Old PC - ATI Radeon HD 3000 - 69 pin connector - New Monitor - How to get a 1920 x 1080 resolution

[MostafaSaad]

Hi there! I have a weird problem that I think needs someone that's a bit tech-savyy, which is something I'm not. 

Okay, thanks to COVID, I got to take my work PC to home so I could keep working on it instead of my laptop, but it also came with the same trashy display we used at the office (an old 19 inch dell display that sucks for all the reasons), so I treated myself - since we're going to be working from home for a while, to a curved 27 inch samsung display (it's around $190 here in egypt, and by far the cheapest large monitor I could find) 

Unfortunately, I have now discovered that the PC can't display a 1920 x 1080p resolution to the monitor. After a week of trying EVERY solution I could find with the drivers and stuff, It's still stuck at a list of resolutions that are all 4:3 ratios (1600 x 1200 - 1792 x 1344 - etc). I currently think that the problem actually lies with the 69 pin connector which is the only output to the display from the PC. 

The Graphics card in the PC is an ATI RADEON HD 3450, but the display options in the control panel show the display is connected to Microsoft basic display, so I'm not even sure what's going on here. 

Here is my question: What can I do now? The screen looks stretched and horrible, and it's totally the PC's problem. I've tried connecting the monitor to my laptop and it works wonderfully, but I can't do my work all day on my laptop as I need the work PC to access crucial work files and app

I'm looking for any solution. Can I get another graphics card? what can I do?

P.S: My work isn't really that demanding, so this PC - even though old and crappy - will do fine for now, and I'm planning to get an actually good PC in a couple of months, hopefully, once I've saved up. 

All solutions welcome. Any help appreciated.  

[Kilrah]

Seems the graphics drivers aren't installed.

[Applefreak]

I agree with @Kilrah you need to install the ATi / AMD Radeon Graphics driver first.

[MostafaSaad]

6 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Seems the graphics drivers aren't installed.

They are installed, I removed and installed them a couple of times. 

[TrigrH]

1 minute ago, MostafaSaad said:

They are installed, I removed and installed them a couple of times. 

https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/amd-radeon-hd/ati-radeon-hd-3000-series/ati-radeon-hd-3450

[MostafaSaad]

Here is the advanced display settings. 

 

[Kilrah]

See what resolutions are available in the ATI control panel, might also be able to create a custom one if there's nothing suitable.

[MostafaSaad]

2 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/amd-radeon-hd/ati-radeon-hd-3000-series/ati-radeon-hd-3450

I have tried installing the Win 8 - 64 bit and the Win 7 versions, twice, each!, nothing changed at all. 

[MostafaSaad]

2 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

See what resolutions are available in the ATI control panel, might also be able to create a custom one if there's nothing suitable.

Catalyst control center installs fine, but never launches. 

[GorujoCY]

17 minutes ago, MostafaSaad said:

Catalyst control center installs fine, but never launches. 

are you by any chance connected via DVI-D instead of HDMI and stuff?

[MostafaSaad]

2 minutes ago, GorujoCY said:

are you by any chance connected via DVI-D instead of HDMI and stuff?

The IT guy, who knows nothing about IT, said it's a " 69-pin connector" but I'm pretty sure it's a DVI-D connector. It's definitely not HDMI. 

[GorujoCY]

2 minutes ago, MostafaSaad said:

The IT guy, who knows nothing about IT, said it's a " 69-pin connector" but I'm pretty sure it's a DVI-D connector. It's definitely not HDMI. 

then yeah it probably is DVI. DVI and VGA Have actually a limit when it comes to resolution, you can try telling them to connect via HDMI

[MostafaSaad]

Just now, GorujoCY said:

then yeah it probably is DVI, VGA Have actually a limit when it comes to resolution, you can try telling them to connect via HDMI

I tried discussing the problem with him but he straight up told me to "work with what I've got". It's a shitty company, I know. Unfortunately, there are no other ports on the PC to which I can connect to. 

[MostafaSaad]

Is there like a converter or something? Or is it the port itself that's limited? Can I add a graphics card or something? or should I just give up on the whole thing and "work with what I've got" ? 

[GorujoCY]

Just now, MostafaSaad said:

Is there like a converter or something? Or is it the port itself that's limited? Can I add a graphics driver? or should I just give up on the whole thing and "work with what I've got" ? 

try to buy a cheap hdmi if you got some money laying around, assuming the radeon hd 3000 has hdmi which I think it does but idk if you can...

[MostafaSaad]

1 minute ago, GorujoCY said:

try to buy a cheap hdmi if you got some money laying around, assuming the radeon hd 3000 has hdmi which I think it does but idk if you can...

I'm not sure what do you mean by buy an HDMI? 

[GorujoCY]

Just now, MostafaSaad said:

I'm not sure what do you mean by buy an HDMI? 

oh buy an hdmi cable, I'm gonna research whenever the radeon hd 3000 has hdmi or not

[MostafaSaad]

1 minute ago, GorujoCY said:

oh buy an hdmi cable, I'm gonna research whenever the radeon hd 3000 has hdmi or not

I have one, that's not the issue, the issue is that there is no HDMI port on the PC. 

[GorujoCY]

3 minutes ago, MostafaSaad said:

I have one, that's not the issue, the issue is that there is no HDMI port on the PC. 

Yeah I have done a research, the ATI only has DVI, and a quick google of "DVI Maximum resolution" will tell you that you can only output up to 1920 x 1200 so you are limited to that

[MostafaSaad]

2 minutes ago, GorujoCY said:

Yeah I have done a research, the ATI only has DVI, and a quick google of "DVI Maximum resolution" will tell you that you can only output up to 1920 x 1200 so you are limited to that

Okay, now can I swap this for a better graphics card? 

[GorujoCY]

2 minutes ago, MostafaSaad said:

Okay, now can I swap this for a better graphics card? 

you can yeah, if you want a graphics cards that's new in condition, very cheap (not to mention it doesn't draw as mich as gaming graphics card) and has an hdmi port, I would go with the GT 710 but remember to DDU your current driver before you place the GPU

[MostafaSaad]

Just now, GorujoCY said:

you can yeah, if you want a graphics cards that's new, very cheap and has an hdmi port, I would go with the GT 710 but remember to DDU your current driver before you place the GPU

That seems like a good solution, but again, what do you mean by "DDU your current graphics driver" :') ? 

[MostafaSaad]

6 minutes ago, GorujoCY said:

you can yeah, if you want a graphics cards that's new in condition, very cheap (not to mention it doesn't draw as mich as gaming graphics card) and has an hdmi port, I would go with the GT 710 but remember to DDU your current driver before you place the GPU

Also, how can I know if it will be compatible with the CPU, ram, and motherboard? In other words; I don't know what I currently don't know, so what do I need to know before making the purchase and trying the swap? 

[GorujoCY]

12 minutes ago, MostafaSaad said:

That seems like a good solution, but again, what do you mean by "DDU your current graphics driver" :') ? 

ok so:

Here's my recommendation for a gt 710:

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GT-710-1GD3H-LPV1/dp/B01DOFD3RY/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=gt+710&qid=1609510424&sr=8-3

Now DDU is actually a free software, it stands for "Display Driver Uninstaller", it uninstalls your previous graphics driver, this is actually useful if you are having issues and if you are changing your gpu to another brand let's say

Edited January 1, 2021 by GorujoCY
I change my mind, get the passive cooled one

[GorujoCY]

3 minutes ago, MostafaSaad said:

Also, how can I know if it will be compatible with the CPU, ram, and motherboard? In other words; I don't know what I currently don't know, so what do I need to know before making the purchase and trying the swap? 

I don't think you'll need to worry about anything else, just keep in mind to where the pcie slot is and plan on whenever you will need to open those expansion holes slot things for the pcie or you are going to put it to where the radeon hd was previously and you won't need to do anything else other than placing the gpu there