[brettt777]

I have an old Dell XPS710 that lost a video card a while back. I was in the process of building a completely new rig for myself but didn't want to part with the XPS so I found a few components on e-bay and upgraded the 710 for my wife. I installed a QX6700 CPU and NVidia 8800GTX, along with a 1TB HDD and Windows 7 64 bit so I could use 8GB of DDR2. This all worked quite well with the original power supply... for a while. She used it a number of times like this and due to family issues it set unused for maybe two months. Then she went to power it up, the lights and fans come on for about a second and then it shuts down. Long story short, disconnecting various components didn't help. The only thing that allows the PS to come on line and stay on line is actually removing the CPU and then powering up. Obviously the machine is a bit too slow without the CPU so either my PS suddenly got too weak or somehow my CPU died. The CPU was a brand new OEM thing, never used, when I installed it. The only components that are original are the MB and PS.  When I could get the thing online by removing the CPU, all the voltages were perfect, even with the GPU completely plugged in. I am leaning more towards a weak PS. Any thoughts? I know there's a lot of XPS710 owners that have made similar mods with this CPU. Anyone seen anything like this?

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Hi, not sure what you mean about removing the CPU, unless you mean replacing it with the original.

 

However my thoughts are in line with yours regarding the power supply, the main thing about a lot of electronic stuff is that while not in use for a long period, capacitors can degrade, after some years of use such as yours has, the capacitors will never recover and can blow, so best to try a new power supply first.

Edit to add, also go for a power supply with a higher power rating to be able to better handle the upgrades you have all ready done.

 

Nev.

Edited by Plastic Nev, 28 October 2014 - 03:12 PM.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, not sure what you mean about removing the CPU, unless you mean replacing it with the original.

 

However my thoughts are in line with yours regarding the power supply, the main thing about a lot of electronic stuff is that while not in use for a long period, capacitors can degrade, after some years of use such as yours has, the capacitors will never recover and can blow, so best to try a new power supply first.

Edit to add, also go for a power supply with a higher power rating to be able to better handle the upgrades you have all ready done.

 

Nev.

Edited by Plastic Nev, 28 October 2014 - 03:12 PM.