Dimension Woes

[ng12345]

i moved my computer from my parent's home back to my apartment

when i tried turning it on again, it didn't post -- instead the fan revved up until it had a "leafblower" characteristic

its a dell dimension 8400.

i checked the dell forums and basically they told me that my motherboard/cpu is dead. or it is hte motherboard battery. i replaced the battery and nothing changed

i was wondering if anyone on anandtech had any other ideas or suggestions before i resort to trashing it.

thanks

 

[bamacre]

Could be the PSU. I assume it's no longer under warranty?

Either way, i wouldn't trash it. A new case/psu/motherboard may be the most you'll need to replace.

 

[dexvx]

Well lets assume that it worked fine before you moved.

I doubt its the CPU, because it has no moving parts and should be secrely held in place.

Motherboard - no moving parts, but I can see where it can be damaged by mass shaking.

PSU - Sounds doubtful since you say it turns on the fan, at least.

Suggestions:

1) Check warranty. 8400 is still in warranty range, depending on your warranty purchase.
2) Recheck to see all connections are firmly in place.
3) Use a Multimeter to check the PSU. If that fails, use a standard ATX PSU of similar rating and spec to power it on (8400 should be standard ATX connectors + wiring). If it works, you've found your problem.
4) If that fails, its most likely the motherboard. I did a quick search on eBay, and they go from $30-75.

OR

5) Strip the known good components off and sell them seperaely on eBay.

 

[PurdueRy]

You sure its not the hard drive? I had that sound come from my hard drive before it died.

 

[fire400]

make sure the PSU works

ensure that all cables are properly plugged and in place

reset bios

strip all components and add one by one, a bad counterpart may prevent the system from properly booting correctly

p.s. don't trash it right away; sell the parts if you're sure the system isn't worth a repair.

 

[mleonard]

Originally posted by: ng12345
when i tried turning it on again, it didn't post -- instead the fan revved up until it had a "leafblower" characteristic
thanks

This happened to a co-workers computers Dell Dimension, his answer was to turn up some crappy American Idol album to drown out the lawn machine. That was the worst couple days ever....

 

[adammthompson]

Do you know which fan is making the noise? Are all the fans spinning? Does the 8400 have a fan on the CPU heatsink or just a case fan?

 

[Slammy1]

Make sure you don't hve any wires contacting any fans/cables, that's a pretty common thing to happen when you move a PC (at least for me). Course, that sounds more like a weed whip than a leaf blower but I figure they're both garden utensils. Make sure all the plugs are secure, you could've had a marginal seating that just went bad.

 

[furballi]

Reseat (disconnect/connect) all boards and connectors including RAMs. Make sure the heat sink is securely attached to the CPU. Reset CMOS (remove CR2032 battery from MB). Connect only the mouse and keyboard to PC. Reboot PC. Nothing? Try another HDD. Still nothing? Could be MB or PSU.

It sounds like the fan is running at full speed...something's wrong with the MB.

 

[ng12345]

the fan is running at fullspeed

it is not hte psu fan, or the gfx fan, it is the case fan that is blowing the heat off the heatsink.

i already tried resetting cmos and the rest of the mentioned suggestions -- i just ordered a new motherboard (the total on ebay was $40 including s&h); also the computer does not boot at all.

i'll see how that goes -- though i've never done anything with a cpu before -- so I'll have to figure out how to remove the heatsink and stuff.

out of warranty by 3 months 🙁

 

[ng12345]

replaced the mobo --- worked like a charm

thanks for the help!

 

[Bozo Galora]

Glad you solved it, but Just FWIW:

I dont think it was the mobo
Installing new mobo meant redoing CPU/HSF and all cabling, cards
Moving PC prob jarred HSF crooked, or loose cable

Once again, as was said, assuming it worked before.