PC Dead ??

[silvest]

Hi guys,

it's been a while ...

I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction. I come home one day, I see my comp frozen. So I rebooted it, and that's it... i hear the fans spinning, but don't see nothing on the screen.

So i switch it off, took out everything and reassembled it. Hit the power switch. Same thing, don't hear anything but the fans. You know the initial "Beep" when it powers on, I don't even get that.

mobo: ABit NF7-S
CPU: XP2600 mobile
RAM: 2 x 512mb OCZ PC3200XL rev2

I know it should be time for a change, but perhaps I might be able to salvage it before I declare it dead. Any ideas which part is dead, or how I should troubleshoot?

ps: I don't have a spare mobo or cpu to try

[Steve R Jones]

I'd try a new/different power supply.

[Sweeper]

When my MB died I had the same symptom. It would turn on, the fans would spin, even the cpu, vga fans, etc. but no 'beep' or anything. Turned out the South Bridge burned up and the MB was dead. I walked out of the room, came back and the screen was black and wouldn't come on after moving the mouse etc., so I rebooted and nothing but fans. I would do some checking before jumping to conclusions. Verify before buy!

[taz480]

You are right, but that is usually the first classic sign of a bad PSU. A quick visual of the mobo will at least give you a 50% chance of that determination provided whatever fried, really "FRIED", llike cooked. Otherwise, look towards the PSU. Try to get hold of one just to try or try your current one in another machine.

[silvest]

Thanks for the input guys.
Unfortunately it's not the PSU. Plugged in a diff psu but no diff.

Safe to assume it's the mobo? One thing i did notice is the fan on the mobo (northbridge / southbridge i don't know) is not spinning. potentially the issue?

[Big_Daddy]

If it has two memory modules, pull one out and power up. If it doesn't power up, do the other one.

[silvest]

Nopes, still no luck

[Khallas]

Hello Silvest,
The PSU would be a good candidate, but you eliminated that. The symptoms you describe fit also exactly with what we had once with our vid-card. It was an old nVidia 4 card, which was burned out. If you have an on-board card or a spare card, maybe you can try that. The MoBo not beeping can also be caused by a broken internal speaker or some setting turning this off. But if you have nothing on the screen whatsoever you cannot check. If your mobo is burned out it usually gives at least some visual, except in some (imo rare) occasions where the power to the mobo is broken. But then your CPU fan also wouldn't function.

However, if you mobo doesn't beep and you get only black screen, with fans whirring, it might just mean that your monitor is getting no input. Either a broken cable, shoddy connector or zero-functioning vid-card.

So as I said, try an on-board video if you have it, or a spare card. Maybe if you have a friend or relative with a compatible system you could try putting your vid-card in their system. If it then works you know it's not the vid-card. If it doesn't it's clear where the problem lies. Also try a spare cable from monitor to vid-card, maybe your cable somehow broke or something, or the connector got shod. Then all you need to do is put a new cable on, which is like the cheapest fix you can get.

[silvest]

Anyway, I guess it's time for a new PC. Reading up but still need some recommendations... Just need a new set up for general media stuff, internet, emails... slight gaming .

1. Intel or AMD? Has AMD fallen behind since the Athlon 64s? Everywhere seems to be talking about Intel now, so perhaps E6750 ?? (forgive the ignorance but it's been close to 2 years, so lots to catch up)

2. Graphic card perhaps a 8600GT?

3. generic RAM

4. Can I use my regular PSU? an Enermax 420W noisetaker?

---
ps: oh, forgot about the mObo. I have 2 x IDE HDD, 1 x DVD Rom, 1 x SATA HDD and a FDD

any mobo that comes with 2 x IDE connectors?

[Khallas]

For your new system I would recommend checking the reviews on www.tomshardware.com. They actually tested CPUs from AMD and Intel. And from what I gather AMD is falling behind. The very best CPUs are Intel, not AMD and for equal performing AMD and Intel CPUs you're looking at 50% higher power consumption for AMD.

I don't know how slight your slight gaming is, that is really the pivotal point for deciding on a system. If you do 3D shooters at 1280x1024, just only occasionally and not all the newest but just once or twice a year get a new one, you're still gonna want a reasonable vid-card. Then you can get a Radeon HD3850 for only a couple bucks more than the 8600GT, but with way better performance. However, whether you got 8600Gt or HD3850, the PSU is not up to spec. You need minimum 450 Watt, with 30 Amps on the +12V rail (or combined +12V rails). So I'd take at least 500W if I were you. And then you also want some decent memory, going at least 2GB of a decent brand. Memory is important and if it's corrupted or burnt your PC won't function, so don't get cheap-o-memory but proper brands.

But if your gaming is limited to an occasional racing game and a bit of RTS, where the graphics are of lower importance than the strategic element, you could go for a lower end vid-card, I'd say get an older X1950 pro or try getting a 7900GT or 8600 Ultra. If you can find em, much cheaper than eitehr 8600GT or 3850 radeon, and fine for the kind of gaming you want. The other applications you mention are all 2D affairs and any old lame vid-card you can get (even on-board) can supply that in a flash. And if that is all you want, yeah your PSU is fine. Don't bother getting more ram than 1GB and stick with the cheaper intel dual-core CPUs.

So to sum it up, intel is better than AMD for CPUs and what else you want/need is really a matter of what you mean by light gaming. Also take into account that newer "light" games will eventually start using the modern game-engines, cause they can use em for free/cheap and get better graphics, thus your system will start needing more 3D capacity to be able to do any gaming, eventually.