Probably Defunct Motherboard

Hi. I am new to this site, but it seems an excellent place to get some help, so here goes (my moniker accurately reflects my lack of knowledge as to hardware - I am what might be described as an enthusiastic beginner)...

I have a Medion MD8833 machine (2007 build with Win 10 Pro installed replacing the old awful Vista) with pretty much standard internals. I replaced the graphics card about 3 years ago, (which represented a slight upgrade) as the machine had started to develop a boot fault which windows identified as a graphics card problem (can't remember the specific error message, sorry). Problem solved so I thought, but it is now not working again - it won't even boot up (no boot beep, and no hardware error beeps either). It's not the power supply as I have only just replaced that with an identical, unused one. A local repair service suspects that the problem may have been the motherboard all along! He thinks, as far as he could determine, that everything else remains sound.

The MB is a MS-7502 (1.2 I think, I will post proper details when I can but it's still with the repair man) obviously with somewhat ancient now LGA 775 socket for the chip. I understand that the machine being Medion, the motherboard is Medion OEM (so the MSI UK site won't help).

Can anyone suggest an replacement motherboard that will work as well/possibly better than the one that is defunct, hopefully with at least equal connectivity in terms of what I can connect directly onto the board (so RAM (I have also put in 4x2MB), graphics card (and it has a TV card), and external USBs, other ports, etc. I would prefer a new board if possible, as opposed to a s/h or refurbished one. I don't use it for gaming, so anything too radical isn't necessary. I just want to get it working again.

Any and all suggestions most welcome. Pros and cons also would also be good, as I am hoping to get another 10 years or so out of it, if I can, so if I can future proof it a bit too, that would be great.

 

If you stopped getting graphics related errors after you replaced the graphics card 3 years ago, it is highly unlikely that problem was related to anything that may be happening today. Not to mention, today's symptoms are totally different.

While I agree this could be, and sounds like a motherboard issue, this is a "new" problem.

Did you replace the PSU because of this new problem? And nothing changed? I ask because these are very common symptoms of PSU failure. And brand new PSUs can fail prematurely too. Because everything inside the computer case depends on good, clean, stable power, I always want to verify I am providing it by swapping in a known good PSU to see what happens.

But again, while these are typical PSU symptoms, a failing motherboard can give the same symptoms.

One other possibility is a broken or worn-out power button switch. Since it too is 12 years old, it could very well be bad. This is simple to determine if you have a small flat-tip screwdriver, good eyes, good lighting, and a steady hand.

There will be two wires leading from the case's front panel power switch that connect to two pins in the motherboard's front panel I/O header. Pull one or both of those two wires (they just slide on and off) from the motherboard (to isolate a potentially bad switch) then, with a steady hand you simply short those two motherboard pins for just a second. Try not to, but don't worry if you accidentally touch another pin. You will not get zapped or damage anything else as the voltages are just too low. If all is good (and with a little luck), the computer will boot up normally proving the switch is bad.

The simple fix then is to follow the two similar wires back from the case's "Reset" switch. They will go to two different pins in the same I/O header. Pull them from the header and attach those two wires to the two power switch pins in that header. Polarity (+ or -) does not matter for these switches/pins). Tie the power switch wires out of the way then use the Reset button as your power switch from now on.

But frankly, I think it is time to upgrade to something modern. I understand the desire to save some money and continue to use your current RAM and CPU too. Nobody likes to retire perfectly good electronics before it dies. But they also are 12 years old! They have already served you a very long time. It would be a shame for you to spend money on a new motherboard only to have your CPU or RAM fail shortly thereafter. If you could find replacement DDR2 it surely will be used, or very expensive (since it is long out of production), or both used and expensive. Likely the same story for a replacement CPU.

So even if you could find a newer board that supported that legacy CPU and that super legacy DDR2 (we are up to DDR4) RAM, they would be ancient technology - and most likely used or refurbished.

Hard drives don't last forever either. They all WILL fail - eventually.

Since that board supports PCIe x 16, there is no reason you cannot use your newer graphics card with it. Not sure about your TV card, however. If PCI, not many newer boards support PCI any more, only PCI Express (PCIe). Remember, despite similar names PCIe and PCI are totally incompatible.

That said, without knowing the model number or specs of your current graphics card, it should be noted many of today's AMD and Intel platforms support integrated graphics that easily outperform many add-in graphics solutions. So unless that is a higher-end graphics card, it may be better to just store it on your spare parts shelf.

All your USB devices should work fine, as should your current monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse. And you should be able to install your current hard drive as a secondary (not boot) drive in the new computer (or put it into an enclosure attached to the new computer) then copy off your personal files to the new drive.

As an added bonus, you already are familiar with W10 so there will not be much of a learning curve. But more importantly, the new hardware will be designed to work with W10 so the manufacturers will surely maintain current W10 drivers for a long time to come. A very good thing.

 

I too have a Medion MD8833 same age as yours. With more memory I too have run W7 and W10. Now I have a problem, probably with the mother board too, reports as graphic component problem...I will be sad to lose her as I was considering installing an SSD. She must have known! Just out of interest do you know what the graphic card (component) is?