TSGL: Nothing then a blank screen after PSU change

[Michael Sweeden]

It sounds like the motherboard to me (the PC does not POST successfully). I
would check that the memory DIMMs are seated, and then I'd try my old power
supply. I doubt that the video card is the problem based on my experiences. 

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Bo Maurin
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 3:12 AM
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Subject: TSGL: Nothing then a blank screen after PSU change

Using a PC with Windows XP, 3GHZ Intel, 1,5 GB RAM, GeForce 7600GTS GPU
(Compaq Presario)

Hi all,
I have had an issue on my 5 year old computer for quite some time now.
The PSU is not working correctly and at least once per months, it wont
start at all. What I do then is to un-plugg the 20 pin cable from the
motherbord and then re-attach it again while the power is on. Sort of a
"kick start" and then the PC come to life. A little trick that is not
written down in a manual I might add. Now I got tired of this process so
I went and invested in a new PSU. The reason why I'm quite sure the PSU
is the faulty component is that 2 friends of mine, with an identical PC,
have had the same problem and they replaced their PSU and then it was
solved.

So I did the same, and bought the very same PSU as my friends. I
replaced the PSU, attached all cables and started the PC. I could see
all fans moving, the HD started to spin, but the screen was absolutely
blank. Not even a BIOS logo or error message. The monitor just said it
had no active signal. Damn frustrating! Trouble shooting started and
first I made the most obvious - checked that all cables were attached
correctly. After that I changes to another monitor but the result was
the same. Next thing I did was to plug in the PC on my home network. I
started the PC (the Windows XP, with the blank monitor screen) and then
I also started another PC using Windows Vista. On my Vista machine I
discovered that I had no problems connecting to my shared folders on the
Windows XP machine. This sort of gives me the hint that the whole
booting process has gone as it should have. My thinking is that the
graphic card is the trouble maker. Unfortunatly, I have no integrated
GPU on the motherboard so it's a bit hard to confirm this by switching
the monitor cable. Also, I don't find it very likely that the GPU should
give in excatly when I replaced the PSU. Then again, my last "kick
start" might have fried some curcuits. My questions are now two:

1. Are there any other test or trouble shooting I can do to detect what
is wrong?
2. Could it be any other component then the graphic board? Such as the
motherboard, memory moduls or what ever.

I appreciate your thoughts as I would hate to buy and new G-card if that
will not solve the problem.

Regards / Bo 

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