Dell XPS 600 motherboard failure

 

    

Hi

A friend asked me to fix her Dell XPS 600.

You try to turn it on, the fans spin, and it shuts itself off after a
few seconds. I have searched the web and found several posts in message
boards where people have the exact same problem with this machine.

Here is one of my favorites, twelfth poster in the thread...
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/255446-28-dell-dead

I found the same thing in this machine after I had cleaned the dust out,
but wasn't sure at the time if the components looked like that anyway.
Then I read his post which confirms it. I have disconnected/removed
almost everything and it still will shut itself off after a few seconds.

I'm not sure if I will be able to find a replacement motherboard to fit
in the Dell case and and have a compatible power connector, etc. for the
Dell PSU. Or if the factory installed Dell 650W PSU is what fried the
original motherboard.

Entering the service tag into Dell Support shows that the CPU is a
Pentium D Presler 930, 3.0G, 2X2M, C1. One idea is to find the latest
motherboard that still supports this chip, and put it into a new case
with a standard (but good) power supply. Or a cheap yet reliable
motherboard that will support this chip.

I would at least like to salvage the plug in cards, disk drives, etc.

Thanks in advance for any ideas (including buy a new one)
Ed

 

On 5/8/2010 13:31, E wrote:

Do you know how to open the case?

Unplug everything except display card (if any), CPU, RAM & keyboard. Try
again and report back!

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Man-wai Chang to The Door (33600bps) wrote:

Maybe my message was too long. I did that. I know the MB or PSU has
failed. I just need a Pentium D socket 775 replacement motherboard.

 

E wrote:

Does the Dell software CD that restores the OS, work with a third-party
(non-Dell) motherboard ? That would be one issue.

To replace that motherboard exactly, you'd be wanting an SLI capable
motherboard. If the system has one video card and there are no plans
of expansion, then SLI is unnecessary.

If SLI isn't necessary (only one video card) or doesn't have other
special requirements, you can search on the Asus site, based on the
CPU part number.

http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Use the "Search CPU using" menu. Select "CPU" from the menu.
I selected "Intel Pentium D" next, then Pentium D 930... Rev.C1.

The returned list has a large number of boards. Some are even
current. For example, boards with P5Q in the name, would be P45
boards. And those are likely to stop shipping soon, if they
haven't already.

P5Q SE Plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131347

Next problem. Your current motherboard is BTX, with a "backwards" layout.
This was done, so the huge CPU cooler and its fan, could also cool the
chassis. That is going to severely limit what motherboards you can use.

And if you go to Ebay, and look for an XPS motherboard identical to the
one you've got, it could be damaged in the same way too. I think I
see discoloration on two caps here. I found this on Ebay yesterday.

http://www.millenniacomputers.com/images/DELL_XPS600_5.jpg

If you changed to a new chassis, you could reuse a lot of the components.
Put in your P5Q SE Plus, then reuse the processor. The cooler will have
to go. For an LGA775 cooler, you could use one of these. This is the
cooler I use on my system. This would take the place of the Dell "blob".
The separate chassis fan on your new computer case, would carry the
hot air from the CPU cooler, out of the computer case.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2288

So you're saving a bit, spending a bit. It is a big project, with
challenges. Inspect all the cabling carefully, for other gotchas.
The Dell might not even have standard connectors for Reset_Switch,
Power_Switch, IDE_LED, Power_LED, Case_Speaker and so on. So there
are plenty of little details. But it can be done.

The pinout on the power cable, looks to me to be standard. Compare
to the wire colors in the ATX spec to be sure. Sometimes, a Dell
has custom secondary connectors, for powering who knows what. In
any case, there is a good chance you can reuse the power supply on
the machine.

http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/ATX12V_PSDG_2_2_public_br2.pdf

For a replacement OS, there is still WinXP Home OEM available for
sale (I'm not sure what DSP OEI means though). That is, unless you
can find some other way, to solve the Dell "branded" CD problem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116583

    Paul

 

Paul wrote:

To summarize the info there, I'm thinking

    new_ATX_motherboard + new_cpu_cooler_lga775 + new_cpu_case_for_ATX_not_BTX +
new_OS_cd

which in round (highball) numbers, could be

    $150 + $50 + $100 + $100

You're still saving money, in the sense the processor, power supply,
video card, hard drive, optical drive are being preserved. Buying a completely
new computer for $400, might not give you much of a computer.

If you go for an exact replacement (XPS600) motherboard from Ebay, there
is no way of knowing whether it is burned or not as well. At
least for the bad_cap Dell motherboards, there is a high degree
of failure correlation. For some old Dells, you can only buy them
from Ebay, if the advert says "re-capped". So there is some
risk associated with buying an exact replacement from Ebay. If
Dell sells you a brand new one, that might be cheaper than the
above suggestion, but who knows what Dell charges for a $150
motherboard ?  For that matter, they might not be available
from Dell at any price (they can't keep making new ones, because
the chipset maker stops making them eventually). Dell would only
stock enough, for their prediction of failure rate. And with a
design flaw, you can be sure all the replacements are gone by now.

    Paul