04ctd

Precision is their high end CAD / 3D computer line...

Since most of you are probably the "go to guy" if anyone has a computer problem in your circle of friends.

The DVI port on the back of the box will NOT work, no matter what. The only video connector that will work is the proprietary connector on the Video card.

We got a DELL in, and we worked on it a while. I finally had to call DELL, and he said "all the high end boxes have the onboard video disabled, because you were supposed to use the high end video card"

Turns out, many people have spent days troubleshooting this problem
http://www.edugeek.net/forums/window...-playback.html


DELL's ship with a proprietary "dongle" that either looks like a DVI that is full of pins, or a HDMI looking connector with one square side. You have to use that Dongle to connect your computer to monitor.

Here are some pics of the NVIDIA setup:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI...vip=true&rt=nc


here is the ATI dongle:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-ATI-Eyef...item1c211cc25e

HTH?

bnold

Just ordered a bunch of 3500 workstation boxes, no onboard video. (which I liked). Lots of video card choices, if they used the display port they would always include one adapter. Sometimes I'd have to order another if using 2 or 3 monitors. Cheap so no big.

infidel

After being a loyal Dell customer for years I finally figured out they have planned obsolescence built in so the computer dies or gets slow right after the warranty runs out.
I'm now using homemade computers from the local shop that come without all the needless programs Dell includes, work just as well and cost about the same.
No more Dell for me.

Diesel Dave2

After falling into the IT industry 23 years ago...My brain hurts..

j_martin

I'm with ya. Even though I seem to be a respected "guru", I'm getting tired of the smokey ears.

I'm at the point where the next time I get crap about not doing the impossible on time, I'll walk.

04ctd

that was what surprised me, was none of our "guru's" knew the onboard DVI port was disabled.

turns out, they all built a box from Tiger Direct in the last few months, and none even had a Dell at home.

We have been trashing those dongles for a while, never cared.

i just posted for guys who know enough to be "the go to guy" but not current enough to know about this.

yeah, my brain hurts, they made me an Admin on two of our boxes at work.

Hvytrkmech

First off, shame on you for not digging up info before buying. Secondly the dvi issue is most likely a motherboard issue. For what you spent on that top of the line dell you could have gotten a tower that runs 100 times better with none of the ridiculous bloat ware that comes preinstalled on a dell.

Fronty Owner

is there a setting in the bios to turn the port back on?

Ive been a laptop buy for the last several years, currently running an M4500.

belfert

I've been pretty happy with Dell at home. Every Dell I have purchased I reinstalled the OS as soon as I got it to remove any bloatware. Almost every computer manufacturer installs all that extra crap if you get a major name brand.

We use Dell at work and they work as well as the HP systems we previously had. The only problem has been a lack of Windows 7 drivers. The laptops were replaced by a whole new line right after we bought ours in 2008 and Dell has no Windows 7 support for the model we have. We were supposed to get new laptops this year, but it was pushed back a year to pay for some other major projects.