Dell Dimension 3000 not allowing 1920x1080 resolution with new Dell 24" monitor

[1jason2]

Hey guys,

I just got a new Dell 24" monitor ST2410 that has higher resolution than my 19" that just burned out.  However, I can't get it to work.  I've downloaded the proper drivers and everything seemed to have worked but I still can't use the higher resolution.  I contacted Dell support for help and they finally came to the same conclusion as I had that my video card or something on my computer, now years old, will not allow for any higher resolution than 1280x1024.  My graphics are Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and it says that it's monitor supported modes are from 640x480 all the way up to 1920x1080 under the system information.  But it won't work.  So if it doesn't work what do I have to do as far as installing new hardware to be able to do such?  What do you recommend and who do you recommend do the work or is it something I can do myself?  About how much will it cost, etc?  Thanks for your help.

Edit:  My buddy has an older dimension desktop and he never had an issue with his when he bought a couple much higher resolution monitors.  Also, if I'm not giving enough info on this don't hesitate to ask for more if you think you can give the answer.  I can give service tag and stuff like that if needed.  Thanks a ton to whoever can help out a noobie.

[Azzaboi]

It's most likely due to the refresh rate, if your like me fast-pase gaming is better with a high refresh rate 75+.
(How many times if refreshs the screen with an image)

Default is however set to 60 on most monitors, which looks fine to the average eye,
it is normal that flat screens can't support high resolution as well as a high refresh rate. You're limited to 1280x1024 max resolution if refresh > 60.

Set your refresh rate to 60, apply, then raise your resolution. It will be under your advance settings options for the monitor.

Control Panel > Display > Resolution > Advance Settings > Monitor > Refresh Rate

If not, the other limits are either the monitor or graphic card.
Is your monitor wide screen or not? 1920 x 1200 might be a better resolution.

Your Intel Extreme Graphics 2 is a built-in graphics card, to make the most out of higher resolution in games I recommend going for an actual graphic card from Nvidia or ATi, etc. You might lag out otherwise at those resolutions mainly because your sharing system memory and it's slower to store large textures. Major performance increase buying a decent graphic card.

[1jason2]

Thanks Azzaboi,

Here's what happened with your advice and now I need more, lol.  I got the resolution to take and it now goes all the way to 1920x1200.  However, my desktop background and taskbar now go off the screen when I max out resolution.  I did what you said and changed the refresh rate to 60 but now have this issue.  I'm hoping it's something easy to fix so if you got the solution let me know.  Basically everything goes right and down off the viewable screen.  I tried to reconfigure the desktop and recenter it but it didn't seem to work.  Thanks man.

My more pc literate buddy and I talked on the phone about it and he talked me through making sure we were using the recommended driver by going through the system properties/hardware/device manager/etc and the wizard thing said the best driver was being used and wouldn't let us make any changes that he thought may be necessary. 

[Azzaboi]

That probably leads into my question 'Is your monitor wide screen or not?', I was assuming you had wide screen.

Most of those higher resolutions are designed for wide screen monitors.

640x480 / 800x600 / 1024x768 / 1280x1024 etc are normal screen sizes.
1920x1200 is wider than it is high compared to those. 1200 would have to be larger or 1920 reduced.

1600x1200 would be suitable for a standard screen.

If still issues, make sure you do not have duel monitor setup?


For your new resolution: Open up notepad with some text or any text document and you can tell easily if it stretchs the image, looks weird or blurry, etc.

You can right-click the desktop and View > Align Icons by Grid and Auto-arrange, or move them to where you want. Resize them and text if needed.

Last step is replacing the wallpaper, never stretch a wallpaper background, this slows your computers loading. Get or resize a picture the same size as your screen resolution or simply center the image.

[1jason2]

Yes, it's a widescreen.  I'm pretty sure it's on a single monitor set up and not dual as I saw that before as I was looking around and it was checked on single monitor set up.  The monitor I have is the Dell ST2410 which was advertised as having a max resolution of 1920x1080 but after having changed the refresh rate as you suggested my new resolution options are 800x600, 1024x768, 1152x864, 1280x768, 1280x1024, 1200x1600 and 1920x1200.  I usually do resize images for the background and then just center them like you said so that they don't look all screwy.  The 1200x1600 still goes off the screen too.  I thought maybe I'd have to play with the monitor itself and all of it's settings and maybe shrink it back or something?   

[Allan]

Are you connected via DVI or analog?

[1jason2]

Pretty sure Analog.

[Allan]

Well, then that's the issue. If you have the option to use DVI then you should. The screen images will adjust to your display size automatically. But with analog you may have to use the manual adjustments on your display for each resolution setting to fit the image properly. Once set, the display should "remember" them as you switch among the various resolutions.

[1jason2]

Dumb question then.  How do I change it to DVI instead?  Thanks.

[Allan]

Assuming both your video card and display have DVI ports, just connect with a DVI cable.

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

[1jason2]

So is that something that I will have go purchase separately or do you recommend anything specific.  This is a first for me so please excuse my lack of knowledge, haha.  There is a spot on the back of the monitor for a DVI-0 plugin.  So do I plug a new cable in there and then into the same spot on the back of my tower or can I used the same cable I have?  Thanks.

[Allan]

1) Your video card must support DVI
2) You need a DVI cable

[1jason2]

OK so I guess my last question is how do I check to verify that the video card I have supports DVI so that I know to either get a new one or just the cable.  Thanks a ton Allan. 

[Allan]

See if it has a dvi port.

[1jason2]

I don't see a DVI port on the back of my computer so I guess I'm up a creek without a paddle heh?