Question Trying to get a pre-owned computer up and running

[Pale_wisp]

I’m inexperienced so this might be an easy solution.

I’ve had this pre-owned computer for a while and just recently tried to use. I was told that it should just work, I have had to use a 15-pin to 9-pin adaptor to connect the monitor, but I when I power up the computer, everything sounds like it should be working, but it doesn’t display anything, the monitor is responding that the cable is connected though.

The only thing I could think was when I opened the computer up was that the two hard drives inside didn’t have an OS, and the previous owner took a third hard drive with it out. I changed those hard drives and connected ones that I have spare that I know do have OSs on, but still no display.

The only last thing I could think of was that in spite on great cable management there were a couple cables free hanging. Am I wrong in assuming, that unlike with an external hard drive that only need 2 of 3 ports connected to work, a computer needs the the hard drive with the OS on to have all 3 ports connected in order to work? Am I somehow missing cables and if so what would I need in order to them working? Ideally one of the two spare hard drives.

Any help is much appreciated, as I have reached the limit as to what I know I can do.

https://ibb.co/B4hdQMQ - computer as first opened

https://ibb.co/rMQhtfs - original hard drives

https://ibb.co/x7WDLRK - free-hanging cable

https://ibb.co/0sKLKn3 - spare hard drives

 

[USAFRet]

A SATA HDD needs only 2 cables connected.
SATA power, from the PSU, and SATA data, connected to the motherboard.

The 4 pin MOLEX thing is left unconnected to anything.

You create a bootable USB to install your OS with. Probably Windows 10?
Have only ONE drive physically connected.
Boot up from the USB, and install.

Thusly:

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[geofelt]

You need a cpu cooler.
A motherboard will not post if it does not detect that a cpu cooler is installed.

To get a basic functional test,
Run memtest86 or memtest86+
They boot from a usb stick and do not use windows.
You can download them here:

MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool

MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.

www.memtest86.com

Memtest86+ | The Open-Source Memory Testing Tool

Memtest86+ is an advanced, free, open-source, stand-alone memory tester for 32- and 64-bit computers (UEFI & BIOS supported)

www.memtest.org

Unless one of the drives has the os that was originally installed, it is not going to boot.

You can download windows directly from Microsoft and install it.

 

[punkncat]

Wow, just looking at the picture got my hay fever going. I hope the prior owner didn't charge you anything for that.

Take it outside and blow it out really well. Get a paper towel (etc.) and wipe the paste off that CPU and see if you can discern what it is. Might also be able to find some nomenclature on the motherboard that could be helpful. Determine the age of the machine and from that, possibly what OS it would work with. My super uninformed opinion is older Intel, which would be nice to know for getting a cooler on it.

I would also consider trying to move that GPU up from the lower PCIe slot. Hopefully there is no problem with the upper one which resulted in it being this way.

IMO, if this machine is older than what could work with W10 or a modern Linux install, it may be just a learning experience.

 

[DSzymborski]

Honestly, first thing I'd do before anything else is get the motherboard out of the case that's a nightmare to work in and clean it off. The latter should have been the first thing done when buying a used PC.

Then basically rebuild the PC outside of the case. Motherboard on a non-conductive surface. Ensure the CPU is properly installed, then apply fresh thermal paste and attach a CPU cooler/fan. Reseat the RAM. Then plug in the motherboard and CPU connections and if this is a CPU with integrated graphics, see if the PC POSTs. Then work from there.

And for better advice from us, try to figure out what these parts actually are. Without a cooler, this was never going to work out-of-the-box.

 

[TerryLaze]

I have had to use a 15-pin to 9-pin adaptor to connect the monitor, but I when I power up the computer, everything sounds like it should be working, but it doesn’t display anything, the monitor is responding that the cable is connected though.

Show the adaptor and the outputs of the GPU as well as the inputs of the monitor, model would also help,
VGA is 15 pin but what is the 9pin going to?
Are you maybe connecting the monitor to a serial port on the PC?!
If it is really a 9pin on the graphics card than it is a cga or older card and those will not produce enough resolution to make a newer monitor display anything.
But the PC looks too new to have such an old gpu in it.

You need a cpu cooler.
A motherboard will not post if it does not detect that a cpu cooler is installed

Most mobos will post, some will throw an error for it and not continue, but they should show something on screen.

 

[Pale_wisp]

Wow, just looking at the picture got my hay fever going. I hope the prior owner didn't charge you anything for that.

Take it outside and blow it out really well. Get a paper towel (etc.) and wipe the paste off that CPU and see if you can discern what it is. Might also be able to find some nomenclature on the motherboard that could be helpful. Determine the age of the machine and from that, possibly what OS it would work with. My super uninformed opinion is older Intel, which would be nice to know for getting a cooler on it.

I would also consider trying to move that GPU up from the lower PCIe slot. Hopefully there is no problem with the upper one which resulted in it being this way.

IMO, if this machine is older than what could work with W10 or a modern Linux install, it may be just a learning experience.

Yeah I am reluctant to even consider using it in it's state and is absolutely getting cleaned when I have the time to prepare and make sure I don't damage anything, it was free so can’t complain just didn’t know it was missing things to work.

The GPU is long enough that it passes below the hard drives, so that is probably why it is so low. Technically there might be enough space in between the hard drives at their highest and lowest points.

I came across a sticker on the back saying it is Windows XP

And in finding the modules of each component I found that there isn’t even any RAM cards, I think I saw the motherboard supports DDR2, so would anything that is DDR2 work or do I need to know any other details to know what would work or be most appropriate? Same for getting a cooler, the motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6, CPU is an Intel core 2 duo E6850, GPU is an Inno3D GeForce 7900 GTX

 

[Pale_wisp]

Honestly, first thing I'd do before anything else is get the motherboard out of the case that's a nightmare to work in and clean it off. The latter should have been the first thing done when buying a used PC.

Then basically rebuild the PC outside of the case. Motherboard on a non-conductive surface. Ensure the CPU is properly installed, then apply fresh thermal paste and attach a CPU cooler/fan. Reseat the RAM. Then plug in the motherboard and CPU connections and if this is a CPU with integrated graphics, see if the PC POSTs. Then work from there.

And for better advice from us, try to figure out what these parts actually are. Without a cooler, this was never going to work out-of-the-box.

Thank you for the guidance, I’m not able to do as thorough clean at the moment, but I was at least able the find what those parts are. Motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6, CPU is an Intel core 2 duo E6850, GPU is an Inno3D GeForce 7900 GTX.

Turns out as well a cooler fan I found there isn’t any RAM either, motherboard said it supports DDR2, what should I be bearing in mind when looking for these two things?

 

[Pale_wisp]

Show the adaptor and the outputs of the GPU as well as the inputs of the monitor, model would also help,
VGA is 15 pin but what is the 9pin going to?
Are you maybe connecting the monitor to a serial port on the PC?!
If it is really a 9pin on the graphics card than it is a cga or older card and those will not produce enough resolution to make a newer monitor display anything.
But the PC looks too new to have such an old gpu in it.

Most mobos will post, some will throw an error for it and not continue, but they should show something on screen.

Yes, looking into what you said it is most likely I connected the monitor to a serial port, and that it being male it’s not meant to be used for what I was trying to use it for?
https://ibb.co/Fw8nSCz

20230219-125623 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20230219-125623 in Temp computer help album

ibb.co

The GPU is an Inno3D GeForce 7900 GTX, it has 2 DVI and a S-video ports which is what I should be using? I’ll need to buy appropriate cable but I’m guessing this is why it is not displaying on the monitor.
https://ibb.co/pPFTrMz

Also in getting the model of the monitor, the one that came with it, it only has a VGA port, so I don't think this can work with my computer? It’s an AOC 24365WA.
https://ibb.co/ZxbCTZk

I do have an old monitor that has a DVI port, a Samsung S22A200B.
https://ibb.co/pPkFV8h

I found that there also no RAM cards, I'm sure its DDR2 that it needs, the other components are a Gigabyte GA-N680SLI-DQ6 and an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850. So I will be needing a DVI cable, cooler fan and RAM cards and see if that is what is wrong? So will the specs matter in getting anything to get the computer working now and upgrade later or should I be bearing certain details in mind when looking for a cooler fan and RAM card?

 

[geofelt]

The motherboard supports a max of 8gb of ram.
Here is the motherboard ram QVL support list:
https://download.gigabyte.com/FileL...li-dq6.pdf?v=effc608ffe80a9ff89bfe836af0f4e72

You can find DDR2 ram on ebay as well as a cooler suitable for a LGA775 motherboard.

The hard drives look to be very old.
They may be of minimal size.
The 4 port molex power connectors are there in case the psu does not have any sata power connectors. You can use either/or.

To test the basic functionality, you need the cpu cooler and ram.
You need a display, the motherboard vga connected to the monitor should work.
Boot from a usb stick with memtest. It will exercise the cpu and ram.

If you want to make this a useful pc, you could load windows on to one of the hard drives. But, using a SSD instead is highly recommended.
It makes even such a low power system much quicker.

8gb of 4 x 2gb DDR2 ram may be $25 on ebay.
A stock intel lga775 cooler may be $10.

The monitor you show has only a vga input, so the rear panel of the motherboard has a suitable connector.
The discrete graphics card allows dvi connections if you use a better monitor that accepts such a digital input.
Otherwise, just remove it.
If you keep it, reinstall it in the proper first X16 slot.
Any hard drives can be mounted lower to make room.

The cpu is a dual core processor. It can be upgraded to a quad for about $40.