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[ebasiuk]

The setup consists of

Asus m3a78
AMD 64 5000+ dual core
2 x 512 Mb DDR

The computer ran fine for ages, then one day decided it would not boot, or even post the bios, so presumed either the motherboard or cpu had blown. (onboard VGA)

Anyway so i went out bought a new motherboard thinkin that may be the problem, turns out still the same problem. no bios boot or image.

So took the motherboard back and purchased a new CPU, amd 64 5000+, tried that and still the same problem.
The fans will spin, the motherboard light is on, however no image. I ran the system for 10 mins, took the heatsink of and the CPU is stone cold (the new one), and the HDD does not spin up.

tried booting it without the ram in, same problem.

have absolutley no idea what it can be, can anyone help/suggest?

Much appreciated if u can!

 

[daft]

first off, you cant boot or post without memory within the mobo.
second, make sure every power connector is where it needs to be
third, try one stick at a time, it could be a memory has died.
fourth, the PSU may have partially died. I've seen it happen before, fans will spin up, but nothing else works properly.

 

[ebasiuk]

thanks for the reply, i have tried the mobo with memory and without makes no difference it seems, tried one stick at a time, still same problem.

Also have tried the PSU in another old AMD athlon system and powered up fine

 

[daft]

hmmmm, not sure what the problem could be then. could just be a sign that an upgrade is needed

that, or both sticks of ram are dead. this can happen on occasion. i just repaired a friends laptop just yesterday that had both sticks dead

 

[ebasiuk]

will try some other sticks out of a working machine and report back, but its a bizzare one. don't even want to upgrade because its not the worst of machines lol

 

[jitpublisher]

I read down all these lines, and I still say that your PSU has a problem. Have seen this exact thing, and the exact results you have too many times to think it would be anything else. I don't care if it does start up an older system, I think that it has a power drop on 1 rail and is not supplying enough voltage to start the newer system.

 

[Onus]

If both RAM sticks are dead, that doesn't rule out the PSU, especially since an aging PSU can have sent damaging ripple or spikes through to the RAM and/or other components. What brand and model is that PSU? As old as that system is, capacitors in the PSU or on the mobo may have died. A Google search for "bad capacitors" will turn up a lot of information, including images, of this unfortunately common phenomenon.
I know you're not interested in upgrading, but you may need to rebuild because of dead parts. Assuming you're not a gamer (you were happy with integrated video), you can probably pick up an inexpensive AM3 mobo, 2GB of DDR3 (the current standard), and an Athlon X2 for around $200, maybe less. A 380W Antec Earthwatts or 350W Seasonic 80+ bronze PSU will be around $45.

 

[Onus]

Two of the many PSU reviews on jonnyguru.com come to mind. One, "Best of the Bestec," shows how those particular PSUs WILL kill attached components over time. The other one was a roundup of cheap PSUs that included a really old one in which at least one capacitor had died. The scope shots were truly awful.

 

[ebasiuk]

well ended up buyin a new motherboard processor and ram, fixed the problem and the psu seems fine, the ram would not boot in another system, and working ram would not work in my mobo, so presume it was the ram and motherboard, but just bought a cpu as well cause i could not be bothered having to go back if it was the cpu as well ha

 

[Onus]

What brand and model of PSU do you have?

 

[ebasiuk]

to be honest, im not sure, i can tell you it is a cheapo 550w thing

 

[Onus]

Well, hopefully it didn't kill one or more of your other parts with sloppy waveforms or spikes.
I don't see a graphics card in your parts list. If you aren't a gamer, and have no reason to get a powerful GPU, you can get a 380W Antec Earthwatts or an 80+ bronze 350W Seasonic PSU for about $45. The Earthwatts has a PCIE power connector (and can handle up to a HD4850), the Seasonic does not. $45 seems like cheap insurance if you're not sure what killed your other parts.