Any PC Hardware Gurus In Here ?

YOu seem to have made a lot of wild assumptions based on little relevant info. I see nothing to confirm that ANY of it is good. What's the cmos battery voltage? How much noise/ripple on every one of the power supplies?

it.

oint I thought it was bad RAM. It originally had 4GB and once I removed it all and the battery, then it beeped and started running when I put 2GB back in, it ran some, but failed a few times so I took out that 2GB and put the other 2GB in, and then it booted reliably all the time.

ute stuff in there, Firefox, the Flasplayer(s), AVG and all that. I decided to off it and thought I had a buyer, unplugged it and packed it up. Well n othing happened so I hooked it back up and I got no boot anymore.

parting it out. I'll get my money back doing that but a working machine is still better. Also, I guess I can assume the RAM I took out is good ? I fig ure I'll sell it because it sdoesn't fit anything I have.

processor is good because it still beeps if all the RAM is taken out. I wou ld almost thing maybe a graphic problem but there is no HD activity except for it's quick little noise when first powered on.

t. They want too much for a replacement and the OS is OEM, and I simply am not paying $65 for that motherboard ! Twenty or thirty I would pay to avoid the hassle, but not $65.

and RAM csn bring back some of the money and the HD and DVD burner can be u sed in my other PC. But a working machine is still better...

I've resurrected several machines by replacing bad capacitors.

A computer that sits unused for a long time can do exactly what you describe.

As the others have suggested, you should check the voltage on the CMOS battery, as some computers will not boot if it is too low. The fact that the RAM seemed to solve the boot problem once, could mean bad RAM, but it is more likely to be a bad connection in the RAM sockets. Clean the RAM contacts with alcohol to eliminate this possibility. Also, you could have a weak power supply. If the power comes up too slow the computer will shut down and sometimes work like you describe. I would try a different PS to see if it solves your problem.

Your problem could be very simple, but you must establish what is good and what is suspect. Start with the battery, clean the RAM, and try another PS. Rarely is the processor or the MB bad. When the MB is bad, you can often see the caps bulging like was suggested.

Reseat everything, especially the video card if it's not on the planar. replace the clock battery with a known good one.

If that doesn't work I salvage the memory/cpu disks and toss the rest.

What's the cmos battery voltage? How much noise/ripple on every one of the power supplies?

This one, like alot of them now, will run without the battery. In fact it d id when I first coaxed it into working. However I should check the PS. I ki nd of doubt it is the problem because of the pattern of failure and its you ng age. When I fired it up about a week ago it had been sitting for months. When it failed it was only off for a a matter of a couple hours. But I sho uld of course find out for sure. I will check it before giving it the axe.

Believe it or not I hardly see any. A few small ones, but no bunches of the m, like you would normally see around the processor. The few lytics I see a re small, and none are bulging. Maybe they went with active filters after t he regulators ? Knowing ECS, if a transistor and a small lytic is cheaper t han a bunch of big lytics, they go with it. The only place a bunch of lytic s could be hiding is under the heatsink/fan assembly. Hmm, I guess I should look.

but it is more likely to be a bad connection in the RAM sockets. Clean the RAM contacts with alcohol to eliminate this possibility. "

I suppose it won't hurt me to try cleaning the sockets. I wonder, just offh and, can I load slots 2 and 3 instead of 0 and 1 ? The reason I ask is that this thing is not that old and there is probably as much a chance of a soc ket being defective as it is dirty. The whole machine is pretty clean actua lly, it could have rolled off the assembly line yesterday from the looks of it.

replace the clock battery with a known good one. "

Video is onboard.

Anyway, I think I am stuck just checking the PS because all the ones I have laying around don't have those extra pins on the main connector. Or will i t run without those ? Or is there a way to just temporarily jump something in there ?

Actually there may be ONE PS I could try, I'll have to look. That PS has se en alot of use and more than average power drain because it had a bunch of harddrives in it. It's down to three right now but at one time it had five. Anyway, that one seems to fail to boot sometimes when it has sat for a tim e, which of course is probably filters. However now it runs continuously so maybe it would be a good enough test.

Whatever, if it fails the rest of this, I am taking a scrwwdriver to it. An yone want to buy an E5700 and some RAM ?

Did you want experienced help? Or did you just want to express your opinions? Check the damn battery voltage and replace if low. Period!

If that's with the power cord unplugged, should be fine. When it gets below 3V, I'd start thinking about replacing it.

What's the cmos battery voltage? How much noise/ripple on every one of the power supplies?

This one, like alot of them now, will run without the battery. In fact it did when I first coaxed it into working. However I should check the PS. I kind of doubt it is the problem because of the pattern of failure and its young age. When I fired it up about a week ago it had been sitting for months. When it failed it was only off for a a matter of a couple hours. But I should of course find out for sure. I will check it before giving it the axe.

Believe it or not I hardly see any. A few small ones, but no bunches of them, like you would normally see around the processor. The few lytics I see are small, and none are bulging. Maybe they went with active filters after the regulators ? Knowing ECS, if a transistor and a small lytic is cheaper than a bunch of big lytics, they go with it. The only place a bunch of lytics could be hiding is under the heatsink/fan assembly. Hmm, I guess I should look.

but it is more likely to be a bad connection in the RAM sockets. Clean the RAM contacts with alcohol to eliminate this possibility. "

I suppose it won't hurt me to try cleaning the sockets. I wonder, just offhand, can I load slots 2 and 3 instead of 0 and 1 ? The reason I ask is that this thing is not that old and there is probably as much a chance of a socket being defective as it is dirty. The whole machine is pretty clean actually, it could have rolled off the assembly line yesterday from the looks of it.

replace the clock battery with a known good one. "

Video is onboard.

Anyway, I think I am stuck just checking the PS because all the ones I have laying around don't have those extra pins on the main connector. Or will it run without those ? Or is there a way to just temporarily jump something in there ?

Actually there may be ONE PS I could try, I'll have to look. That PS has seen alot of use and more than average power drain because it had a bunch of harddrives in it. It's down to three right now but at one time it had five. Anyway, that one seems to fail to boot sometimes when it has sat for a time, which of course is probably filters. However now it runs continuously so maybe it would be a good enough test.

Whatever, if it fails the rest of this, I am taking a scrwwdriver to it. Anyone want to buy an E5700 and some RAM ?

You don't know what you are doing, do you have a friend with experience fixing PCs. You could bring it into a good known computer repair shop, they usually have a diagnostic charge around $50.00, then they will tell you what is wrong with it and how much it would cost to fix.

Shaun

Really. And your advice is to take it to a "professional" ? That doesn't sound like alot of demonstrated expertise.

People who know what they're doing can give valuable advice, and I have now found two who can't or won't.

I was looking for a second opinion other than take it in to a shop. I could have gotten that anywhere.

Now I get it.

What sort of RAM? I've already E7300, E8400

I've already E7300, E8400 "

I'm pretty sure it's PC3 1333 Mhz. Got 4 - 1 gig sticks.

If you can borrow another supply, try that. I've seen several power suppli es over the years that show proper DC output, but will sag and recover so q uickly that it won't be picked up on a DMM. If your meter has a recording function, attach it to each output and set it to display minimum voltage.