Computer question

[Burpee]

I tried cleaning, seating boards, etc. and the 'system failure' comment through the speakers no longer happens but the monitor still just blinks its little inactive light.

The case has a bit of rust on the bottom. The mother board says Asus K8V SE Deluxe Rev1.13. I don't know where to look for a serial number.

The video card is an ATI Radeon, but I don't know what model...again, I don't know where to look. It has a fan on it so it's alot like my old ATI Radeon that I replaced with a NVidia GeForce. Both are good cards.

The memory sticks number 3. A 512MB SP3200 Mushkin, a ProMos 256MB DDR 400Mhz CL3, and a Samsung Korea 256MB DDR.

Without taking everything out, this is what I can see. I did remove the memory sticks, though, and one said 'Void if removed'...ooops

Edit: I have DDR SDRam in my current computer. I don't know if that is different from this.

Here's a pic of the case and innards.

[steve.ledger]

OK - it's a Socket 754 ATX board (AMD Athlon or Sempron CPU) and requires PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 DDR SDRAM type memory (PC3200 currently installed AKA: DDR400).

I can't seen any bloated caps in your photo, so that's a good thing.
Here's what I would suggest;
Find a known working AGP 8x video card and replace the ATI card.
If it still fals to send a signal to the monitor (and presuming the monitor is fine) - try this.
Clean out all the dust with compressed air (carefully).
Hold the CPU Fan still while you blow out the dust from the heatsink.
Once all dust you can see is removed, remove all adapter cards and RAM.
Use a clean white pencil eraser to clean the contacts on the ram and the cards.
If you have some contact cleaner, use this too.
Reseat the ram and the AGP card (the ATI Radeon) - do not refit the modem card at this stage (modems get zapped via phone cables during storms, they can stop PC's booting if they are faulty).
Don't forget the power cable to the AGP card.

Power up the system,

If it fails, remove one of the memory modules - if it fails again, remove the other one after replacing the first.
If it still fails, remove the CPU heatsink and clean the thermal tape or paste off the heatsink and CPU die (citrus oil or nail polish remover works best) and apply some new thermal paste (no too much).

If the system still fails to boot. Then the original suggestion that the mothboard has failed is probably right, though it could alternatively be the CPU, but you'd need a spare CPU to be able to test this possibilty.

You won't find a new replacement socket 754 board easily though.
Maybe ebay?

[Burpee]

Hi Sledge, wow, thanks for the walkthrough on how to check and clean this. I think of all the parts I've recycled over the years and am wishing for an old AGP 8x card lying around. I'm working on it though...have a few ideas on how to get my hands on one. I curse myself for being so neat and tidy, lol.

I can do everything else while figuring out how to get another vid card to test with. I think it all hinges on that. There are no bloated caps, they all look good. Some of the memory sticks look old. they don't go bad, do they? I'll clean them good.

I have to be honest and say I don't know where the modem is at. There's that smaller card attached on the right side of the vid card. Is that it?

I removed a heatsink in class, a long time ago. I remember the teacher saying to be careful about something but I don't remember what. It had to do with reattaching it. This should be fun, but what the heck. How can I learn otherwise?

This system has the prettiest power source I've ever seen. Looks like it came off of a car. It's got a fancy chrome cover for the fan in a black box. The one in my machine is all boring grey, cheap metal...of course my machine still works

[steve.ledger]

The modem is the small PCI card on the right, the one with the plastic cover.

Some of the memory sticks look old. they don't go bad, do they?

Yes, memory modules can fail at any time.

[Burpee]

Thanks, that's the one I thought it was.

Thanks for helping me. I'd love to have a room in my house just for computers. I never would have gotten rid of the previous ones if I had the room to store them. Reason #2318 to win the lottery.

[pauland]

I did remove the memory sticks, though, and one said 'Void if removed'...ooops

It means that the guarantee on the memory stick is void if you remove the sticker, not removing the actual memory stick from the machine!

[kinetica]

I did remove the memory sticks, though, and one said 'Void if removed'...ooops

Nancy, Britain still had an empire when that machine was built. I wouldn't worry too much about voiding any warranty on that thing

[Soquili]

Nancy I'm very much a pack rat when it comes to computers. My newest is 2 years old and the oldest is 10 years old. This is after giving away all the older computers about 5 years ago.

Ooops I forgot about my two Commodore 64s, one Commodore 128, and the Radio Shack Color Computer I bought in 1980 and upgraded from 4K to 16K RAM. Those are still under my bed.

[Burpee]

Paul, so it's like the tags on mattresses and pillows....or the opposite really. Don't remove the label/tag...thanks.

Kin, lol, it looks like alot of older pieces in this one. I think I see the redcoats marching around the modem board.

Bill, would be fun to rummage through your museum. Probably have your own redcoats marching, eh?