dead pc - what component failed?

squibs · 28-02-2009 11:04pm #1

I have a P4 2.4GHz machine that wont boot. Power supply and processor fan are running, leds lit on the motherboard and the hard drive is spinning up. On power up , there is no activity on the hdd led and no display on the monitor. There are no POST beeps. Checked seating of RAM and cables. I'm guessing CPU or mobo is fried - is that the likely diagnosis from these symptoms?

mathew · 28-02-2009 11:38pm

does seem like the motherboard.. not much you can do in that case.
does however mean that your data is most likely safe tho..

squibs · 01-03-2009 12:05am

Thx for the response. No data of interest on the machine - gave it to the oul fella a few months back. Its the first PC I've ever owned that died. I have a 12 year old MMX 200 (upgraded from a PI 90) that is still merrily recording audio on windows 95 and booting quicker than my vista machine

I've no spares to diagnose the problem. I'm just wondering of there is any reasonable possibility of the failure being something less terminal than a dead mobo or chip....

sceptre · 01-03-2009 12:39am

I'd reseat the heatsink just to see, won't cost you anything.

extra-ordinary_ · 01-03-2009 12:51am

It sounds like the mobo and at the very outside the CPU. I had a system like this before where the board powers up but nothing else happens - in that case it was the board. You have the 4-pin 12V ATX Connector for the CPU connected?

It's a pity you can't try another board.

CHW · 01-03-2009 12:19pm

What brand/model PC is it? Could be a mobo affected by bad capacitors perhaps? Is power LED lighting up/flashing? Could be something as simple as a bad PSU, a cheap fix. P4 2.4GHz is still a decent PC for light use, shame to dump without finding the cause of the problem.

squibs · 01-03-2009 1:04pm

It's a dell, which I believe means only a dell mobo will fit in the case The main power led does come on and stay on - no flashing. Will poke around later and remove the plastic chute that funnels cold air to the cpu from the fan to see if the heat sink is seaqted. Thanks for the advice.

CHW · 01-03-2009 1:21pm

By the CPU spec, possible it's a GX270 or GX280? There was a bad batch of capacitors used with these models, plenty of info through google (search "GX270 bad caps"). Could be a reason for a dead mobo. Capacitors cheap, so an easy fix if you're up for a bit of soldering!

With the Dell case, you're right, difficult to get a mobo not designed for it to fit, and even then, you might need to be model specific, ie, a GX280 mobo mightn't fit a GX270 case without modification.

When you have it open, have a look at the tops of the capacitors and see if any are leaking or bulging.

extra-ordinary_ · 01-03-2009 4:15pm

CPU HSF seated isn't necessary for booting.

mathew · 01-03-2009 6:57pm

CHW wrote: »

By the CPU spec, possible it's a GX270 or GX280? There was a bad batch of capacitors used with these models, plenty of info through google (search "GX270 bad caps"). Could be a reason for a dead mobo. Capacitors cheap, so an easy fix if you're up for a bit of soldering!

With the Dell case, you're right, difficult to get a mobo not designed for it to fit, and even then, you might need to be model specific, ie, a GX280 mobo mightn't fit a GX270 case without modification.

When you have it open, have a look at the tops of the capacitors and see if any are leaking or bulging.

Isnt soldering a cap on to a mobo a bit messy.. small drip of solder could short a different part of the board....

dead pc - what component failed?

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