Freaky Boot Issues

[Conners]

Taking a look at another person's computer for them, that's being selective when it decides to start up. It's an older P3 800. Once it's on everything is fine, but most of the time when I turn it on I get no signal while everything else powers up. I've tried taking out all pci cards, swapping the video card and power supply, and reformatting the hard drive. I'm about to start swapping the RAM out, but I was just wondering if anyone has an idea what could be causing this problem. I have to let it rest awhile too before it decides to power back up. Thanks.

 

[ethebubbeth]

if you've swapped everything else out, the motherboard could be going bad.

 

[Deskstar]

Did you look for bulging capacitors on the mobo?

 

[Conners]

Yeah looks like it must be the motherboard. Now I'm faced with a new problem. The old Intel BX boards are dead, and this guy has a slot P3 800 with SDRAM. Can anyone suggest a cheap upgrade option if I'm going to have to replace all of these components.

 

[Mist]

eBay?

Michael.

 

[JamminJimmy]

I've had the same problem with my PIII 800 on an ASUS P3V4X mobo. It started on day one when I first built the PC. I have to try one or two times powering down and powering back up until finally I get a signal. It's just a quirk I live with. The HDD light stays on but nothing on the monitor. Power down and up and then ususally it works ok.