Alienware M14x r2 not booting

[TheKDub]

I've been trying to fix my friend's alienware m14x r2 for the past few days, everything I've tried has had no success.

 

I've tried individual sticks of RAM in each of the slots (I know the RAM works), removing the hard drive, unplugging the battery and just using ac power, just using the battery and no ac power, using both the battery and ac power, plugging in an external monitor, spamming random ass keys when I turn it on, etc..

 

Whenever the power button is pressed, the keyboard lights up and the cooling fan spins, but there is nothing displayed on the screen, about a second after the keyboard lights up, the laptop shuts off.

 

The laptop is out of warranty by about two years, so sending it in to dell isn't going to be that great of an option, and their tech support is worse than moldy dog shit..

 

Any ideas on what it could be causing it? (No beep codes, so that makes things more difficult)

[BarneyInMatrix]

GPU/CPU/MOBO Failure are my first thoughts

[TheKDub]

GPU/CPU/MOBO Failure are my first thoughts

 

Yeah, I'm thinking it might be something like that, not really a good way to test for it though. (at least without spending shitloads of money on new parts)

[BarneyInMatrix]

Yeah, I'm thinking it might be something like that, not really a good way to test for it though. (at least without spending shitloads of money on new parts)

Hmm. Maybe it's the thermal paste on the cpu/gpu. I know Alienwares don't give you a lot of customizability but if you can apply new paste on them if you have the ability to. Otherwise bring it to a professional and tell them to reapply it.

[TheKDub]

Hmm. Maybe it's the thermal paste on the cpu/gpu. I know Alienwares don't give you a lot of customizability but if you can apply new paste on them if you have the ability to. Otherwise bring it to a professional and tell them to reapply it.

 

I definitely have the ability to re-apply thermal paste, I'm not some pc scrub.

 

I highly doubt it's the thermal paste causing it, if it was, it'd at least stay on for a while until it got too hot or something.

 

I'm gonna try finding the cmos battery so I can rip that out and see if I can get it going.

[TheKDub]

Removing the cmos battery brought nothing except for error beeps saying the cmos battery was missing...

[HPWebcamAble]

I definitely have the ability to re-apply thermal paste, I'm not some pc scrub.

 

I highly doubt it's the thermal paste causing it, if it was, it'd at least stay on for a while until it got too hot or something.

 

I'm gonna try finding the cmos battery so I can rip that out and see if I can get it going.

 

Well only a few seconds is pretty fast, but it IS possible that the CPU or GPU is overheating. Why not just try reapplying thermal paste to them?

 

 

Removing the cmos battery brought nothing except for error beeps saying the cmos battery was missing...

 

Huh who woulda thunk

[connorpiper]

I don't think anything is overheating if there is nothing on the display. Possible component failure. 

Recently happened to my friends 14" Dell laptop. (Similar to the Alienware)

[TheKDub]

I don't think anything is overheating if there is nothing on the display. Possible component failure. 

Recently happened to my friends 14" Dell laptop. (Similar to the Alienware)

 

I'm guessing it's the mobo

 

Ol well, it's about 3 years old, it's bulky, and it's heavy af, my friend needed something better anyways.