So I recently acquired a partially gutted Dell XPS 710 and I've been trying to restore it. Issue is, I can't get a display, no matter what I've tried.
The motherboard doesn't have video output connections of any kind, so I bought a cheapo GPU to try to get some kind of display going. Some NVIDIA Quadro thing, I can
probably post more info about it if needed.
Once I get it installed and plug everything in, the display never comes up, and I never get any kind of indication as to what might be wrong. The front power button is solid amber, which means that there's an issue, but the diagnostic lights on the front panel are dim, and there's no beeps coming out of the PC speaker. The DVD drives can open up and the
mouse seems to get power, I just can't get a display. Taking the GPU out doesn't fix the amber light. I've also tried swapping RAM sticks around, replaced the CMOS battery, and
switched the slot the GPU goes into. Still nothing. I'm stumped and would appreciate some pointers, if anyone has any.
(and for what it's worth, I replaced the thermal paste. was unrelated to this issue, I took the CPU heatsink off and had to)
Service manual and other resources: Support for XPS 710 | Manuals & documents | Dell US
Specs (as far as I can tell):
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo Processor E6600
RAM: SAMSUNG LOW PROFILE 2GB's 1 x 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 240 Pin DIMM M379T5663FB3-CF7 (according to ebay)
GPU: some Quadro thing
2x DVD Drives
Media Card Reader drive
other more specific info for specs can be found in the Service Manual, around page 84
If pics/more info is needed, just ask and I shall try to provide.
sorry i'm not good at this whole formatting thing so excuse the mess
Have you tried a different PSU, or checked the motherboard for bulging capacitors?
don't exactly have a spare 750W PSU on hand, and the mobo seems fine to me
does the pc actually boot? randomly i get no display and its some sort of display port bug, i can hot plug a hdmi cable to get a display but display port wont work until i turn off the monitor and psu fully
it hasn't POSTed once i don't think, its been like this since I've gotten it, no matter what I've done
also tried to let it sit for 20 mins once to see if it was just rly slow but no dice
Probably a bad PSU then.
probably a stupid question, but before i drop money on a new PSU, would it be fine to use a PSU with a lower capacity? i don't think I'd be hitting 750W with all this stuff missing
Yeah it'd be alright. a 750W PSU is like, a 1080TI runner, and even then it's a bit much. You truthfully could boot the thing on a 300W office special PSU if you've got a cheapo quadro in there.
Well, the only thing i had is a 250W PSU, and it didn't seem to even have all the connectors needed (mobo calls for 2 separate mobo power connectors, this one only had 1)
kiiiinda stumped now
if all else fails ill try finding a new/used PSU, but i don't feel comfy dropping money on something that may not even be the issue
Are you talking two 24 pin connectors?
If it's like an 8 pin and a 4 pin you don't need them for the pC to run so long as you have atleast one 4 pin. You can plug a 4 pin into either side of the 8pin and itll boot most likely. Its not going to work well but itll probably work.
nah not those, it looks like there's a 24 pin and a 20 pin connector for power
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/107049/3edc64ac-d115-46ec-91ba-071739338459/image.png
(pages 11-14 in the service manual)
unless i'm being dumb and these aren't required or something
I'm thinking the PSU is probably fine, the lights on the KB/M, no POST bleeps, spinning fans etc. tells me that the system is probably posting without errors but has no display. What kind of connections are you using for your display? Try some different cables if you haven't already. Also what is the model of the Quadro card, does it require an extra power connector?
-i'm using DVI-D, the cable works (i tested it with my normal PC and it worked) (as does the monitor i'm pretty sure)
-the card appears to be a Nvidia Quadro FX570
-it does not require an extra power connector
Fans can turn on with a bad PSU still, depends how it failed because you have 3 different voltages coming from the PSU. Should be fine with just power to one 20/24pin connector, server mobos sometimes did redundant psus like that.
Take out the RAM and see if it complains about it on the next power up, if it does then at least the motherboard is functioning enough to Post.
If not then it could very well be the motherboard
Had a similar problem when I built a friends PC. Turns out a ram stick was slightly out of place. Check to see if the slots for the ram are clear and if possible try some RAM you know is functional
@Amber902 @Michael haxz
Swapping in and out the 4 sticks of ram it came with didn't work. Nor do I have any spare, compatible sticks
@F.X Clampazzo
Going to go get the PSU tested at a local repair place tomorrow for free, if it isnt that I'm gonna say its the mobo most likely
If I remember correctly my last PC was doing something similar when it died, and it turned out to be either a dead CPU or motherboard. everything else I tested from it was fine and I even reused the PSU with the new build I made
Have you checked the CPU socket for any bent pins?
I took a look at it briefly while i went to reapply thermal paste, and i didn't immediately see any, but if it turns out to not be the PSU, ill check that before i look for a new motherboard.
Dumb question, but does the cable that goes from your PSU to your GPU have two output plugs on it? My GPU kept intermittently crashing on my first PC build a month or two ago, but then a couple days ago when I was tinkering around I tried switching which plug my GPU was plugged into, and now my PC is totally stable. My situation was a bit different, the PC did boot and worked for a while, then crashed occasionally when playing certain games (furmark crashed it instantly), but in any case if there's an issue with power going to your GPU, it could be that the PSU is fine but there's a minor cable issue like that.
I'm not talking about swapping, I'm talking about taking all the memory out and see if it complains about no memory. That's an easy way to make sure at least the motherboard is alive.
Nope, nothing showed up.
@Mort Stroodle this GPU doesn't connect directly to the PSU, just snaps into the motherboard
No beeps at all or diagnostic lights? Its the motherboard or PSU then.
Can you give us a picture of how you got it so far just to make sure everything is plugged in as it should?
Took it to the place and got the PSU tested, everything seems fine with that.
Swapped the CPUs out, still didn't POST.
At this point I'm pretty sure the motherboard is the culprit.
Unless anyone has any other theories, I'm gonna go start looking on eBay
@Michael haxz I've checked the connections, everything seems in order
If it's not the PSU it's most likely that mobo then at this point yeah.
Try a hard reset of the mobo via the removal of the CMOS battery before you completely replace it, if it's got some bios shit wrong that'd fix it, otherwise it'd be hardware.
Unplug the mobo, remove the cmos battery, wait a couple minutes for all the caps to fully discharge and shit, put battery back in, plug back in, try to boot.
No dice. I'll find me a mobo and report back once I get that and get everything put back together
I swear, with my luck it STILL wouldn't work :V
the mobo swap made it work! thanks for the help!
Glad you got it figured out! Bad motherboards are annoying to troubleshoot if you don't have any spares lying around.
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