PSU Question

FanadMan

Hi all

I've been given a no name PC that is not posting to try and fix. Owner said that it was dated about 2002 so it's quite old!!

It's only used for small CAD usage and isn't internet connected.

The two fans (PSU and CPU) spin up, DVD drives light but no POST and no display. I've pulled everything - RAM, boards, drives (IDE and floppy!) but still the same. Thinking now that there may be a PSU problem. It is a CIT 550UB which as far as I can see is 550W. I've only got a 240W (Enlight GPS 250 100K) PSU to hand to test with.

Question is - would this PSU work? Or is there anything else anyone can think of?

Keplar240B

Put the specs of your PC into this
PSU power supply calculator
that will tell you the power load of your PC.
http://powersupplycalculator.net/

Another quick thing you can do is visually inspect the capacitors on the motherboard for "capacitor plague"
which commonly effected computers from that era causing POST failures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

FanadMan

Keplar240B wrote: »

Put the specs of your PC into this
PSU power supply calculator
that will tell you the power load of your PC.
http://powersupplycalculator.net/

Another quick thing you can do is visually inspect the capacitors on the motherboard for "capacitor plague"
which commonly effected computers from that era causing POST failures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

Sorry - should have said that the caps are all fine visually.

For that calculator site I can't find what CPU is installed. The motherboard is a Matsonic MS8308ep. The manual online gives no help.....ARRGH!

robyntmorton

That Matsonic board is a Socket A, which the web tells me would give you a sample CPU of an AMD Athlon XP 1700+ or AMD Athlon XP 2100+, if that helps!

FanadMan

robyntmorton wrote: »

That Matsonic board is a Socket A, which the web tells me would give you a sample CPU of an AMD Athlon XP 1700+ or AMD Athlon XP 2100+, if that helps!

Thanks but they're not in that checker list

Keplar240B

FanadMan wrote: »

Sorry - should have said that the caps are all fine visually.

For that calculator site I can't find what CPU is installed. The motherboard is a Matsonic MS8308ep. The manual online gives no help.....ARRGH!

Its a socket A 462 on the motherboard.
which "Supports AMDTM AthlonTM /DuronTM (K7) Socket A processor"
http://www.motherboard.cz/mb/matsonic/MS8308E.htm
So you are just going to have to guess from a list what processor is in there
(Its possible that there's a label on PC if its still there)
Most of them probably are in same ballpark for power consumption.

Heres a better PSU calculator from "coolermaster" where you can select by socket type
it then gives you a list of CPUs which fit in that socket
select AMD
select Socket 462 A
select AMD Duran 1600Mhz (my guess)
http://www.coolermaster.com/power-supply-calculator/

FanadMan

Keplar240B wrote: »

Its a socket A 462 on the motherboard.
which "Supports AMDTM AthlonTM /DuronTM (K7) Socket A processor"
http://www.motherboard.cz/mb/matsonic/MS8308E.htm
So you are just going to have to guess from a list what processor is in there
(Its possible that there's a label on PC if its still there)
Most of them probably are in same ballpark for power consumption.

Heres a better PSU calculator from "coolermaster" where you can select by socket type
it then gives you a list of CPUs which fit in that socket
select AMD
select Socket 462 A
select AMD Duran 1600Mhz (my guess)
http://www.coolermaster.com/power-supply-calculator/

Cheers for that - showing 240W so the spare PSU should work for test.

Think will leave it till the morning to swap it out - pub is calling


Thanks for the help folks

FanadMan

Well, PSU is ok. RAM ok as well - tried with it both in and out. Reseated the CPU (knew I had some compound somewhere). Reset the BIOS through jumper and still no POST.

Got info from the owner today that the desktop was in a damp house for over a year without being powered up. Also, when I stripped it in the light of day there was more cobwebs in there than in my grannys knickers.....along with a few dead insects.

It had obviously been an office machine and sold on - PCI blanking plates missing, tamper detector screws damaged etc.

Seems like the MB is damaged - maybe one of those insects had a "shocking" end to their life Owner told and she is now on a hunt for a cheap second hand machine to replace it and I have to transfer her data off an IDE drive :rolleyes: if I can find an adaptor.

Thanks again all for the input and help and fingers crossed the owner will now purchase something half decent!

TerrorFirmer

That PC is so ancient that you'd actually be able to buy a PC about 3 - 4x faster for €50-60, a higher-end Core 2 Duo based (E8400, 8300, 8600, etc) Dell/HP/Compaq or similar with 4GB of ram. Loads on Ebay or Adverts.

FanadMan

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

That PC is so ancient that you'd actually be able to buy a PC about 3 - 4x faster for €50-60, a higher-end Core 2 Duo based (E8400, 8300, 8600, etc) Dell/HP/Compaq or similar with 4GB of ram. Loads on Ebay or Adverts.

Jeez - an abacus would be more powerful! Have shown the owner a few cheap machines on Adverts that would be perfect but no, she wants to trawl through the charity shops for one :rolleyes: Well, will mean more work for me when 6 months down the line it'll die as well.

FanadMan

Oh joy of joys! Owner arrived with a "new" computer - a Dell Dimension 2400 with 128MB RAM running XP SP1. Noticed back was a bit dusty so didn't plug it in right away. Good job too cos when I opened it I found a chunk of dust and fluff about 30cm long. The whole of the inside of the computer was clogged solid. Took about 3 hours dismantling and cleaning before I would even plug the bloody thing in.

Eventually started copying over user files......owner had obviously never heard of file management cos the main files type I was to copy (.dwg files) were everywhere!

I'm going to be drinking the expensive beer this weekend on the payday I'm gonna get for this (wishful thinking :mad:)

Jeez - why do I accept jobs like this?