System not sending video signal? (I think)

[infernowheels]

I think my old PC seems to have stopped sending output signals to the monitor. Although the monitor doesn't say that there's no signal being received, it's power switch LED is just blinking while the screen isn't showing anything.

 

The specs are:

Intel Core2Duo E7500 @3.3 GHz - that's an OC with the stock cooler which has been stable for more than a year with good temps.

2 GB DDR2 RAM

MSi G31TM-P31

Inno3D Geforce GT 430 2GB DDR3 with +20 MHz slight OC 

Hitachi 320GB HDD

Generic 500W PSU that came with the case

 

What I've ruled out:

• Broken Monitor - I've tried 2 other monitors and both replicate the same problem.

<Main monitor is an LG 18.5 inch, then I tried with a 17 inch Samsung monitor and a very old AOC CRT monitor)

 

• Broken VGA Cable - I tried connecting the monitor with my laptop and it works perfectly well.

 

• Dead GPU - I can't really rule this out well since I have no other system to try it on, but I did uninstall it, try out only using the integrated graphics but still to no avail(same problem occurs).

 

Other than those things, I cannot think of any other possible problems unless the system is basically dead. The system(pre-built) was bought around early 2010 (but the GPU in late 2011) and since it had been OC'd a bit I removed the side panel and ghetto mounted an Antec Fan on the side.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

 

[KyonCoraeL]

Loose cables? Once my friend came over for a LAN party and after all the troubleshooting it turned out that the cable was loose at the back of the LCD.

EDIT: Check both sides of the cable.

 

Another EDIT: This happened to me last year, it turned out my motherboard died. I bought a used one off kijiji or craigslist for 15$ Socket 775 motherboards are really cheap right now on those websites.

 

Another another EDIT: If you have multiple sticks of ram try taking one out and trying all permutations of ram sticks? This is probably not the problem.

[infernowheels]

Loose cables? Once my friend came over for a LAN party and after all the troubleshooting it turned out that the cable was loose at the back of the LCD.

EDIT: Check both sides of the cable.

Well since I've been using the same VGA cable on each LCD and on the laptop, I've had it plugged in and out from different devices and the problem never disappeared. The screws are in very tight on both the System and the display.

[KyonCoraeL]

Another possibility is a loose power cable or that the power supply is dead. If you have another power supply you can try plugging it in.

 

EDIT: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/42440-readme-how-to-respond-to-a-no-post-or-no-power-up-situation/ have you tried the things in this thread?

[infernowheels]

Another possibility is a loose power cable or that the power supply is dead. If you have another power supply you can try plugging it in.

 

EDIT: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/42440-readme-how-to-respond-to-a-no-post-or-no-power-up-situation/ have you tried the things in this thread?

Just checked, those weren't helpful though(for me at least).

Power Supply is unlikely to be dead, all fans clearly power up as well as the LEDs.

 

For the RAM issue, I only have one stick so what you said can't fix this.

 

And if the motherboard really is dead, how can I confirm that without having to get new parts?

I believe the system is already a bit obsolete so I'd just rather build a whole new system than purchasing a new part that could possibly not help.

[KyonCoraeL]

Just because the fans spin up doesn't mean it isn't providing enough power to the right components? If that makes sense. It is worth checking if you have an extra power supply laying around.

 

To check if the motherboard is really dead, remove everything from it and slowly add components one at a time and try booting in between and see note the different beeps. Motherboard -> CPU -> Memory ->Hard Drive -> Video Card. In your motherboard manual it will explain what the beeps mean.

 

EDIT: Side note when I had this problem I had spare everything at my disposal except for a motherboard so it was easy for me to rule out everything but the motherboard. If you have another computer laying around that no one is using at the moment it might be worth it to use some of it's components to diagnose your own computer prior to buying new components. Also it is very common of computers from this generation for motherboards to die as a result I have seen a large spike of extra cpus, ram sticks, and video cards for computers of this age in the last 12 months on the online used computer marketplace.

 

Additional EDIT: I don't know about where you live but in Canada, the price of used computer parts are quite low so it is easy enough to replace one part for 20-50$ which may save you money rather than buying a completely new system.

[infernowheels]

Since I do not have any other parts to use, I think I might just have to get it looked at by a proper technician. However I will try looking for the MoBo's box, if removing the parts won't work, then getting a new PC is a more logical choice in my opinion.

[infernowheels]

Okay, I've got it fixed, seems like resetting the CMOS twice did it. Hmmph

[KyonCoraeL]

Woot woot, weird that you had to do that twice.