I went to turn it on today and all that happened when I powered it on was it ran the fan really loud; it didn't attempt to send any information to the monitor or do anything other than run that fan, so I unplugged the power cord. I waited for quite a while and tried one more time to get the same effect.

 

 

 

Any general ideas on what I could do? I could get system specs and all but I would have to get a flashlight and read the labels, I can't just pull up the computer properties since I can't get it to turn on. It is a couple (3 or 4) years old, so it could definitely just be an old power supply, I have added a graphics card and 1gb of memory, but nothing else.

Is it beeping? Did you just add the graphics card and memory and it is doing this? A word of advice hold the power button in for a few seconds and that will shut it down don't unplug it.

I installed the graphics card and memory about half a year ago so it's not that, good clarification there, and it's not beeping or anything like it normally would (as a little addition, the power button doesn't even glow like it should).

 

 

 

When I powered it up once the first time today and it did this, I held the power button down to power it off (as you just suggested). Then I waited about 10 minutes, tried to power it on again and it did the same thing, then when I tried to power it off by holding the power button the second time it would not work, so I had to unplug it. I left it unplugged to rest for half a day and tried again and the same thing happened.

Is that a prebuilt? Have you changed the power supply when you upgarded the Graphics card and the RAM?

Yeah, I just bought it as a Gateway computer at Best Buy, and I never did change the power supply when I changed the graphics card / memory

Someone suggested that a messed up Ram could stop it, so I tried taking out the additional Ram and trying again, but it had no effect. I also tried removing the video card on the off chance that it could have been broken and stopping it, but that also had no effect.

Sounds like bad psu or motherboard to me (for some reason I've seen a lot of these lately).

 

The psu is easiest to replace so try that first, if its not the psu then you'll need to give us the model number.

Well, personally, I'm thinking about a bad PSU. Usually manufacturers put a PSU that only supports what you have in the computer, so when you put a new graphics card in there, it made it that probably the psu was working to the top of it's ability, meaning it died earlier because of the computer taking more power.

 

 

 

JoeDaStudd is better than me at guessing those things though lol.

Okay, I'm going to replace the PSU, it's a Gateway GT4010 if I could get some help on what PSU I could buy that would fit and be sufficient. I haven't ever replaced a PSU, but I have someone with me who does know, so I should be able to.

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/5891/5891nv.shtml - this is yours, yes?

 

They offered 3 300w psu's for that computer, 2 said ATX so i guess that the third one also follows the ATX standard.

 

Can you tell me what graphics card you bought and what budget you have for the PSU? Replacing the PSU is very easy, i'll tell you how if you like (there should also be some videos on youtube).

Yeah, that's my computer. I added an Radeon HD3650 graphics card at the same time that I added 1gig of memory (in 2 512 Ram cards because it's old and wants memory in pairs), and I have dual monitors hooked up to it via that card. I'd like to spend under or around $100, not too much more, and I think that should be able to take care of it pretty well.

That card doesn't draw much power, it -should- be fine. But since the psu is pretty old and degrades a little bit every year...

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139008 - Corsair 400w, 50$ (30$ after rebate!). This is the primary one i'd recommend, you only pay 30$ after rebate and you get free shipping.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817256032 - Silverstone 400w, 45$ (30$ after rebate!), another great choice.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817104935 - FSP 400w, 45$, another great manufacturer.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817256019 - Silverstone 350w, 40$, yet another good one.

 

 

 

I would firstly advice you checking some videos (youtube or alike), since my text-how-to isn't that great.

 

 

 

Turn off the computer and the powersupply.

 

Unhook every cable (monitor, power etc).

 

Open up the case (easier having it laying down on the other side of the case), ground your self (touching a radiator or an unpainted metal-object (door nob or so)), since you've already installed a graphics card and ram i guess you know this.

 

Unhook all the connections from the psu - cpu power connector, main power connector, drives etc.

 

Get a star-screw driver, hold the psu (so it doesn't fall down and hurt your other hardware) while screwing out the screws (the 4 screws on the outside back on the case), remove the psu.

 

Place the psu with fan down or up (as how the old psu was), screw into place.

 

Attach the necessary cables, and hide away the undused cables with cable ties.

 

Close the case and attach the monitor, power etc cables.

 

Boot up!

Ah thanks a ton! I'll let ya'll know how it works out when I get it goin' in a bit!

Yargh, I replaced the PSU and it didn't work. The exact same thing happens when I try to power it on: the fan goes on max but nothing else happens. It must be something else a bit harder to fix.

Oo damn.

 

I hope you can return the psu if you don't want to keep it (which did you order btw?).

 

As others have said, the mobo has probably gone kaputt...

 

And the problem with the motherboard is that it's socket 939, which isn't produced anymore. I don't know if anyone you know has it too... If so, you could try hooking up your stuff to his/her motherboard and see.

 

There should be some used 939 mobos that you could buy for 20$ or so... Might be worth a shot.

 

Also, have you tried booting up without the graphics card, cd/dvd drive etc..? I would try that first...You never know.

I actually remembered that my friend had just gotten his computer (bought about the same time as mine and kind of similar) a new 400W PSU because his had started randomly powering off, so I actually went and stole his to test real quick before I actually ordered myself one. First thing I tried was booting it without the individual components in case it was a corruption like that, and that didn't work either.

 

 

 

If it is the motherboard like this, then I've actually been planning lately to get a laptop, so I figure I might as well just go ahead and get it now and work on that for a while, instead of fully replacing this 5 year old computer (someone just reminded me that's how old it was), and just move my files off of it. I might check to see if I can get a motherboard also, because there's nothing wrong with keeping another working computer around, but I've got to figure out where I actually want to go from here.

I see.

 

Yes i mean, the computer isn't really worth upgrading (the psu(?) you bought can be used in a new desktop or sell if they don't accept you returning it).

 

If you find a socket 939 mobo for 20$-ish it's worth it, but otherwise you can always keep some of the parts for a later computer or so.

 

If you aren't gaming beoynd RS, you don't really need to spend much on a laptop. Well, good luck!