Compaq Presario CQ5300F No Display From HD Wide Screen Monitor

      Gentlemen,

   I have a Compaq Presario CQ5300F with a AMD Sempron LE - 1300 processor and 2 GB of ram running Win7x64. The graphics are provided by an integrated GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 with driver version 8.17.11.9739

   I just got a 23-inch Samsung SyncMaster widescreen monitor with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 from a thrift store (model # S23A350H) and tried it out via the VGA input (VGA is the only output connection offered by the GPU) and get nothing but a black screen. The monitor searches both the digital and analog inputs for a viable signal, apparently doesn't find one, shuts the backlight off and just sits there with nothing on but the power indicator.

   I've read a lot of posts on various sites as to whether the GPU is capable of supporting a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Some say yes, others say no (sigh).

   Samsung says that the monitor is supposed to be plug 'n play, and that the monitor driver is just for identifying the monitor as "SyncMaster" etc., as opposed to "generic plug ,n play monitor". I doubt that it would take a nearly 8MB driver just to do that!

   Anyway, what I'm thinking of doing is to update the GPU driver to the newest version available (the installed version was automatically downloaded from Windows Update when the computer was first set up) and install the monitor driver. The current list of available resolutions does not include 1920 x 1080, so I figure one of those drivers might add support for it.

   The monitor runs what Samsung describes as a sucessful self-diagnostic, but I have no way of finding out what options it was set for previously since the "up" and "down" navigation buttons on the monitor don't seem to work, making the OSD menu useless.

   If I install the monitor driver, will that take effect immediately, trying to force the old non-HD monitor to accept settings it was never designed for? Or will it just add the monitor identifiers to a list that Windows consults when it boots in order to provide the installed monitor the parameters that it needs to operate properly?I can't do anything that would threaten to screw up the old monitor since I need at least one working display!

   Any thoughts would be appreciated! I've seen a post from a guy on a gaming site that has this same GPU and a Compaq computer and he runs a 1920x1080 display (on a later graphics driver), so it seems possible. But, any thrift store purchase like this is a bit of a gamble, so it just might be that the monitor won't work no matter what -- but I'm trying to give it a reasonable chance.

Grant