Help: Problem with Dell PSU/Motherboard. Looking for alternatives..

[amateurPro2]

Hi,

My Dell 4550 (P4 2.53, 533FSB) doesnt send a video signal to the monitor on rebooting. The
fans seem to spin, there is a light on the mobo. I even tested 2 outputs from the PSU
for +5V, and +12V..and the CMOS battery is around 3V. So I guess the problem would be
the mobo/processor. No beeps on POST. I also tried rebooting with only 1 memory, and video card, and HDD..still no luck. However I am not sure if there is a speaker on mobo.

I did drop the CPU once, in the process of moving. That may hv caused some damage.

Anyways, I don't want to buy a new CPU/mobo without knowing which one is at fault. Alternatively, since Dell uses propietary components, I wouldn't mind spending some $$ (around 150-ish) to get a new case, PSU, mobo, and reusing other components from Dell - hdd, sound card, graphics card. etc

Any suggestions welcome.

Dell 4550:
P4 2.53 533 FSB
512 + 128 MB - DDR333 RAM
nVidia Mx 420 4x Graphics card
SoundBlaster Live sound card
60 GB Seagate HDD

 

[JBDan]

Doesn't your tower have those 4 diagnostic lights on the rear? My old one did. Sounds to me like a video card issue. You have another gfx card you could try?

 

[amateurPro2]

None of the lights at the back come on when I reboot the computer.