can someone help me out?

[wepeel]

ok I will try to make this as short as I can and explain everything that needs to be explained...

I recently bought an alienware(yea I know) and the day I got it I have had one minor issue that is starting to bug me and I think in the long run will eventually start to screw with my system.

everytime I try to turn my computer on when it is off for an extended period of time(this doesnt happen when I let it sit for like 5 mins or so)nothing comes on the monitor. Now if I turn the computer on, quickly turn it off before it starts to post, and then turn it on again, it works perfectly fine. Now if I let it start up when I dont see anything on the monitor, it doesnt go into windows and will stall somewhere in the startup process. So my only way around this fix that I have figured out is to just simply turn the computer on, quickly off, and back on again and everything seems to work perfect. Now why it does this I have no clue.

I contacted my monitor manufacturer(which is an older viewsonic PS790) they said it was an issue with my motherboard or either video card. Recently I tried something to get to the bottom of this whole mess. I took the video card out(pny geforce3) and replaced it with an old viper v770 ultra. I turned on the computer and everything went perfect. So I decided to put the new video card into the old computer...everything worked fine!

Well obviously there is something wrong here, and what it is I dont know. Before I go and call up alienware tech support(I hate tech support)I want to get a second opinion from anyone here that might know what is up. The issue isnt really anything right now but annoying, and the nagging feeling that it doesnt work the way it should. Any help here would be appreciated.

 

[Boonesmi]

cold boot problem

if it was me the first thing i would do is identify the motherboard and check for a bios update


is the system overclocked?

 

[Buz2b]

Most likely your problem is power; or the lack of it. The newer, more powerful video card takes more power from the system. That is why putting the older, less powerful card enables you to boot just fine. You could test this by putting the new video card back in and remove a couple of other items. At least the sound card and modem to be fair. Then see if it boots. If it does, you know your trouble is the Power Supply. Either it is not strong enough or it is faulty. However, updating the BIOS might help, but I'm not really sure how. Alienware probably has updated the BIOS anyway but it is worth a check. BTW, it is not a monitor problem.

 

[dunkster]

What Buz2b said.

It sounds like your PS is providing marginal power. It's tough to diagnose, because the start-up power is greater than power required to sustain normal operation. You've already done a pretty good job of diagnosing the problem by substituting a video card with lower power requirements.

Hope this helps!

 

[wepeel]

ok well I tried your solution Buz2b...I took out my sound card and my network card...I turned the computer on and still nothing. My motherboard has the latest bios update, but I am sure it wont help in this situation. Very strange indeed...

so I pretty much know for sure now that there is nothing wrong with my monitor, or my video card. Could it be a motherboard issue still, or is it basicly a faulty psu?

I checked my psu manufacturer and its a atx12v and supports the proper voltage for my system. Everything seems to be fine but it just doesnt work! Could it possibly be the 3 fans that are attached to it? I might try cutting the power from my dvd-rom and some of the fans and see if that works. Otherwise, I guess I am stuck sending the piece back to alienware only to have them tell me the same things I already know, and I will probably be out of a decent computer for 2 weeks, just when Jedi Knight 2 is comming out!

Thanks for your help guys, but still any more help would be appreciated!

 

[Buz2b]

Maybe the Sound card and NIC didn't draw the same current at startup as the video card. That could be my bad. Try just disconnecting a couple of the extra fans before startup and see what happens. Of course, not the one on the HSF for the cpu. Either way you have a legit beef with Alienware. The thing should start up each time without this type of trouble. BTW, what is the make and model # of your PS? And what cpu are you running on what MB?

 

[wepeel]

my psu is an antec pp-412x. My cpu is an intel p4 1.4 on an intel 850gb mobo...