How do i find out what is the biggest graphics card will my computer hold my computer is dell dimension 5100

Your graphics card may not be able to display this screen resolution.
Open Control Panel - Display - Settings tab and move the slider on the Screen resolution - to get as close to 1800 X 900 then click apply.

check your PSU / power supply if its not working, then if its not working you should replace it. Then your good to go.

open left side of computer (after shutting it down and disconnecting it)locate the graphics card, its the one your monitor connect to,disconnect monitor cable from board remove little screw holding card to back frame and ease card out replace with new one put it all back together and start pc up if it asks give it the software disk that comes with new card and follow the instructions.

According to the manual this indicates a possible failure of the graphics card. The solutions from your manual: • If the computer has a graphics card, remove the
card, reinstall it (see page 71), and then restart
the computer.
• If the problem still exists, install a graphics card
that you know works and restart the computer.
• If the problem persists or the computer has
integrated graphics, contact Dell (see page 116).

The manual is available as a PDF at:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/SYSTEMS/dim5100/en/om/T8144bk2.pdf

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

hi there, it may not be the mother board, it may be that the graphics card doesn't have the drivers for your system. Bring it to a computer shop and they will install the drivers for you.

Hi there. Get the drivers from Dell support here >>>>>>> http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=DIMENSION%205100&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid= Good luck and thanks for choosing FixYa!!

the computer has one PCI-Express slot (x16) which will take most of the latest video cards out there.

All you have to worry about if you buy a brand new card for it, in the 200-500 price range is does your computer have a good enough powersupply?

the computer comes with a 300W powersupply, which you might need to upgrade to w500 or more,

600W powersupply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036

that one will go a long away, you should be able to keep the powersupply even if you decide to upgrade the cpu/memory and the motherboard, making it a brand new computer, the powersupply has enought juice to power it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=ati+radeon+4830
theres a 512MB and 1024MB cards. look around for cheaper deals if you want a smaller card with less memory.

Your RAM is expandable to 4GB. 400-MHz and 533-MHz DDR2 unbuffered SDRAM is your type.
For your graphics card, you may use either a PCI slot or PCIeX slot. You'll get the best performance if you use the PCUeXpress slot.Price would be determined by the vendor from which you purchase it. Installation is as simple as installing the drivers from the CD that comes with it and pushing the card into the slot after you have turned off the PC and removed the cover. Instructions for that can be found at
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim5100/en/sm/index.htm
I use nVidia cards myself and find them reliable and easy to configure. Let me know if you have any other questions. Please rate my answer.

If under warranty contact Dell? I had this same problem, a new motherboard and fan assembly fixed this problem. Bad capacitors on the motherbard.

most of them typ are pci-e express