia card probably has better performance than the integrated graphics, so it'd be best to stay with that if you can.

If you wish to connect your PC to a monitor that only has an HDMI input, and the nVidia card has only a DVI port, there are cheap DVI-to-HDMI adapter cables. Example:


https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...ds=dvi+to+hdmi

HDMI includes audio, while DVI does not, but other than that it ought to work. (I've never done it myself, though.)

I guess it is best to bring my cable in when buying the next desktop. The cable that came with the monitor is blue on each end. I guess it depends upon the number of pins. Both blue ends look like the VGA I used to have as you screw them in on their sides. The monitor does not have VGA so they cannot be that and both have to be DVI-I or DVI-D I guess.
I wish I knew if I had DVI-I or DVI-D but either would work I guess with a new PC.
Thank you for the explanation.

maranna said:

I guess it is best to bring my cable in when buying the next desktop. The cable that came with the monitor is blue on each end. I guess it depends upon the number of pins. Both blue ends look like the VGA I used to have as you screw them in on their sides. The monitor does not have VGA so they cannot be that and both have to be DVI-I or DVI-D I guess.
I wish I knew if I had DVI-I or DVI-D but either would work I guess with a new PC.
Thank you for the explanation.

That seems very strange. A VGA cable is a mini D connector with 15 pins (3 rows of 5). None of the other connectors look much like that. DVI is closest in appearance, but still not very close.

If you can download the setup guide (it's a .PDF), there's an illustration of the graphics connectors on page 9:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/...s-8300/manuals

If you want believe the Wikipedia article, the setup guide isn't completely accurate, because the pinouts it shows for the DVI ports are dual link DVI-D. If you can connect a VGA monitor with a simple passive, cable, the DVI output has to be some sort of DVI-I (or DVI-A, which I have never seen in the real world).

I reached as far as I could and it seems I have made an error. It looks like the cable is VGA on both ends and there is a DVI port also on the monitor. I think I remember getting it this way so if I got a new PC it wold have the DVI port.
I can't get to see the back of the monitor totally so could it be that the monitor has two ports- DVI and VGA while the PC is VGA from the beginning?

So now it is VGA to VGA and if new anew cable would be DVI to DVI .
I am really sorry for throwing you off.
Is there a way to tell if the DVI port is I or D without removing and counting pins?

maranna said:

I reached as far as I could and it seems I have made an error. It looks like the cable is VGA on both ends and there is a DVI port also on the monitor. I think I remember getting it this way so if I got a new PC it wold have the DVI port.
I can't get to see the back of the monitor totally so could it be that the monitor has two ports- DVI and VGA while the PC is VGA from the beginning?

So now it is VGA to VGA and if new anew cable would be DVI to DVI .
I am really sorry for throwing you off.
Is there a way to tell if the DVI port is I or D without removing and counting pins?

I suppose that you could get a cheap passive DVI-I to VGA adapter. If it works with you VGA cable, then the port is DVI-I.

That's not a serious suggestion - it wouldn't be much easier than looking at the connector on the graphics card.

I doubt that you'd need to know. I'd expect a new monitor to work with DVI-I or DVI-D. The only concern I'd have is if you went with a high resolution monitor that required a dual link DVI connection. According to the Wikipedia article, single link is OK up through 1920 X 1200 at 60 Hz. (Common monitors are 1920 X 1080.)

Thanks for letting me know it is DVI-I. I hope a new PC would work with this monitor as I only got it about 6 months ago.

If it is a fairly new monitor (you say about 6 months) then there should also be an HDMI jack in the back as well. HDMI has been the standard for several years.

Great, thank you.