How to determine if Motherboard is bad

[NOKNOT]

I have a Dell E521. Last week it froze up and after I rebooted, the fan just started spinning and nothing on the monitor. I was told that the Motherboard was bad and it would be just as cheap to buy new Computer. Now I find out I can get a Motherboard for less than $100, which makes me wonder if it was the Motherboard at all. The strange thing is after I shut the power down I waited a few seconds and unplugged the power cable, after about 15 seconds I plugged the power cable back in and as soon as I did the fan started running,the power light button came on but still nothing on screen. Thanks.

[JayCub]

i have had a couple of Dell pc's over the years but nothing bad only on the 4550 and the cpu fan was giving trouble...

As it was the fan i couldn't boot into windows, on the back of the pc there should be diagnostic lights and as you mentioned the mobo is cheap..

was there any beep codes when you powered on you pc, the rear diagnostics are also a big help...

This is alway a process of elimination... over all dell is solid but has it's limits...

[NOKNOT]

Thanks JayCub, no beeps just the sound of the fan.

---------- Post added at 04:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 AM ----------

i have had a couple of Dell pc's over the years but nothing bad only on the 4550 and the cpu fan was giving trouble...

As it was the fan i couldn't boot into windows, on the back of the pc there should be diagnostic lights and as you mentioned the mobo is cheap..

was there any beep codes when you powered on you pc, the rear diagnostics are also a big help...

This is alway a process of elimination... over all dell is solid but has it's limits...

The first three lights are green but the 4th is not on.

[brightspark]

As Jaycub said: "This is always a process of elimination."
Without the correct tools, the best way to diagnose this is to eliminate all other possibilities until only the motherboard is left.

Just because there is no monitor display does not automatically mean that the computer is not working, may simply mean you just can't see what is happening.

How old is the computer? Is the HDD light flashing at all, or any indication that the hard drive is active? Is there a dedicated graphic card or is it running integrated graphics? Can you try a different monitor and cable?

It may well be a faulty mobo but it could be something simpler too.

[hal9000]

Lights 1-3 on and 4 off means 'Another failure has occurred' according to dell. Helpful eh! They recommend checking all connections to the motherboard (PSU, DVD, HDD etc.). Obviously take note of Brightsparks comments, but the fact you don't get 4 lights to indicate a successful POST does seem to indicate a real problem.

As has been mentioned around the forum, you could try to completely discharge the machine by leaving it unplugged for 30mins or so. Obviously easy to do so worth a go.

The other thing you could try is to attempt a boot with the minimum of components. Disconnect everything apart from the CPU and 1 stick of RAM (different RAM would help if you have access to any) and see what happens. If still no luck, it's probably the board as the diagnostic lights are 'supposed' to detect CPU, GFX, HDD and RAM failures.

It's also worth checking out the Troubleshooting page here.

[JayCub]

I just had a glance at the E521 and it's similar in looks to the 9200 a BTX design, and to be honest it really is a dust bucket, as there is no real filters, even the XPS 420 collects large amounts of dust despite regular cleaning, this is something i would start with along with the checks stated by bright spark and hal9000 there is a large intake for the cpu cooler that clogs with dust... Dell cut too many corners for my liking, but regular house cleaning helps their life cycle the 4550 is nearly 7 years old and still working.

[NOKNOT]

Thanks for the help guys.

brightspark, PC is about 5 years old running an integrated card. No sign of anything working except fan. A friend took the hard drive and backed up some data for me so I would say its working. I am able to use the monitor now with an older PC.

hal9000, stripped it down and still no luck.

[brightspark]

Hey NOKNOT - It's not sounding good then.

Only other thing you can do is follow Jaycub's advice and clean out as much dust as possible (that is, if there is a lot of dust). Also test all connectors and make sure nothing is loose and everything is firmly in place. If it is the motherboard (which is sounding very likely) most often it can be a blown capacitor. The capacitors are little cylindrical shaped components on the mobo and there would be a fair few of them. The top of a healthy capacitor will be nice and flat and silver in color. If you see any which are bulging or blackened on top then they have blown.

Considering the age of the machine and from what you have described, it does sound as though the mobo or CPU may indeed be faulty.

Cheers...Jim

[NOKNOT]

Hey NOKNOT - It's not sounding good then.

Only other thing you can do is follow Jaycub's advice and clean out as much dust as possible (that is, if there is a lot of dust). Also test all connectors and make sure nothing is loose and everything is firmly in place. If it is the motherboard (which is sounding very likely) most often it can be a blown capacitor. The capacitors are little cylindrical shaped components on the mobo and there would be a fair few of them. The top of a healthy capacitor will be nice and flat and silver in color. If you see any which are bulging or blackened on top then they have blown.

Considering the age of the machine and from what you have described, it does sound as though the mobo or CPU may indeed be faulty.

Cheers...Jim

Thanks Jim. I have found a mobo for $50 so I thought I would at least try that and see if it works. I have one more question, after replacing motherboard should it start right up or will I have to reinstall anything. Thanks.

[hal9000]

One BIG problem you've got is the motherboard is a BTX form factor. If your new board is mATX it won't fit in the case and the front / back panel connectors probably won't match. The PC may have to be transferred to a micro / midi ATX case.

If you got hold of a direct E521 replacement which goes straight in, it should boot up without a re-install.