Computer not starting - no beeps from bios

tom1986

tom1986

tom1986

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31 Mar 2014
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7
Hi,

After using and shutting down my 2008 HP Pavillion computer perfectly normally it now will not start correctly and no input signal is being received by the monitor. There are no beeps from the bios to give any clues to the problem. The lights all come on when the power button is pressed, all the fans spin, disc drives will open and close (they also make a sound like they are trying to read a disc when the computer is switched on), USB ports work as it started charging my mp3 player the first time. The monitor definitely works too.

So far I've tried cleaning and re-seating everything which made no difference, I've tried running the computer on the bare minimum hardware and resetting the bios by replacing the battery and that's not helped. I tried starting it with the RAM removed and that caused the bios to beep so I don't think there is a problem with the motherboard (cpu heatsink also gets hot so cpu seems to be doing something).

The two things I think could be the problem are the power supply not giving the correct voltage or the graphics card dying (though the fan on it spins).

I've got a power supply tester on the way, does anyone else have any ideas what could be the issue?

Thanks.
 
I've not tried a different monitor, but I've tested the monitor I've got on another computer and it worked fine.

I'll give the full spec when I'm home this evening.
 
Ok, back home and plugged the monitor into the motherboard (didn't realise I could at first, it was hidden under a removable panel) and it's alive, only at a crappy resolution.

So this would definitely, definitely mean the graphics card is buggered?

These are all the specs for my computer, ignore the link above, they are slightly different: http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/si...ac.admitted=1396292090356.876444892.492883150

The graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT - can someone recommend a suitable replacement please?

Also, probably a stupid question, but how do I know if I have a 64 bit system? Does having a AMD Phenom 64 mean it's 64 bit?

Thanks.
 
tom1986 said:
Also, probably a stupid question, but how do I know if I have a 64 bit system? Does having a AMD Phenom 64 mean it's 64 bit?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I looked at the specs and it has the 32-bit version of vista installed as standard. So although it would support 64-bit, it will be 32-bit unless you have installed a different OS.

Edit:
You can click the windows icon then right click 'computer' and select properties to check if it is 32 or 64 bit.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, I won't bother expanding the RAM then as it looks like it's already on the limit.

Would this card be a suitable replacement? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-204-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914

I should point out that as far as gaming goes I pretty much only ever use the computer to play Football Manager 2007, and I don't think that puts much stress on the graphics card! Other than that it's mainly used for watching dvds, streaming videos and that sort of thing.
 
tom1986 said:
Thanks, I won't bother expanding the RAM then as it looks like it's already on the limit.

Would this card be a suitable replacement? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-204-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914

I should point out that as far as gaming goes I pretty much only ever use the computer to play Football Manager 2007, and I don't think that puts much stress on the graphics card! Other than that it's mainly used for watching dvds, streaming videos and that sort of thing.
Click to expand...

That card will be fine. I've used FM 2010 with an inferior card (8400 GS) to the GT 610. No problem.
 
It would probably cope all the same, unless the PC is put under constant graphical strain(PSU quality willing).
 
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