Repairing old PC

[RAJ_w]

Hi! In my room stands a nice looking pc. One problem. It's old, like 8 years or even more. Unfortunately it doesn't work anymore. Now I tried to fix it, rewiring everything and cleaning a bit up (dust). But still, it doesn't work, I think one or more components are defect and I am trying to figure which, but I just can't. So, is there anyway I can know which component it defect and doesn't work anymore, so maybe I can replace it? 

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

What happens when you try to power it on?

[RAJ_w]

2 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

What happens when you try to power it on?

The LED is on but the computer doesn't work; fan isn't spinning and it doesn't show a display.

[Crunchy Dragon]

8 minutes ago, RAJ_w said:

The LED is on but the computer doesn't work; fan isn't spinning and it doesn't show a display.

Do the fans spin at all, even for just a second or two?

[Firewrath9]

mabye try a new PSU? 

[Fasauceome]

A spec list helps too, there may be a known defect of a specific part at a certain age

[RAJ_w]

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Do the fans spin at all, even for just a second or two?

no.

[RAJ_w]

43 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

A spec list helps too, there may be a known defect of a specific part at a certain age

Yeah well, I know the CPU and the PSU but the other parts are unclear

[RAJ_w]

1 hour ago, Firewrath9 said:

mabye try a new PSU? 

If I turn the power on, should the fan of the PSU be spinning? If thats the case that might be a solution

[aisle9]

2 hours ago, RAJ_w said:

Hi! In my room stands a nice looking pc. One problem. It's old, like 8 years or even more. Unfortunately it doesn't work anymore. Now I tried to fix it, rewiring everything and cleaning a bit up (dust). But still, it doesn't work, I think one or more components are defect and I am trying to figure which, but I just can't. So, is there anyway I can know which component it defect and doesn't work anymore, so maybe I can replace it? 

 

What kind of hardware are we talking about here? If it's 8 years old, that would put it in the early Core i infrastructure. Could be a motherboard issue, could be faulty RAM, could be a power supply. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

 

1. Disconnect all of your PSU connections and remove the unit from your system. Plug your PSU into the wall. Using a paperclip and some electrical tape, jump your power supply. by bridging the green wire and the black wire in the top row. If the fan spins up, your PSU works. If it doesn't, you need a new one. My guess would be that this is what happened.
2. If the PSU works, reconnect it to your system and the wall. Remove all the RAM from the system, and disconnect all hard drives and your GPU (if your system has integrated graphics). Place one stick of RAM in the furthest RAM slot from the CPU socket and try to power the system on. If that doesn't work, try the next RAM stick to see if it works, and so on and so forth. If you make it through all the RAM sticks without a POST, repeat the procedure using the slot closest to the CPU socket, then the middle sockets. If one of your RAM sticks works, your problem is either bad RAM or a bad slot. Following this procedure will let you determine which is which. If nothing works here, that's a bad sign.
3. Disconnect everything. Remove the motherboard from the system. Using a flashlight and (if needed) a magnifying glass, carefully search the board to see if any of the big silver cylinders (capacitors) are swollen up compared to the others, or look to have leaked something onto the board itself. If there are, your board is dead. If not, take the CPU out of the socket carefully and look to see if any pins are bent. If you have an AMD CPU, look at the bottom of the CPU itself to see if any pins are damaged. If you have any bent or broken pins, your board is effectively dead unless you want to get into performing surgery on an 8-year-old board.

Here's something that might help us now: how many RAM slots are there on the board total? Two, four or six?

[RAJ_w]

Thank you for the tips. There are 2 RAM sticks, but also 2 RAM slots. Next week I have holidays so I will definitely try those things you have listed.