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Jeffrey Makiel
08-21-2009, 1:00 PM
Any suggested sources? The processor is a replacement for a Dell computer.

Ebay has nothing and google only turned-up one vendor with a used one ($100) and one vendor with a new one ($1,200) ...which cracks me up. Dell has one for $385 which is almost as much as I paid for the entire computer!

I thought this would be easy.

-Jeff :)

Chuck Wintle
08-21-2009, 1:05 PM
Any suggested sources? The processor is a replacement for a Dell computer.

Ebay has nothing and google only turned-up one vendor with a used one ($100) and one vendor with a new one ($1,200) ...which cracks me up. Dell has one for $385 which is almost as much as I paid for the entire computer!

I thought this would be easy.

-Jeff :)

which processor are you referring to? prices vary wildly between brands, intel or amd and how long the part has been on the market. are you sure it is the processor and not the motherboard?
try newegg.com or zoomfly.com

Jeffrey Makiel
08-21-2009, 1:19 PM
The computer is a Dell Dimension 5100 about 3+ years old. The Processor is listed on the mfr sheet as:

FC756 Processor, 80547, Pentium 4 Prescott DT, 531, Socket T, EO Male.

I think it is either 2.8 or 3.0 GHz. It seems that the socket is odd ("T"). Perhaps it's proprietary to Dell? Most offerings are either 775 or 478.

I'm not sure if it is the processor or motherboard. It's trial by part replacement. Good thing I'm not a surgeon. So far, I just replaced the power supply with no luck.

-Jeff :)

Matt Evans
08-21-2009, 1:19 PM
You can also try tigerdirect.com, or, I can look around if you posted the processor specs/UPC.


I think that it would be well worth your while to make sure it is the processor rather than the motherboard, like Charles said.

Jeffrey Makiel
08-21-2009, 1:43 PM
How does one determine if it's a bad motherboard? Visual inspection did not reveal anything like a broken part or bulged capacitor.

Background: One day, the computer kept trying to reboot upon startup. When I cycled the power button and tried to restart it, absolutely nothing happened. No sound, no diagnostic lights, no nuthin'. After I installed a new power supply, I got the following error (on a black screen with white letters) about 2 seconds after I pushed the start button:

RV370 P/N 113-A62801-104 BIOS

Now, it won't even do that anymore. Once again, when I push the button, it makes no sound. Some research on google mentioned this error. The only closure that I found was a bad processor in one instance.

-Jeff :)

Ted Shrader
08-21-2009, 1:48 PM
+1 on NewEgg

Not that it can't happen, but I have never had a CPU die. It has always been the MB. See if you can find the MB info. Besides the Dell info sheet, look on the MB.

You might look at a MB-CPU combo deal. Just make sure your existing memory will work in the new MB and the hard drive interface is compatible.

Good luck,
Ted

Chuck Wintle
08-21-2009, 1:55 PM
LGA 775, also known as Socket T, is an Intel desktop CPU socket

Ken Garlock
08-21-2009, 2:06 PM
Hi Jeffrey.

Before running out for a new processor run this little exercise. Look in your computer manual and determine how to enter the BIOS set-up. Then attempt to enter the BIOS screen at power-on time using the instructions you found. IF you can get into the BIOS, you processor is good. The processors tend to be pretty rugged little beasts, when they go out is it often be cause they got too hot. My cup of vending machine coffee says the problem is the mother board.

One other thing you could try is to find a BIOS update floppy disk for your your machine and attempt to install the BIOS. IF it will not install, that pretty much points the fickled finger of fate at the mother board.:eek:

Jerome Hanby
08-21-2009, 2:44 PM
Checkout pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com). It's good way to track down prices. Before you jump though, keep in mind that all computer power supplies are not created equal. If you original crapped out (which they surely do, I've probably replaced them in half a dozen peoples PCs this year). Cheap power supplies are notorious for skimping on the +5 and +3.3 volt rails. I probably wouldn't buy a supply with less than 25 amps on either rail. An Antec True Power TP-550 5550 watt supply will supply 25 amps on both of those rails. It's also rated at 550 watts continuous power output. Most Power supply are rated at their peak (read will burn up if you keep drawing) power output. I'm sure there are equally good manufacturers, but I know Antec makes a good product, so I stick with them (sort of like buying Freud saw blades).

That supply goes for about $80 at NewEgg

Matt Evans
08-21-2009, 2:46 PM
The socket t is a bit odd.

You might try looking for the same computer to cannibalize for parts.

I just did a quick Ebay search, and that computer can be bought relatively inexpensively. ($250 or less some buy it now at $250, saw one at $54.00 with a day to go.)

Or, upgrade the motherboard to be compatible with more common processors.

David G Baker
08-21-2009, 6:10 PM
I have purchased items from Computer Geeks and have been happy with the products and cost.
I don't want to start a Dell trash post but over the past several years I have personally known 5 friends that have had horrible luck with Dell computers. For around $500 you can get a completely new computer if you shop, it won't have all the bells and whistles but for most general computing needs it will be fine.

Dave Johnson29
08-21-2009, 7:07 PM
How does one determine if it's a bad motherboard?

Jeffrey,

My first test would be to swap out the power supply with a known good one.

What makes you think it is the processor or motherboard?

Stephen Tashiro
08-21-2009, 8:17 PM
The simplest hardware fixes to try:

Unplug cables to devices that may have gone bad such as floppy drives, CD drives and even the Hard Drive if we are just trying to get the machine to boot into it's BIOS.

Reseat the memory.
Reseat the CPU.
"Reset the CMOS" by removing the battery on the motherboard or using the jumper near it.
Replace the motherboard battery.

I've had batteries, motherboards, memory and CPUs go bad on computer systems. Sometimes when other components go bad they can also cause problems.

I agree with Ken Garlock's suggestion. Make your first goal to get into the BIOS setup. Some example methods of doing this are given at:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

It will be difficult to diagnose the cause of the problem if you can't get the machine to boot. I think the only way a computer shop could do it is to swap parts in and out between your system and a similar system that is known to be good.

I also agree that pricewatch.com's section on CPUs is a good source. It's listings include dealers that sell used CPUs that are pulled from working machines.

Jim Becker
08-21-2009, 8:18 PM
My first test would be to swap out the power supply with a known good one.

That was my thought, also...

Jim Mattheiss
08-21-2009, 8:22 PM
Jeff:

In Paterson there is a Micro Warehouse. They sell a lot of "build your own" parts. You might want to check in with them.

I'm haven't done anything more involved than putting in a replacement CD drive.

Good luck

Jim

Rich Neighbarger
08-22-2009, 2:57 AM
Are Dell power supplies standard ATX? I thought the plugs were proprietary. Also, I'd check RAM before replacing your motherboard.

Steve knight
08-22-2009, 3:09 AM
looking at the insides of a couple of dells standard parts may not fit at all. so replacing power supplies and chips and such can be tricky. if you don't know the problem then you may just end up wasting time. as old as it is for about 200 or so you will get something faster.
I have two dells and they are ok but nothing great. my last one could not play videos without the audio not keeping up with the video. it had 2 gigs of ram and a 2.3g dual core processor.
I think more ram would have fixed it but still. put windows 7 on it and it is far faster then xp.
now my little mac mini with a slower processor blows it out of the water.

John Hixon
08-22-2009, 6:48 AM
Unless you have a bunch of spare parts laying around to isolate the problem by swapping modules, I think you would be better off to bite the bullet and get a new system. Perhaps just the bare bones. You will probably end up with upgrades to the OS, video, memory, processor, and hard disk. You can also migrate the hard disk from the old box to recover your data.

Some software will allow you to call for a new key if you explain that the original PC is dead and this replaces it.

Phil Thien
08-22-2009, 7:54 AM
I'm not sure if it is the processor or motherboard. It's trial by part replacement. Good thing I'm not a surgeon. So far, I just replaced the power supply with no luck.

-Jeff :)




More likely the motherboard.

For a machine over three years old, I'd be checking for bulging caps.

Does it POST (Power On Self Test) at all?

Brad Wood
08-22-2009, 10:05 AM
I have to concur with everything that thinks the cpu is not the likely problem... and that unless you have the spare parts handy, you are probably better off just buying a new system. in the end, you probably will end up spending less money and certainly less time.
While the possibility exists for a cpu to go tits up, it is way down on the list compared to other items (which have all been mentioned). i've been working with PC's for nearly 20 years and I can't recall ever having a bad cpu.

paul cottingham
08-22-2009, 12:12 PM
How does one determine if it's a bad motherboard? Visual inspection did not reveal anything like a broken part or bulged capacitor.

Background: One day, the computer kept trying to reboot upon startup. When I cycled the power button and tried to restart it, absolutely nothing happened. No sound, no diagnostic lights, no nuthin'. After I installed a new power supply, I got the following error (on a black screen with white letters) about 2 seconds after I pushed the start button:

RV370 P/N 113-A62801-104 BIOS

Now, it won't even do that anymore. Once again, when I push the button, it makes no sound. Some research on google mentioned this error. The only closure that I found was a bad processor in one instance.

-Jeff :)


If it was the processor it never woud have posted at all. Same with the motherboard. If it was me, I would replace it, Dell stuff is not worth fixing, unless it is the very high end equipment.

Greg Peterson
08-22-2009, 12:58 PM
I'd unplug the machine, all cords, cables ....

Open the case and blast all the dust out. Get in and around the hard drive, floppy and CD/DVD drive. Blast out the power supply. Pull the shroud off the CPU and blast the heck out of teh cooling fins.

Next, pull out the memory sticks, one at a time and hit those slots with compressed air. Next, pull out any daughter cards (NIC, VGA, MODEM...) one at a time and clean out their slots.

Pop the CMOS battery out of its recepticle, blast the recepticle with air, clean both sides of the battery (could check to make sure it isn't deficient or replace I guess).

Make sure all cables are securely connected to the motherboard and their devices.

Try booting into the BIOS (on Dell press the F10 key after powering up).

I'm sure CPU's can go bad. I've never seen it. And I doubt your CPU has suffered from heat creep. The CPU sockets do a pretty effective job of locking CPU's into place so they are the one component that is least likely to creep out of their physical interface.

If the CPU did go bad I'd be concerned that there may exist a condition in the motherboard that would simply take out the next CPU.

Worst case scenario would be you just end up buying a motherboard/CPU combo set.

Jeffrey Makiel
08-22-2009, 3:43 PM
Wow. Lots of suggestions. This is what I did from the suggestions above:

- I thoroughly cleaned the inside of the machine as suggested. It was very dusty. It's spankin' clean now. I also inspected for anything loose or bulged capacitors on the motherboard. All looked OK.

- I disconnected the CD/DVD drives, graphics and sound cards and tried to reboot. Absolutely dead.

- I removed one pair of memory cards (two pairs total). Then tried with the second pair of cards only. Absolutely dead.

- The power supply was replaced with a new OEM supply. However, I have not checked to see if the new power supply is OK.

- From what's been said above, it sounds like the CPU is likely not the problem. If it is, I have learned from above that a socket "T" is the same as a socket LGA775. This means that a replacement processor can be had at dirt cheap prices from Ebay.

If the new power supply is really working OK, I'm leaning towards the motherboard being the problem. The computer is stone dead. I cannot get into the BIOS.

Buying a new machine is the other option. However, I would like to stay away from Vista (at least until Windows7 comes out). I've found the 'XP compatibility mode' within Vista to not work on some of my software. Besides, my Dimension 5100 ran really smooth and quiet until it quit. Throwing it out seems wasteful.

-Jeff :)

Frank Hagan
08-22-2009, 5:10 PM
Buying a new machine is the other option. However, I would like to stay away from Vista (at least until Windows7 comes out). I've found the 'XP compatibility mode' within Vista to not work on some of my software. Besides, my Dimension 5100 ran really smooth and quiet until it quit. Throwing it out seems wasteful.


Someone mentioned buying an identical machine used and swapping your hard drive (and memory, if necessary) into it. That's a good interim solution until you need to upgrade. You can get a used system sometimes for $50 to $150 on eBay.

Some versions of Windows won't validate, and will require you to call MS and have them transfer the OS to the new machine; in this case they will do it (older versions could be used on any computer, but later OEM versions restrict its use based on some kind of ID the processor gives the OS.)

Chuck Wintle
08-22-2009, 5:37 PM
Someone mentioned buying an identical machine used and swapping your hard drive (and memory, if necessary) into it. That's a good interim solution until you need to upgrade. You can get a used system sometimes for $50 to $150 on eBay.

Some versions of Windows won't validate, and will require you to call MS and have them transfer the OS to the new machine; in this case they will do it (older versions could be used on any computer, but later OEM versions restrict its use based on some kind of ID the processor gives the OS.)
If it were me faced with either a blown board or cpu and it was 4 years old then I might consider a new asus board and a core2duo cpu which have come down a lot in price. There are some very good and inexpensive asus boards these days. Trouble with dell is the proprietary nature of some of the components. keep everything else you have now, case and peripherals. As long as it is atx it should fit.

Ubuntu Linux is really good now and is free.

Stephen Tashiro
08-22-2009, 5:37 PM
The machine wouldn't produce any display if you removed the graphics card. You can't get into BIOS without video. You might hear a beep from a live motherboard that booted without the graphics card provided the speaker was connected or built-in to the motherboard.

Some motherboards require that certain slots for memory have the memory in them. So you need to have the manual for the motherboard before you know which swaps of memory should work.

Steve knight
08-22-2009, 10:38 PM
you can download and run windows 7 till later next year so don't worry about os's. windows 7 is the fastest thing I have seen on a pc. makes xp look like a dog. but it is not that different from vista in looks and form.

Greg Peterson
08-22-2009, 11:27 PM
I put off buying a new computer because I didn't want anything to do with Vista. I finally bought a new computer when a free Windows 7 upgrade was thrown into the mix.

I like the XP interface. With Vista it seems like the UI engineers went out of their way to make the UI counter-intuitive. Windows 7 retains much of the same UI fundemental elements found in Vista, much to my disappointment.

If a new machine is not feasible (you need XP and files on your hard drive), then a motherbaord and processor are your best bet.

Steve knight
08-23-2009, 12:42 AM
I felt the same way. but I think most of it is because we are so used to xp it is hard to change. I just got my first mac so I had to relearn. same with windows 7. but the speed increase is well worth it.

Darius Ferlas
08-23-2009, 9:49 AM
Buying a new machine is the other option. However, I would like to stay away from Vista (at least until Windows7 comes out). I've found the 'XP compatibility mode' within Vista to not work on some of my software. Besides, my Dimension 5100 ran really smooth and quiet until it quit.
-Jeff :)
If you buy a machine with Vista Premium, Ultimate or Business then you are automatically entitled to downgrade to XP.



Throwing it out seems wasteful.

Agreed. Hence I try to reuse computer hardware as much as I can.
I posted an example here (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116526).

phil harold
08-23-2009, 10:11 AM
how about just buying a new motherboard and proccessor that works with your existing parts

http://www.pricewatch.com/motherboard_combos/

or just buy a new computer with a big monitor and dumb it down to xp

no need to have more than 4 gig memnory with xp
but 2-3 gig makes xp run pretty nice

Frank Hagan
08-24-2009, 1:17 AM
If you're going the new motherboard route ... be careful. Some of the Dell computers use a different pin-out on the power supply so you would need a new power supply as well. And some of the Dell motherboards are just a little bit proprietary, so a new mobo might not fit in that case.

Cheapest would be if you can find an identical computer to yours and swap things around until you get one good computer out of it. Next would be buying a "bare bones" system from someone like Newegg, Fry's or TigerDirect and putting your hard drive in it (make sure the drive is compatible). You may or may not need to call MS to get the OS to authenticate as a legal copy (required if you plan to upgrade to Win7.)

Or, buy a complete new system, with OS, and put your existing hard drive in it so you can copy data over to the new system.

Bryan Hosford
08-24-2009, 1:46 AM
www.buy.com (http://www.buy.com) good prices.

Jim German
08-24-2009, 11:35 AM
Newegg is the place to go for computer parts. But I'd agree that you're better off just buying a new computer. Besides getting a faster computer, you'll also get a new warranty. Plus then you could get a Mac.

Jerome Hanby
08-24-2009, 11:40 AM
...But I'd agree that you're better off just buying a new computer...Plus then you could get a Mac.

Some use of the phrase "better off" with which I'm unfamiliar:p.

But in the same vein, if it's a bad CPU, replace it, trash windows, and good a good distribution of Linux. Should be easy, compared to any version of Windows, all of them are good.

Joe Jensen
08-25-2009, 4:18 PM
Some background.
1) I'm an Electrical Engineer
2) I am stubborn
3) I am in the computer industry and pretty competent with computers

I had random problems with my wife's desktop computer. I knew that a new $500 machine would be better than her 2 year old machine, but I wanted to avoid the 10-15 hours of reloading all Software and drivers, with significant time hunting down discs and downloading updates. I started by swapping power supplies, memory, etc etc. The system would run but was unreliable. Over the course of several months I invested several hundred dollars and hundreds of hours of time chasing a very difficult problem to find. I have got Asus to send me a special updated BIOS (no, it didn't fix the problem either).

Buy a new system. Your's isn't worth saving

Chuck Wintle
08-25-2009, 4:56 PM
Some background.
1) I'm an Electrical Engineer
2) I am stubborn
3) I am in the computer industry and pretty competent with computers

I had random problems with my wife's desktop computer. I knew that a new $500 machine would be better than her 2 year old machine, but I wanted to avoid the 10-15 hours of reloading all Software and drivers, with significant time hunting down discs and downloading updates. I started by swapping power supplies, memory, etc etc. The system would run but was unreliable. Over the course of several months I invested several hundred dollars and hundreds of hours of time chasing a very difficult problem to find. I have got Asus to send me a special updated BIOS (no, it didn't fix the problem either).

Buy a new system. Your's isn't worth saving

I will second Joe's recommendation to buy new. The hassles of problematic hardware are not worth it and if something else acts up then valuable data could be lost.

Don Alexander
09-10-2009, 1:18 AM
3 year old Dell machine is not worth wasting time or money on parts for it , most of which are proprietary and Dell wants rediculous prices for inferior quality parts.

i have had all my Dell certifications for quite a few years as it was necessary for my job and i personally would not spend 2 cents trying to
fix one if it isn't under warranty (very likely the case with a 3+ year old machine) then simply do yourself a big favor and get a new computer ,
HP being a better choice of brand in my experience having worked on both for more than a few years

for what its worth

Steve knight
09-10-2009, 2:08 AM
traded my 6 moth old dell for a mac mini. man that little suckers blows way the dell.
though I took the dell to work and put windows 7 on it and it is a better computer then it was with xp on it. far faster.