Old mobo dead?

[123456]

I've got a spare PIII motherboard laying around. It's a 443BX pulled from a Dell XPS T-series system circa 1999. I have everything for it, (IDE cables, CMOS battery, video card, SD-RAM, Slot 1 processor, etc.), and I plugged it in. When the PSU is connected, the fan spins for a second and stops. Trying to turn it on by either using the power button OR touching the power pins with a screw driver both don't work. The mobo light stays on when power is connected. I know the processor, RAM, PSU, and video card work since I tried those on my PII system (It didn't like the 700MHz processor, but it booted fine). I'm guessing the motherboard is dead? If it is, I want a replacement... I'm on a $30 budget, (XD), and I need: onboard sound, Slot 1 PIII compatible, and 100MHz SD-RAM slots. I got 2x64mb sticks and if I need more RAM, I can always steal from my PII (384mb RAM... half of it is never used). I don't need a case, just the mobo. I was thinking of buying an old Dell Optiplex motherboard on eBay, but I thought I'd figure out first ask you guys for your opinion. I want to use this mainly for an experimentation PC... my PII has almost 50GB of music on it, so I don't mess with that. Thanks!

[mjc]

Actually, if it wasn't dead before hand, it probably is dead now...Dells from that era DID commonly have nonstandard power supplies...two or so pins on the standard ATX connector were reversed. So...you plug them into a standard power supply and...how do like you mobo, regular or extra crispy?

[123456]

Oh, @$#%! That's what must've happened! I did use a standard PSU and it made a hissing noise, so I just used the original Dell one. Except I never smelled anything burning up and the connector shows no signs of burning.

[mjc]

Usually it doesn't...there are several 'micro' fuses...tiny little fuses soldered on the motherboard that go, or the voltage regulator goes before much else is damaged.

Finding and replacing those fuses it a pain in the posterior. The regulator is is easier to find, and not quite as hard to replace...

[jlreich]

What's the part number on the original Dell PSU?

[123456]

Model: NPS-200PB -73M

[jlreich]

It's not on my list of Dell's proprietary PSU's (see below). So it should be standard ATX. If in doubt you can always compare the wires to your standard PSU.

06081
11vtw
1728p
24rgy
312gk
3e466
55078
55079
55080
5554t
62wtc
824kh
8765d
9228c
d0865
m8811

[123456]

What do you guys think of this? http://tinyurl.com/5fkxhy

Integrated sound, network, video... I can throw in 128mb of SD-RAM and can always swap out of my PII if I need more... I have a spare 700MHz processor and if that doesn't work, I can use a 400MHz one... $30.

[123456]

I bought 2 things: A KVM Switch so I can use my monitor, keyboard, and mouse on BOTH computers in my room. Sound isn't an issue since my ACS490 speakers from 1997 are awesome and have 2 outputs. I also bought an Optiplex GX1 mobo: Slot 1 PIII (it says up to 600MHz... think I could try my 700MHz one or should I yank out the 450MHz PII one from my PII). 2 PCI, 2 ISA, onboard sound, video, network, 2xUSB, serial, 1 parallel, and PS/2. What do y'all think?

[123456]

That was quite an adventure. It wouldn't take the 700MHz, so I stuck with the 400MHz one. Installing 98 on it right now... it's pretty sweet. 400MHz PII with 256 mb RAM. Pics:

http://i34.tinypic.com/r2m5x5.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/1cb9h.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/jt2i4g.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/2qaqphx.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2zrnhv7.jpg

[123456]

I think this thing fries up my processors. It fried my 450MHz this morning and Windows 98SE hung at start up... only to find it smelled of smoke. It must be the mobo since I ran it out of the box on top of my wooden desk first and it fried my 450MHz one.

[123456]

Woah, I just thought of something. If I put my hand in front of the fan, it blows cool air. Shouldn't it blow cool air toward the processor? Is that what I did wrong>?

[jlreich]

It should be blowing onto the HS, but that would not cause it to fry unless it was already well overheated and a few extra C's put it over the edge.

[123456]

Hmm... well, I put the fan on correctly. It seems to be running fine. And to play it safe, I'm running it without a case, just on my desk. It's been on for hours and no smoke/I can touch the heatsink and it feels lukewarm.

[jlreich]

Well, no smoke is good.

[123456]

Pretty fast computer. It handles my 7,000 songs faster than the other PII did, which had more RAM. O_O

[123456]

Okay, little update. I got BOTH PII's running... well, one's a PIII at 466MHz now... I underclocked the non-Dell one to 66MHz bus instead of 100MHz due to stability issues. It runs at 466MHz instead of 700MHz, (mobo supports up to 550). The 466MHz PC is used for older gaming/DOS programs... it has a neat 32mb video card and 256mb RAM. My 400MHz Dell iwth 256mb RAM has 4mb onboard video, no agp slot so I use it to handle my music library. 98 runs great on it. KVM switch comes in handy.

Here's a pic: http://i37.tinypic.com/20sh9ic.jpg