Sudden Failure

[lexie]

Yesteryday I was using my Desktop PC without any problems. I get home from work today and it will not boot. When I push the power button it sounds normal for all of 10sec. then I get a high pitch whine from the a fan (like its stuck on high). The culpret is the fan over (what i think is ) the Heatsink. (tower of thin metal sheets stacked with space between). I get no display but I know that the monitor is getting power (and will work when hooked up to my older machine). I can remove said fan that is causing the noise but still have no dispaly. The motherboards in my 2 machines are too different to use for troubleshooting My power supply is aprox 6months old (Thermaltake TR2-430W). I also have some upgraded ram puchased around the release of AoC. the rest of the machine was purchased in 2005 from Dell. I am slightly knowledgable about computers but am clueless about the terms used on most of these forums. Any help in layman's terms you can provide would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks, Lexie
P.S. i would post pics but dont have the option of attatchments

 

[kagekitsune]

the fan has nothing to do with powering up the pc, its used to keep the heatsink cool to keep the chip/cpu from overheating. it sounds like your new ram may be the problem either due to your MB not supporting it (you can thank dell for that) or you have installed your memory incorrectly. you need to check with dell online or on the phone to see what kind of memory is compatible with your MB and how high its capable of. using the wrong memory will cause some pc's not to boot up at all. take out your ram and put back the old ram you had or if u have them all installed remove the new ones and try it out.

 

[lexie]

Removing the newer ram did not help. I did research Dell online and a couple other sites prior to purchasing the ram to make sure it was the correct type. matched original ram in every aspect except brand and capacity. I've had the ram in my system for a few months now with no ill effects. I did not add any hardware or software to my system in over a month. I mentioned the fan simply because it has always been quiet until today and it seemed odd that it would coinside with the failure to boot. Power button highlights yellow (rather than the normal green). I have checked all connections and have removed the battery for a short time.

any other suggestions?
Lexie

 

[kagekitsune]

hmm if you've tried that then id hate to say your mb may have died, but before we get to that if you've recently installed any other hardware remove them and try it without them. ie soundcard nic card etc. if your pc has onboard video remove your videocard and see if it works then. otherwise if you still cant get it on i dont see anything else that it could be. if you have installed cpu's before or recently check the heatsink. thats about all i can tell you or you can see if anyone else here has more useful help.

 

[KSoD]

The mobo isnt dead. It would not power on utilties if it was. You would only see a orange power light and nothing would power on. Since it does cycle power it is still good. The Fan can still be the problem as well.

Depending on how long the fan was nonfunctional for you could have ended up causing damage to your CPU. It is sued for cooling but if the fan does work to draw the heat away from the heatsink then where does it go? No where. It stays right on the heat sink and causes the CPU to get overheated.

Replace that fan first. See if that does anything. If not then you might have to get a new CPU. Before i would call the CPU dead i would remove all non major components. Leave only the mobo, cpu and ahrd drive plugged into the PSU and then try to power up.

 

[lexie]

Thanks for the advice. i ended up reversing kagekitsune's original advice about the memory. i took out the old and only used the new. system booted first try after i did that. woohoo!

Thanks again
Lexie