[SOLVED] Legacy System dead/won't boot ?

[Dave 803]

Don't laugh, this computer has lasted longer than my marriage.

Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
32 GB Corsair Vengence DDR3, 2 sticks of 16 gb each
Intel 3570 CPU, apologies, been so long I don't remember which one. (but at least it's not a Celeron!)
Western Digital black 1tb drive

I use it for my shop computer, yesterday afternoon it quietly died. In the past this was solved by replacing the CMOS battery, didn't work this time. Checked the Corsair power supply per their video, that's working fine.

Symptoms:
Upon pressing the power button there's a brief flash from the fan LEDs as they all spin up, then they spin down. No boot/bios messages at all, I've unplugged everything down to the CPU and memory,. Same with or without a hard drive attached.

I know she's a dinosaur of a system, but I only use her for record keeping, internet searches, and occasional flight simming when I need a break. Way past he expiration date and I should just build a new system, but money's a bit tight right now.

Any other thoughts?


TIA

 

[rocktalkrock]

Have you ever checked under the CPU cooler to see if the thermal paste has dried out?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

no error lights available/showing on the motherboard after attempted boot?

if you don't have spare parts to test with you can contact any local shop(s) and see if they have the hardware available to troubleshoot for you.

I only use her for record keeping, internet searches, and occasional flight simming when I need a break

for this type of situation i'd probably just get a modern lower quality decent laptop.

you can get a dock or adapter for the old WD Black drive and recover your documents.

 

[Misgar]

Is this the Corsair video you used to check the PSU?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4


If so, all it proves is there's enough current available on the 12V rail to run a single 120mm case fan from a Molex connector. It hardly constitutes a "proper" test.

This simple test doesn't place a representative load on the EPS-12V rail, or the PCIe GPU rail or the +5V rail. I'm ignoring the +3.3V rail and a -12V rail (if it exists).

If you have another known good PSU, drop it into the chassis and see if the system powers up. You could transplant the Corsair PSU into another system as a confidence check.

If your Corsair PSU is a low end CX or VM unit and is more than 5 years old, it's living on borrowed time.

 

[Dave 803]

Thermal paste was ok, i5-3570 chip.

No power/warning lights on the Mb at all to display status.

Yes, that was the video I used. It's a Corsair TX750 power supply.

No local shop except for Best Buy Geek squad, not worth taking it down to them.

Ironically, I just bought a new Acer laptop, but I like having the flexibility of a tower with multiple live hard drives. 60+ years of living give you a lot of <Mod Edit> to keep track of, and I like being able to access it right away without trying to remember which drive they're on.

Maybe I'll just try a new Mb to start, go from there. I'm sure I'm in for sticker shock, is NewEgg still a good company to buy from?

 

[rocktalkrock]

The symptom you describe "there's a brief flash from the fan LEDs as they all spin up, then they spin down" could indicate a short somewhere in the system. The PSU has built in short-circuit protection. If it detects a problem it immediately shuts down to prevent any damage to the motherboard.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

NewEgg still a good company to buy from?

i still use them fairly often when they can beat prices on Amazon.

Maybe I'll just try a new Mb to start

i would seriously use this as a push towards a total new build.

if you plan on just replacing each component until the system works again you may end up putting quite a bit of money into a totally out-of-date system.

just bought a new Acer laptop, but I like having the flexibility of a tower with multiple live hard drives....
I like being able to access it right away without trying to remember which drive they're on.

you really could just get an external dock to place your current drives in.

i'm sure any modern laptop you purchased is quite a bit more powerful with more modern accessibility options than the old Intel i5.

once it has been setup with the laptop the drives will retain their same drive letters, etc when it is reconnected.
each time you want to access something just turn on the dock and your files are there.

 

[Misgar]

As it happens, I've just sorted out an i5-3570K system and fitted a new SATA SSD after the old SSD failed and Windows stopped working. It only has four 2TB hard disks, but acts as backup for other systems.

I agree that replacing components piecemeal until you find the fault could start to get expensive but I quite understand your reluctance to abandon a tower PC with multiple drives. I have a growing collection of such beasts.

In the past I upgraded a friend's PC with a second-hand mobo/CPU/RAM bundle from eBay for less than $50. Most of the second hand boards and CPUs I've bought on eBay are fine, but I also build a brand new (faster) system every 3 to 4 years.

It should be an easy task to replace the old mobo/CPU/RAM with a modestly priced new set of parts if all you want to do is duplicate the performance of the i5. I'd suggest a DDR4 system if you want to keep prices down.

I prefer full ATX mobos in tower PCs so I can fit a SAS controller (for use with LTO drives) and a 10GbE NIC, in addition to a GPU.

 

[Dave 803]

Thanks gang, things I'm also leaning toward a new build, always hated this case. I can reuse the HDs, and the video card (old GTX 1050) is also working fine so that saves a bit.

I sure miss the days when your MB choices were ASUS, MCI or Gigabyte, and you could run down to Fry's and look at stuff in person....

Also thinking about just being lazy and buying this: https://www.costco.com/cyberpowerpc...force-rtx-4060,-black.product.4000202717.html

Been a long time since I bought off-the-rack and not built my own. Wonder if modding it would void the warranty?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Wonder if modding it would void the warranty?

usually this would only apply to a pre-built if there is some type of distributor's seal on the case and/or on specific devices that would have to be removed or cut to access.

other than that there's really no way to tell if anything has been manipulated.

i would contact the manufacturer first to be sure though, just in case.

 

[Misgar]

I'd regard the Costco system as being only potentially upgradeable. If you decide to fit a faster GPU, the PSU might not handle the extra load.

They don't mention the manufacturer of most components, so you may get a low quality PSU.

A lot depends on what motherboard they fit. A proprietary (own brand) board might not be as configurable as an Asus, MSI or Gigabyte board.

An off the shelf PC saves time and effort choosing parts, but may not be as upgradeable as something you built yourself.

 

[Cybase8]

ASRock Extreme Z590 for around $100 on Amazon with an 11600K for about $150 on clearance at Best Buy.

But definitely in need of a PSU!

 

[Dave 803]

Thanks for the help, everyone. I decided to just buy a simple system from RePC in Seattle and donate the inop system to them. Hopefully their techs can troubleshoot it and pass it on to someone else, and I'll have the time to build a proper system later.


:cheers: