Windows does not recognise GPU and NVIDIA driver refuses to install

After reinstalling Windows (moving from 7 to 8) on a Dell Dimension E520, Windows does not recognise the GPU. It's a GeForce 7300 LE.

The hardware IDs listed in the device manager are:

• PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71A7&SUBSYS_01871043&REV_00


• PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71A7&SUBSYS_01871043


• PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71A7&CC_038000


• PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71A7&CC_0380

The device instance path listed in the device manager is: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71A7&SUBSYS_01871043&REV_00\4&3886766A&0&0108

According to this PCI database, it's detected as an ATI RADEON X1300/X1550 Series Secondary.

I've downloaded the 307.83 driver for Windows 7 32-bit, which is the latest version with support for this card. There are no Windows 8 drivers available but these should work from what I've read, the system is Windows 8.1 32-bit. It refuses to install and displays this message:

This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware

I've tried modifying C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\307.83\Win8_WinVista_Win7\International\Display.Driver\nv_dispi.inf (the only .inf file in that directory) to append lines after the original lines for this card, as recommended by various pages on the internet:

%NVIDIA_DEV.01D1%           = Section001, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_01D1
%NVIDIA_DEV.01D1.01%           = Section001, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71A7&SUBSYS_01871043&REV_00\4&3886766A&0&0108
...
NVIDIA_DEV.01D1 = "NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE"
NVIDIA_DEV.01D1.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE - modified INF"

Sadly, this did not help. What can I do at this point?

Answer

If those are your hardware IDs, then you definitely do not have a GeForce 7300 LE. You have a AMD/ATI Radeon X1000 series.

Most likely there's no support for this on Windows 8. Your best chance is the Vista 32-bit driver from Dell. If the installer fails, try extracting the contents and using the Device Manager to install it manually by browsing to the location you extracted to.