# Everyone's Favorite: PC hardware compatibility question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 26, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298 "2003-03-26T15:46:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/1 "2003-03-26T15:46:06Z")
Gah! It’s been two months now after I dropped my PC, and after replacing the MB/CPU/cdrw/HD, now I seem to have an incompatible video card…
Can someone tell me if a 64MB DDR Radeon card is compatible with a Socket 478 P4 2.5GHz MB/CPU? My monitor says “no signal” when I turn my PC on.
Is there a site that one could use to find compatibility charts? There should be…
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### Author:  [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/2 "2003-03-26T16:53:15Z")
What is the motherboard’s brand and model? Most manufacturers list compatible video cards on their websites.
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### Author:  [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/3 "2003-03-26T16:58:09Z")
Every VGA video card in the known universe can handle a text-mode signal (such as the one you get at power-up that says things like “hit del to enter BIOS setup”) from any motherboard that has the proper type of slot for it (AGP, PCI, etc). Are you getting any beep-codes?
-lv
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### Author:  [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/4 "2003-03-26T18:08:23Z")
I’m not sure what brand this mb is, I got it as a mb/cpu combo from [pricewatch.com](http://pricewatch.com). Here’s a page that shows the motherboard:
[http://www.ecsusa.com/products/p4vxasd2\_v5\_plus.html](http://www.ecsusa.com/products/p4vxasd2_v5_plus.html)
No beep codes, everything seems fine, except my monitor doesn’t get a signal.
after looking at the manual, I think it’s a VIA board.
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### Author:  [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/5 "2003-03-26T18:19:09Z")
Do you have speakers plugged in to the audio out port? Some MBs with integrated sound actually use that for beep codes (or even voice messages) instead of the internal speaker.
Basically, you shouldn’t even get a “no signal” message on your moniter with the PC turned off, as long as all connections are made property, unless something is seriously wrong.
-lv
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### Author:  [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/6 "2003-03-26T18:47:55Z")
My speaker plugs are connected to the sound card, so that shouldn’t be an issue. When I get home I’ll mess with it some more - it’s probably something I’m overlooking. Don’t know what, though. Thanks for the help
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### Author:  [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/7 "2003-03-26T18:54:33Z")
Wasn’t there a AGP voltage “problem” or something different with P4 boards and “older” video cards?
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/8 "2003-03-26T21:41:54Z")
Is [url=http://www.directron.com/15agpguide.html]this[/ur] what you’re talking about, **bernse**? The site says the following ATI cards should work with newer motherboards:
> [@](#):
>
> ATI Radeon DDR
> ATI Radeon 7000/7200/7500/8500/8500LE/9000/9500/9700
> ATI ALL-IN-WONDER Radeon/ALL
Since the OP said he has a Radeon with 64MB DDR, I’m assuming his is one of these models.
I had a friend with the same problem as the OP (including the "No Signal message when it was connected), also with a brand new video card and mobo in a system he was building himself. He tried everything he could think of. He had me look at it. He took it into school and had a computer instructor look at it.
He tried other video cards on his board and got the same error. He tried putting his new video card on my motherboard and it worked. He decided that something must have been seriously wrong with the motherboard and was able to get a refund.
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/9 "2003-03-26T21:43:37Z")
[Fixed link](http://www.directron.com/15agpguide.html) to page about the AGP voltage issues.
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### Author:  [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/10 "2003-03-28T05:14:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Is this what you’re talking about, bernse?
Maybe… I dunno
🙂
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### Author:  [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/11 "2003-03-28T15:03:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> you shouldn’t even get a “no signal” message on your moniter with the PC turned off, as long as all connections are made property, unless something is seriously wrong.
That’s not entirely true. On my system (which works fine), I can get a ‘no signal’ message with everything connected (power and video signal). Though only after unplugging something or another’s power cord or other unusual circumstances, and only until the computer is turned on. But it is possible, so don’t trash your MB or card just because you have gotten a ‘no signal’ message.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everyones-favorite-pc-hardware-compatibility-question/164298/12 "2003-03-28T15:56:58Z")
If the power supply doesn’t put out enough voltage you can get lights on & the HD light on, etc, but so picture… happened to me two times & I had to put in a new power supply.
another thing is that the bios might think you have another type of video card in there, did you try to clear the bios settings? like see if it has a safe boot mode?