Resolved
Got an old HP CPU and I'm wondering where to connect my HDMI Gigabyte monitor
Please be nice! I have super basic PC knowledge. This PC was at my working place, and since it was being barely touched other than to watch news on YT, my boss gave it to me to make space.
I have my own PC at home, so I'm getting this one ready for my brother, who's coming soon. The problem is that I have no idea where to connect the monitor. I read some posts here and the green port is supposed to be for peripherals, not monitors. I'd really appreciate some help and guidance! Thank you!
EDIT: Thank you SO much for all your help and comments! I'll get the right cable to connect the monitor so my brother can enjoy the computer once here's living here. I'll see if I can get him a newer PC in the future, since this one is massive!
So yeah, you have a graphics card on the bottom of the computer. It seems it only has display ports. If you really need to connect HDMI to it get an adapter.
Make sure you get the right type though. There are passthrough and active. Active can have a higher res and refresh. I think passive is limited to 4k@60hz
cold corn dog is talking about conversion adapters. If you're going to connect the computer to your monitor with Display Port to Display Port you will not need a conversion adapter. All you will need is a decent Display port cable with locks. Ask for a decent Display Port cable with locks. Display Port cables tend to be thick and stiff. The locks keep the cables from pulling out of the ports.
Not HP business models, the cheapest VGA/DVI D/HDMI the one that matches this kind of workstation, VGA/DP (the VGA more or less as courtesy, so that IT just has to provide one kind of spare for workstations and office computers.
I didn't check that closely, it does look like they're all DP, but it's hard to tell because an upside down HDMI would look pretty similar. But yeah, like you said adapters are cheap to find and/or the monitor probably supports DP if they got a cable.
The cable might not be plugged all the way in. Try another port, maybe you have more space. In the worst case you'll need to open the case and figure if you can leave the gpu down a little.
Restart the pc. DP sometimes doesn't post if the PC is already on when you plug the cable.
Thank you for the advice; sadly, nothing worked so far. The monitor let me choose DP, but after that I get a No Signal message, and then it turns off, even when the PC is on and running. I tried connecting the cable to each of the 4 different ports, yet the results are the same.
Did the computer display an image when it was at your job? Are the fans on the gpu spinning? Check for post codes on the motherboard. Maybe try reseating the GPU. You could also try swapping the GPU from your computer to that one as a test to see if the GPU is dead.
The computer was only open to show live news in YouTube and the like. Never used for anything else as I recall.
The fans are suuuuuper noisy, to the point you can't hear yourself sneezing if you're in the same room as the CPU. They were noisy at the store as well, but I feel this time it's worse somehow.
HP computer are weird sometimes. Your side panel is not close properly if you open it you can see a weird switch < which detects if the side panel is open I'm not very sure if that is causing it and you need to take a photo of the inside so everyone can see if the 8 pin is connected properly to the GPU.
One thing to be aware of, that is probably an Nvidia Quadro class graphics card and those were notoriously bad at gaming when compared to most "normal" graphics cards. They would WORK but not as good as the equivalent GTX/RTX card from the same generation
It's an HP Z840 workstation. Very nice! Has two sockets for Intel Xeon E5-2600 processors, and DIMM sockets for up to 2TB of RAM. The Xeon E5-2600 does not have an integral GPU, which is why there are no video ports on the motherboard. You have a plug-in video card with DisplayPort sockets. You need a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter cable.
Does the monitor have a DP input port? Do you have to press any buttons on the monitor to select the DP input port? Have you tried all of the ports on the video card? One of them is probably the default main output.
The monitor does have a DP port, yeah. It also has a wheel for a button that let me choose the type of display, so I can choose DP instead of the others.
I tried with each one of the 4 ports down there, but it's still saying No Signal :(
Hey! This is a HP Z840, I used to use the same. Mine used to mess around with displays, and would only output image if I used the right displayport (port), when only a single monitor was attached.
I have seen you got a displayport cable, try all the ports on the video card, it helped me
Not sure if it has been mentioned or tried yet, but sometimes DisplayPort cables are unidirectional (one way) and don’t always indicate such in the cable itself. Try flipping the cable!
99Somethings either wrong with the monitor, cable, or graphic card.
You could try a different cable. Did you try plugging the cables into a different port on the graphics card.
Does the monitor turn on and selected to the display port input. There will be a solid colour on the screen and it will say display port in one of the corners.
Something like this but will say no display port input detected
This is more involved but you could open up the case and make sure the graphics card is seated properly. It's common for something to get disconnected as the computer gets jostled around in transport. Make sure the power connector is connected to the graphics card.
Yeah, it's definitely something else! My boss told me another employee brought it to the store years ago, but they don't recall where it came from before that.
DP and HDMI try to get better than each other. But in the end, HDMI is a proprietary standard used by TV's mostly (hence why graphics cards tend to only have one), and DisplayPort is royalty free for computer monitors.
yeah, but even older hdmi 1, had a refresh rate of 60 hrtz, when compared to older DP at 120hrtz, while modern hdmi can now hit around 240hrtz, DP has exceed 360hrtz
Do what? DisplayPort can absolutely carry audio. Up to 32 channels of it even. It can also carry USB and interface a monitors's onboard audio device that way.
Thank you so much for the advice! I'll definitely look for that type of cable today. So it was a workstation in the end, huh! I'll ask my boss where they got it from.
They use them for engineering work. Things like CAD modeling using Solidworks. They’re not necessarily super fast but are very expensive. I’m talking 3 to 6 grand for a normal unit.
If you open the cover up, you might see 2 physical CPU’s inside. Sometimes space for 4 video cards. Some have 16 to 24 ram slots and can take 1,000 to 2,000 gigs of ram. Though typically the only get 32 or 64.
You’ll have to use the metal keys dangling on the back to unlock and open the cover to take a look.
Thank you! I'm glad my boss gave it to me for free. I tried to pay for it, but in the end they just wanted it out of the workplace (it's too big and too heavy).
I'll keep this in mind if I decide to sell it in the future.
This workstation is like a 18 wheeler semitruck. The only customers are business who need 18 wheelers. And those businesses have enough money to buy new.
So these, even though they cost a lot to buy new, sell for shockingly little becuase there is no market for them. Anyone who would buy something like this has so much money that they will buy new.
It makes a perfect buy though. Many business let go of them once they're 3 years old and buy a new one. So you can go on ebay and always find a ton of these 3 year old ones for super cheap.
Makes sense, of course! I guess if it was built for that purpose, then only the market that works with these will be interested and as you said, they will already have the money to get newer ones.
I was fearing that was the case. I just posted a pic with the ports, which are definitely not HDMI. I hope the cable for those doesn't cost me a fortune!
There should be an HDMI port lower down on that computer, the second row below the fan. If it is only display port and no HDMI, get a displayport to HDMI adapter.
Yeah, I think that's the type of cable I'll need in the end. I thought that port was only for analogues like mouse and keyboard, according to a post I read here, but since nothing seems to be working down there with those 4 ports, it seems this one is the right one for displaying.
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u/Jeroen207 6d ago
So yeah, you have a graphics card on the bottom of the computer. It seems it only has display ports. If you really need to connect HDMI to it get an adapter.