[vacisneros]

My 1 year old HP a6500f (running Windows Vista Home Premium) busted out inexplicably, it all started with occasional freezing. Then, I got the infamous Windows "blue screen of death". After several attempts, the motherboard and components turned on, but the Monitor did not receive any type of signal.
I just want to know if there is an existent motherboard similar to the one on this computer, so I can just use the components of this motherboard to a new one compatible with all the components.
Components:

• Intel® Pentium® Processor E2220
  (1M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
  
  
• Two, 2Gb 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets
  
• Integrated nVidia GeForce 7100 Graphics Card
  
• Integrated Realtek ALC888S Audio
  
• 500Gb WesternDigital HardDrive
  
• 250W Power Supply

Thanks

[LiveBrianD]

What did the BSOD say?

To answer your question, you can get another motherboard, but your OEM copy of Vista that came with the machine won't activate on it (you'll need to buy a new copy of Windows).

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 12 May 2012 - 08:27 PM

[vacisneros]

LiveBrianD, on 12 May 2012 - 08:09 PM, said:

What did the BSOD say?

From what I remember, that there were some drivers missing, which is really strange because I really did not mess with the computer drivers.

[LiveBrianD]

Do you get the POST screen? (the HP screen that appears before the windows one)

[vacisneros]

LiveBrianD, on 12 May 2012 - 08:28 PM, said:

Do you get the POST screen? (the HP screen that appears before the windows one)

I get nothing, there is no video signal sent.
The monitor recognizes being connected into the monitor.

[LiveBrianD]

Try removing the coin battery next to the PCIe x16 slot (where you can put a GPU) for a few minutes, and then put it back in and see if the PC will boot. (unplug the computer before doing this of course)

[coastie65]

If there are missing drivers, they should be reloaded on a restart. If you using a dedicated Video card and have an onboard graphics chipset, remove the card and hook up to the onboard graphics and see if you get a signal. You can also reverse this process and try a dedicated Video card if you have a PCIe x16 slot ( I haven't checked the specs so don't know ). I'm not thinking you need a new Motherboard at this point.


UPDATE: Okay, I have checked the specs on that thing. You do have a PCIe x16 slot, so you could install a dedicted card. This would require you to also upgrade the power supply as well as there are no cards that I am aware of that would run on a 250w PSU. I don't know if you made the recovery disks or not, if so, you may have aoption to just install the drivers ( The Gateways I have all have a seperate disk with just Drivers & Apps. ).

This post has been edited by coastie65: 13 May 2012 - 06:10 AM

[LiveBrianD]

Yeah, I'm thinking there might be gpu failure here, but I want to look at the other potential solutions first before he goes through the trouble of buying a dedicated graphics card.

Fyi, there are a few cards that ought to work there. For instance, I used this, set the CPU at 100% TDP and added in an ati 6450, and it said 214W recommended. (the 6450 is only 31W, and btw the 5450 is a mere 19W) By the way, at my school there are a bunch of SFF HP Compaq 8200s with ati 6450 GPUs, and those only have 240W power supplies yet run just fine.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 13 May 2012 - 10:24 AM

[coastie65]

vacisneros, on 12 May 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 12 May 2012 - 08:09 PM, said:

What did the BSOD say?

From what I remember, that there were some drivers missing, which is really strange because I really did not mess with the computer drivers.

Ok. Here is something to try. Try booting into Safe Mode ( hit the start button then keep tapping the F8 key ) and see what happens.

[LiveBrianD]

coastie65, on 13 May 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

Ok. Here is something to try. Try booting into Safe Mode ( hit the start button then keep tapping the F8 key ) and see what happens.

He said he didn't see the POST screen though, so this makes me think that it's something hardware related.

[waldojim]

OK, lets start with the simple things, first, do you hear any beeps when the machine is started up? If YES please write down the type of beep, the length (short/long), and the number of beeps. We are looking for a pattern here. Specific patterns tell us what the problem with the board is - or if the video card is dead.

Should the motherboard be toast, then yes, there are affordable socket 775 boards available. Should it be a video card problem, then that is even cheaper to deal with. A Geforce 210 would be a great replacement with virtually no added power requirements.

[LiveBrianD]

Fyi, the 5450 has better benchmark scores all around while being the same price as the 210 and having a lower TDP. http://www.tomshardw...450,2549-8.html

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 13 May 2012 - 06:55 PM, said:

Fyi, the 5450 has better benchmark scores all around while being the same price as the 210 and having a lower TDP. http://www.tomshardw...450,2549-8.html

benchmarks are irrelevant. If the user has been happy on the IGP until now, then performance has no relevance.

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 13 May 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

coastie65, on 13 May 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

Ok. Here is something to try. Try booting into Safe Mode ( hit the start button then keep tapping the F8 key ) and see what happens.

He said he didn't see the POST screen though, so this makes me think that it's something hardware related.

He didn't see the post screen because there was no signal from the GPU. If he blue screened and he noticed something about drivers, then in all probability, it was probably graphics drivers. There is a possibility, however slim that may be, that he may be able to get something in safe mode, unless the onboard GPU is gone. If the MOBO is good, then a dedicated card should work. When I ask a question, it is for a reason and the answer will tell me much and give me an idea of wher to go next. It is a process that needs to be worked through. Most everybody else is the same way from what I've seen. More often than not, you throw stuff out there that is less than helpful and then we have to spend time getting back on track. When I first came in here I knew very little. as now, there were some good knowledgable people here. I followed the threads as they progressed and kept out of it and learned, and yes I still learn stuff today.I was never concerned with post count or any of that stuff ( used to award points for correct and helpful answers ). The point is, I know you are trying to be helpful, but you are not in far too many cases. When someone tries to correct you, you come back with a smart answer. The quote above is a case in point, you may have read what he said, but you obviously didn't think it through. I did say things started up, with obvioulsy meant it went through post ( I am assuming he saw Hdd activity as the fans will start when you push the button ). There are somethings that I may not have a lot of knowledge with, but enough to offer one or two viable things to try. If they fail, then I leave things alone and hopefully someone with more knowledge will step in. I will watch the thread and hopefully learn something. I also spend time at Tom's Hardware and MaximumPC and sometimes CNET when things are slow here. I don't go jumping into threads at those places unless I see something that may have been missed and that is after carefully and fully reading through the thread. More often than not, it has been pretty well covered so I just move on to something else. In short, you don't need to be jumping into every thread you see, especially when they are being covered well as you will only serve to muddy things up.

[LiveBrianD]

Coastie, the drivers aren't loaded when the system POSTs (since the system hasn't booted into the operating system yet), so it doesn't matter if they're messed up or not.

[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 13 May 2012 - 08:45 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 13 May 2012 - 06:55 PM, said:

Fyi, the 5450 has better benchmark scores all around while being the same price as the 210 and having a lower TDP. http://www.tomshardw...450,2549-8.html

benchmarks are irrelevant. If the user has been happy on the IGP until now, then performance has no relevance.

True (and having used the 210 myself, I can say that it's fine as long as you don't want to play games at higher than 1024x768), but the 5450 has a lower tdp and the same price while offering better performance than the 210, so why not?

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 14 May 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

Coastie, the drivers aren't loaded when the system POSTs (since the system hasn't booted into the operating system yet), so it doesn't matter if they're messed up or not.

You still don't get what he said. He said that it started up, but I suppose the next qustion would nad should be if the Hdd busy light was falshing. If that is the case then it has passed post and loading stuff, meaning the GPU is probably shot and that can be checked quite easily by trying a dedicated card. I was assumiong that it had gotten that far, but maybe not.

[coastie65]

vacisneros, on 12 May 2012 - 08:04 PM, said:

My 1 year old HP a6500f (running Windows Vista Home Premium) busted out inexplicably, it all started with occasional freezing. Then, I got the infamous Windows "blue screen of death". After several attempts, the motherboard and components turned on, but the Monitor did not receive any type of signal.
I just want to know if there is an existent motherboard similar to the one on this computer, so I can just use the components of this motherboard to a new one compatible with all the components.
Components:

• Intel® Pentium® Processor E2220
  (1M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
• Two, 2Gb 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets
• Integrated nVidia GeForce 7100 Graphics Card
• Integrated Realtek ALC888S Audio
• 500Gb WesternDigital HardDrive
• 250W Power Supply

Thanks

When you said that the motherboard and components turned on, did you notice if the Hard Drive light was flashing?

This post has been edited by coastie65: 14 May 2012 - 04:10 PM

[LiveBrianD]

coastie65, on 14 May 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 14 May 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

Coastie, the drivers aren't loaded when the system POSTs (since the system hasn't booted into the operating system yet), so it doesn't matter if they're messed up or not.

You still don't get what he said. He said that it started up, but I suppose the next qustion would nad should be if the Hdd busy light was falshing. If that is the case then it has passed post and loading stuff, meaning the GPU is probably shot and that can be checked quite easily by trying a dedicated card. I was assumiong that it had gotten that far, but maybe not.

umm...

vacisneros, on 12 May 2012 - 08:31 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 12 May 2012 - 08:28 PM, said:

Do you get the POST screen? (the HP screen that appears before the windows one)

I get nothing, there is no video signal sent.
The monitor recognizes being connected into the monitor.

That said, looking at the hard drive light is a good idea.

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 14 May 2012 - 03:12 PM, said:

coastie65, on 14 May 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 14 May 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

Coastie, the drivers aren't loaded when the system POSTs (since the system hasn't booted into the operating system yet), so it doesn't matter if they're messed up or not.

You still don't get what he said. He said that it started up, but I suppose the next qustion would nad should be if the Hdd busy light was falshing. If that is the case then it has passed post and loading stuff, meaning the GPU is probably shot and that can be checked quite easily by trying a dedicated card. I was assumiong that it had gotten that far, but maybe not.

umm...

vacisneros, on 12 May 2012 - 08:31 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 12 May 2012 - 08:28 PM, said:

Do you get the POST screen? (the HP screen that appears before the windows one)

I get nothing, there is no video signal sent.
The monitor recognizes being connected into the monitor.

That said, looking at the hard drive light is a good idea.

I have a laptop sitting here in the same condition ( the Hdd light does come on after post and it loads all the stuff ). I KNOW what the problem is with that. The GPU is gone and I need to replace the motherboard, which I have. Probably should have asked about the Hdd light at first and if it was coming on, that would have pretty much iced it, but not completely.