Backup and Repair (Testbench)

tyler_jrb · 24 Nov 2019 at 21:48

This is my first ever project log. Nothing special just a basic restore of a faulty system purchased off eBay for £113 which hopefully will become a backup system but also a very basic test rig as I do some pc electronics repairs from time to time.

I thought it would be a fun little project and I didn’t want to spend hundreds on a basic backup system but due to the description I was quite confident I could get it working again.

Specs:-
AMD FX6300 6 Core CPU
Asus m5a78l-m plus/usb3 Motherboard
12GB 1600Mhz DDR3
Palit GTX 560
4x 80gb HDD's
Thermaltake core v21 M-ATX case

System photo as is

Quite a mess of cables and dust!

Basically all the system does is start for a split second and then shut down. I did manage to get it running but no post and fans were constantly at full speed.

I did a few basic tests such as resetting cmos, removing all other cables apart from the board and gpu, removing gpu etc. Testing with a single stick of memory etc. I also removed the cpu to inspect the pins and the model as it wasn’t mentioned on the listing.

The cpu is a 6 core fx 6300. A reasonably capable cpu and well above my needs for this system.

Now down to the testing. After testing the usual basic steps above I figured it was either a board fault or a power fault of some kind as it wasn't even trying to start properly. Just powering then immediately powering back off again.

I removed the PSU and saw this

Absolutely clogged with dust and debris. So I was pretty confident this was the problem. My guess is it was a carpet system, clogged up with dust and likely overheated and ultimately died.

After testing the PSU with a multimeter and a jumper cable this was confirmed to be bar on dead. There was some voltage on some cables but next to nothing on the main 24pin cable. Could likely be repaired but in the end it’s in pretty rough shape so I’ll just replace it.

I have a spare test hx1000i which I used to confirm that the PSU was the issue! System now posts just fine.

Quick post shot on my TV. Doesn't have a DP connection the gtx 560 and didnt have a spare hdmi at hand for my monitor. Will likely update more testing photos tomorrow once i get it setup on my monitor.

Now down to the costs. I plan to sell everything here apart from the board, cpu and memory. The gpu I’ll be keeping for now. But will be swapped out shortly with something with a DisplayPort. Probably no more than £50-75 at the absolute most.

This means that as a whole I should get back the vast majority of what I paid for the system which I think is quite the bargain

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Will update with more photos once I do some more testing over the next few days.

Chris [BEANS] · 25 Nov 2019 at 08:35

Definitely keeping an eye on this. Love it.

tyler_jrb · 25 Nov 2019 at 12:41

Chris [BEANS] said:
Definitely keeping an eye on this. Love it.

Thanks

Should have some testing photos up later. I’ll be deciding and ordering the rest of the items hopefully later on today for delivery later on in the week.

tyler_jrb · 25 Nov 2019 at 13:19

Well after much thought last night I have decided to cancel the order of the main parts.

I’ve just thought there isn’t much point spending £3-400 on a system I may never even really use unless in a backup situation at which a minimalistic approach will do just fine I think anyway.

I’m much more likely to use it for my original plan which was a test bench for a hobby on the side of repairing computer components and electronics and such.

Emulator wise I’d prefer to use my main rig as it has all the power anyway and plenty of spare memory for a game server and such like.

I’ve changed the name to backup and repair (testbench) to finalise my thoughts and I will update my previous comments and posts throughout the day.

I was rummaging for some old hard drives last night and found both required 4TB hard drives as well as a 256gb SSD I never even knew I had. So that’s saved a small amount of money there.

I’ll be keeping the main components and even the gtx 560 for now until I get something cheap with a DisplayPort for my monitor (due to cable position and main rig placement) but a temporary hdmi will do for now.

Will be looking for a simplistic test bench style case and depending on size may even use my hx1000i as it’s only an oldish spare anyway.

So all in all looking at the cost of the case +£25-30 or so for the main system currently

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Firestar_3x · 25 Nov 2019 at 22:10

£400 (not including the new case) seems like a lot of money to spend given you are left with a FX6300?

tyler_jrb · 25 Nov 2019 at 23:25

Firestar_3x said:
£400 (not including the new case) seems like a lot of money to spend given you are left with a FX6300?

You are quite right and after much deliberation I have decided to do what I originally intended which was as cheap as possible test bench/basic backup system.

I’ll also be selling the faulty PSU, HDD’s, case and likely the gtx 560 sometime in the near future. So all in all the entire system will cost me next to nothing which is great

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koolpc · 25 Nov 2019 at 23:52

Nice thread. Like what you are doing

tyler_jrb · 26 Nov 2019 at 20:31

For those who haven’t seen this is now going to become my testbench/backup system hence the name change. Most of the details explained above

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Few more things done today while I’ve had a bit of spare time.

Gtx 560 stripped down and cleaned. Thermal paste replaced with arctic mx5. I may also put on some mini heatsinks for the vrm in coming days.

Before:

After:

Motherboard cleaned and cpu cleaned new paste for testing as awaiting a new cooler anyway. Also fitted some mini mosfet heatsinks to aid cooling.

Everything put back together and tested. Just in the process of installing win 10 on my spare 256gb SSD.

Now just awaiting a mini testbench and the sythe cpu cooler.
Testbench should fit my old hx1000 so ill probably use that

Chris [BEANS] · 26 Nov 2019 at 20:56

Wicked!! Satisfying, isn’t it!!

tyler_jrb · 26 Nov 2019 at 21:07

Chris [BEANS] said:
Wicked!! Satisfying, isn’t it!!

Very!

Just nice to see it running again.

Here's the beast in action, INSANELY QUICK LOL!!!

Firestar_3x · 28 Nov 2019 at 20:45

tyler_jrb said:
You are quite right and after much deliberation I have decided to do what I originally intended which was as cheap as possible test bench/basic backup system.

I’ll also be selling the faulty PSU, HDD’s, case and likely the gtx 560 sometime in the near future. So all in all the entire system will cost me next to nothing which is great .

Costing basically nothing is an excellent outcome, hope you get lots of good use out of it

Alan1969 · 10 Dec 2019 at 21:02

Nice log. Yes the fx6300 is still a very capable cpu. I had an old phe,on that started to fail after 8 yrs and it was also the PS4 that was dead.