# [SOLVED] Alienware M5500i-R3



## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

Hi i am trying to figure out what graphics card that i have in my system i prefer to not open it as im not that comfertable doing so.. anyways i looked on dxdiag all it says is 
Name: Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Manufacturer: (Standard display types)
Chip Type: Nvidia
Dac Type: 8 bit
Approx. Total memory: N/a

i tried going to the Nvidia site and used the tool to let them look to see what graphics card i have all that came up was this 


Product: Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Current Installed Driver:16.38
Latest Driver Update: The manufacturer of this system requires that you download the driver for your GPU from their support site.

I do have the cds that came with it it gives me 2 choices for nvidia cards Nvidia Drviers for 6600 and for 7600 i tried them both but neither was able to work saying The Nvidia Setup Program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current software. Setup will now exit.

Not sure if this will help with finding the Graphics Card but here are my comps stats

Alienware M5500i-R3
Windows Vista
Processor Intel Core 2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz 2.00Ghz
Memory 2046mb
System Type 32-bit Operating System

dont know if the graphics card in it is the original or not bought it off of ebay 

thanks in advanced for any help that i recieve

Ps on an odd note the cd did come with ATI video Driver that i did try to when i installed it it did seem to help as previously the internet would be "jerky" when trying to use but after i did the ati one which i believe just installed the catalyst fixed that and the internet is working fine now but still have no clue about what my graphics card is mainly trying to get the correct drivers installed to get DirectDraw Accelleration to work would like to play some games on this comp :x


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## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Open Device Manager and post what you have listed under Display Adapters.

Are there any other driver errors or unknown devices listed in Device Manager?

Have you tried installing the graphics driver from the manufacturer website?

Install and run *AIDA64 Extreme Edition *then post the report back here


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Thanks ^^ found it in Aida64 appearently its a nVidia Geforce 8600m GT


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Well i have another problem now its not letting me install the drivers i downloaded them from both the nvidia site and alienware site its saying The Graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware. pretty sure i know the answer but is it that the graphics im getting off of the motherboard and the graphics card basically toast? and if so anyone know if by chance a Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 Ultra would fit/work in my alienware its from a dell xps m170


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

well im pretty sure i figured out i cant use my geforce go 6800 in my alienware and im pretty sure that the thing thats showing in dxdiag is the onboard graphics though what im not 100% on is if the 8600m gt is bad or not i would think if its bad it shouldnt even show up in aida though thats just a hunch tried going into f2 to see if i can activate the pci slot first instead of the onboard graphics didnt see any way of doing that i saw pci in there under advanced but it wouldnt let me move it to a slot and also tried to change it through properties again no go :x


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

bump any input would be greatly apprieciated


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## makinu1der2 (Jan 1, 2008)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Post the AIDA64 report.


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*











Let me know if you need any other photos ^^


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

ive been searching appearently i have to be on bios version 2.06 for that video card to work with my pc im currently on 1.00 :x im going to update the bios and see if that fixes the issue once im done ill post back here


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

still no go and tried to install older drivers for the video card the older drivers did let me install but its still not working properly showing the standard VGA graphics adapter like before


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Any and all drivers for any OEM PC/laptop need to be downloaded from the manufacturer's site. 
Uninstall the graphics drivers and install the latest version from the manufacturer's site.


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

The reason for installing older drivers is because the new drivers would not install saying couldnt find any compatible devices i've read on other sites with people having similar issues with this comp that the were able to work around this and get it fixed by installing older drivers for the graphics card as they had the same problem that the new drivers wouldnt let them install


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Older drivers are fine as long as they are downloaded from the manufacturer.


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## cl0udedth0ught (Sep 29, 2004)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Another way to tell is to just open up the case and take a picture of the internals and post it on here. The video card will be the one that your monitor cable plugs into. The card may have its make and model written on it. I know you said you didn't want to open it up but it isn't very difficult and you can't hurt anything if you don't touch any of the components inside. Just a thought.

Good Luck


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

ive already determined that its a nvidia Geforce 8600m GT from aida and i did open it i removed the graphics card and cleaned the conecectors and replaced it back in the system its the same as before it still shows up in aida but in dxdiag its still only showing the Standard VGA Graphics Adaptar


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## hiddendennis (Jun 4, 2011)

*Re: Alienware M5500i-R3*

Ehh im no longer really worried about this im just going to assume its a defective graphics card i just bought this off of ebay basically from a "store" seller they do accept returns within 30days so im just going to return this comp and find a different one. I do appriciate all the help i recieved. Thanks ^^


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