What could be the issue? Alienware desktop computer...

[wonderings]

my nephew has a beast of an Alienware computer he got from his dad, an old work computer. He said it was broken and he waned to buy some cheapo computer off Amazon for a couple of hundred dollars to use for gaming. He is 11 and knows practically nothing about computers. I told him that was a bad idea and we should be able to get this computer going. I have a clean install of windows 10 on an SSD, second 1TB hard drive. It has an i7, not sure exact model and has dual GPU in SLI. GPU's are GTX 760.

I had it all setup, Epic installed, his games loaded, even ran a game as a test. All worked well. When they took it home and started it up the next day, fans come on, lights come on, but no signal to the screen. This is the issue he had before when he said it was broken. I thought maybe he was plugging in the wrong place, but when I went over I tried everything, different HDMI cables, different screens, same HDMI cable I used. Nothing. I took it home, plugged it into the same screen I used to test and setup, no signal.

I am assuming this is a GPU issue, as everything else seems to cycle up for a brief moment with fans and lights. Anyone have an idea if it is something else I should be looking for?

 

[ProbablyDylan]

If it's an old i7, it should have an integrated GPU. Try removing both graphics card, connect HDMI to the motherboard and see if it fires up without them.

What model is the motherboard? Are there lights onboard, and if so, are they colored or blinking or both?

 

[wonderings]

If it's an old i7, it should have an integrated GPU. Try removing both graphics card, connect HDMI to the motherboard and see if it fires up without them.

What model is the motherboard? Are there lights onboard, and if so, are they colored or blinking or both?

No integrated GPU, no HDMI port on the motherboard, I looked at that when problem solving. I will have to check lights on the board again, I just remember fans going, lights on the GPU going, but did not look at the motherboard to see if any lights were going on that.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

No integrated GPU, no HDMI port on the motherboard, I looked at that when problem solving. I will have to check lights on the board again, I just remember fans going, lights on the GPU going, but did not look at the motherboard to see if any lights were going on that.

That's interesting. Does the motherboard have any video-out?

Could also try to pull the CMOS battery. Sometimes a BIOS setting gets flipped and leads to the system not booting, and pulling/re-placing that battery would reset any changes.

 

[wonderings]

That's interesting. Does the motherboard have any video-out?

Could also try to pull the CMOS battery. Sometimes a BIOS setting gets flipped and leads to the system not booting, and pulling/re-placing that battery would reset any changes.

no video out at all, I thought that was a bit weird myself. I will try the CMOS battery when I get home. It is strange as the computer worked fine for me for the 2 weeks I had it. I did a clean install of windows, added a second drive, checked around in the bios, loaded all his apps and games. As soon as they got it home it did not work. He did not touch anything other then plugging it in and connecting to the screen. Very peculiar.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

no video out at all, I thought that was a bit weird myself. I will try the CMOS battery when I get home. It is strange as the computer worked fine for me for the 2 weeks I had it. I did a clean install of windows, added a second drive, checked around in the bios, loaded all his apps and games. As soon as they got it home it did not work. He did not touch anything other then plugging it in and connecting to the screen. Very peculiar.

Sure, hoping it's as simple as pulling that battery!

 

[1BadManVan]

May have been a beast of a computer a decade ago but that’s definitely an old and tired system now lol. Most likely a quad core i7 3000/4000 series

 

[wonderings]

May have been a beast of a computer a decade ago but that’s definitely an old and tired system now lol. Most likely a quad core i7 3000/4000 series

yes I know that, and what processor is not really the problem I am trying to solve.

 

[JonnyMacx86]

Have you tested each of the GTX 760 independently? One or the other is probably cooked. Smaller chance that the SLI bridge is the problem.

 

[wonderings]

Have you tested each of the GTX 760 independently? One or the other is probably cooked. Smaller chance that the SLI bridge is the problem.

not done anything with that yet. Can I simply remove one GPU and go from there? Never had a computer with SLI, not sure how the drivers work and things like that.

 

[JonnyMacx86]

I've honestly never done that before but I think it's a safe assumption that at the very least if Windows couldn't load the proper graphics driver it would use the standard VGA driver in it's place. Really, if you get the computer's post screen you don't even really need to load Windows to isolate the issue.

 

[maflynn]

The GTX 760 came out around 2013, I don't know what type of gaming you envision but even with a better GPU, the CPU is going to be a major bottle neck. I doubt it will be able to play any current game beyond getting more the 20fps, regardless of the GPU you put in

You mentioned its SLI, so pull both GPUs and then insert one of them, reboot and see if you get a video out signal, if not try the other.

In all honesty I'm rather surprised there's no HDMi ports on the back panel of the PC - I did a bit of googling and they all seem to have it. Perhaps its a Dell/Alienware thing but that's just plain weird.

 

[wonderings]

I've honestly never done that before but I think it's a safe assumption that at the very least if Windows couldn't load the proper graphics driver it would use the standard VGA driver in it's place. Really, if you get the computer's post screen you don't even really need to load Windows to isolate the issue.

Not getting to the post screen at all, get absolutely nothing which is the problem. Can't even get into the BIOS or boot from a USB stick to try anything. I am going to pull one of the GPU's and try booting, then if that does not work try another. If they are both dead I am sure I have an older card I can put in just to narrow down that the problem stems from the GPU itself.

The GTX 760 came out around 2013, I don't know what type of gaming you envision but even with a better GPU, the CPU is going to be a major bottle neck. I doubt it will be able to play any current game beyond getting more the 20fps, regardless of the GPU you put in

You mentioned its SLI, so pull both GPUs and then insert one of them, reboot and see if you get a video out signal, if not try the other.

In all honesty I'm rather surprised there's no HDMi ports on the back panel of the PC - I did a bit of googling and they all seem to have it. Perhaps its a Dell/Alienware thing but that's just plain weird.

Yes they are old cards, he is not playing anything intensive at the moment. He is not playing anything current, some old Jurassic Park games, and some world at war type of games. Nothing heavy. He is currently playing on a similarly aged laptop with a quadro GPU that is rated similar to the 760, so everything he wants to do he is already doing on older machines. This computer would just be a good starting point to get him into the very basics of computers and their components. When he is a bit older and doing the odd jobs here and there and bringing in a little bit of money he can decide then about upgrading, or building if he wants.

I was surprised as well that there was no HDMI. Screen shot of the ports. This is an Alienware R4 https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-ca/000145510/alienware-aurora-r4-system-specifications#Specs

 

[maflynn]

I was surprised as well that there was no HDMI.

Wow, color me surprised to see a machine like that, not having any HDMI out

 

[The_Interloper]

Sounds like it could be a PSU issue. My son's PC was fine for over a year before it started randomly blue-screening/completely switching off, usually when he used several Chrome tabs or playing a game. Tried absolutely everything before thinking - hmm, wonder if the power supply is spiking at certain points and cutting out? Sure enough, that was it - swapped it out and no issues since.

Might be worth reseating power connectors etc on board and card but the fact you say it briefly powers up then dies points me to the PSU.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Wow, color me surprised to see a machine like that, not having any HDMI out

Looking at the CPU options for the machine, it seems that none of them have onboard graphics. Meaning, any video out on the motherboard would be useless by default.

I was surprised as well that there was no HDMI. Screen shot of the ports. This is an Alienware R4 https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-ca/000145510/alienware-aurora-r4-system-specifications#Specs

Found the owner's manual, and there's no debugging / troubleshooting guide. Talk about useless.

Might be worth reseating power connectors etc on board and card but the fact you say it briefly powers up then dies points me to the PSU.

Fair bet, too. I'd still start with clearing the CMOS, pulling the battery is an easier first step than pulling cards and checking all the cables.

 

[wonderings]

Sounds like it could be a PSU issue. My son's PC was fine for over a year before it started randomly blue-screening/completely switching off, usually when he used several Chrome tabs or playing a game. Tried absolutely everything before thinking - hmm, wonder if the power supply is spiking at certain points and cutting out? Sure enough, that was it - swapped it out and no issues since.

Might be worth reseating power connectors etc on board and card but the fact you say it briefly powers up then dies points me to the PSU.

The computer turns on, fans start, lights go and they stay that way, power is not intermittent. I do not get to a boot screen for Windows or the Bios.

 

[The_Interloper]

The computer turns on, fans start, lights go and they stay that way, power is not intermittent. I do not get to a boot screen for Windows or the Bios.

I'm not saying the PSU isn't working - it may well be to some level, which is why you are getting fans and lights etc. But the second the motherboard tries to draw more power (i.e. to get to POST, BIOS or even boot), it goes nowhere as the PSU can't supply it.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I'm not saying the PSU isn't working - it may well be to some level, which is why you are getting fans and lights etc. But the second the motherboard tries to draw more power (i.e. to get to POST, BIOS or even boot), it goes nowhere as the PSU can't supply it.

It should get at least to the boot logo before powering off if that were the case. If it got all the way to windows before shutting off then definitely a PSU issue.

Think we should wait for OP to get their hands back on the machine, otherwise we're stuck speculating in circles.

 

[wonderings]

It should get at least to the boot logo before powering off if that were the case. If it got all the way to windows before shutting off then definitely a PSU issue.

Think we should wait for OP to get their hands back on the machine, otherwise we're stuck speculating in circles.

Had a quick look at it last night, I could not spot where the CMOS battery is, think it might be covered by the GPU's. For such a big computer it is not easy to get things out. The GPU's are screwed in with some bracket on the ends, I have never seen that before.

I did try disconnecting one GPU and boot of of a single one with no luck for either.

It does not get to any load screens so no way to get into BIOS and certainly not getting to a Windows load screen.

First plan is to figure out where the CMOS battery is and give that a shot. If that does not work I will pull out the GPU's and put in another one that I know works.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

It's probably behind the GPU, unfortunately. When testing them out, it's important to completely remove them from the system as they can still draw power from the PCIe connection.

Are you able to / comfortable with posting a photo of the board?

 

[wonderings]

It's probably behind the GPU, unfortunately. When testing them out, it's important to completely remove them from the system as they can still draw power from the PCIe connection.

Are you able to / comfortable with posting a photo of the board?

I can post a picture when I get back into the computer. There are some brackets that are screwed into the back of the GPU that face the front of the computer where the DVD drive is. Never seen this before either, have to remove these before I can remove the GPU's.

picture is not of the machine I am working on, but insides are identical save for it only have 1 GPU and no brackets supporting the dual GPU's.

I really miss the amazing and ahead of their time designs of the PowerMac G4 towers! So much easier to get at everything.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

It doesn't help that Dell systems are deliberately obtuse in order to achieve their desired Capital-G Gamer aesthetic.

The bracket you are describing is probably for compensating for the weight of both cards, or for making sure there's room between them to breathe. Either way, the coin cell is most likely behind the card.

When it's upgrade time for your nephew, I promise that a new scratch build is miles easier to navigate than some of these Gamer products.

 

[wonderings]

It doesn't help that Dell systems are deliberately obtuse in order to achieve their desired Capital-G Gamer aesthetic.

The bracket you are describing is probably for compensating for the weight of both cards, or for making sure there's room between them to breathe. Either way, the coin cell is most likely behind the card.

When it's upgrade time for your nephew, I promise that a new scratch build is miles easier to navigate than some of these Gamer products.

oh I know it, I have done a few partial builds and my current computer I built from scratch. Much cleaner inside, though still nothing like the PowerMac G4's, wish someone would just flat out copy that design internally. Outside is dated, inside is majestic and so functional!

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Newer PC cases are nice and accessible too, even compact ones. I've been eying the Terra since it was announced for a new build.

Terra

Terra is a PC case designed and engineered to reshape the small form factor gaming experience. Inspired by the homes of modern gamers, Terra incorporates boutique design features such as thick panels cut from anodized aluminum, CNC-milled details and FSC-certified solid walnut. Inside, it...

www.fractal-design.com