Aspire 1640 desktop *no signal*

Hi and Thanks in advance for any of the advice i am given.
I have been asked to have a look at a friends Acer Aspire 1640 tower for him,i agreed to have a look as the way he described the problem i though it was just the graphics card playing up,powers up but screen says *no signal*,i'm awaiting for graphics card coming to test, but in the mean time thought i would search for similar problem with same tower, to which i found quite a few,seems to be a common issue, I'm hopeing its not the motherboard, I've tried a few things like reseting cmos, cleaned the machine out checked and cleaned ram, reseated all plugs to make sure of proper contact of pins, tried powering up with only power going to the board (no hdd or drive) still no joy, there is no beeps on power up nor is there when the ram is removed,checked heatsink and cpu all looks good i.e well pasted and seated well, though heatsink was well clogged up with dust, just to add he had a blue screen issue about 3 month ago which was sorted by cleaning and reseating ram,he says all was good until now...just wondering if it could be a PSU issue, any knowledge on this would be gratefully recieved as i dont want to be throwing good money at it only for it to be DEAD!!!!!:cry I think i may have already wasted money on the card i've ordered (Nvidia GeForce NX7300 used off flea bay)though not to worried as it can always go in my tower as its better than the on board one i have!!!.Next time i will research first before buying!!!!!lesson well learned!!!

 

Hi

Yes, it could be a PSU issue, especially since you hear no beeps when all RAM is removed. Have you double checked to see that the motherboard has a speaker, or is connected to a speaker, inside the tower (so beeps are possible)?

Do (all, including CPU heatsink) fans run when powering it on?

 

Hi thanks for the speedy reply, i'm not to sure if motherboard has on board speaker, I'll have to google it, heatsink fan and psu fan are both blowing well,I'll google to see if it has speaker on board.if it is a power issue is it easily fixable and what type of psu should i get for it??

 

Hi

From a quick Google search, it could be the graphics chip on the motherboard (link HERE), in which case you will have to replace the motherboard.

If the fans are running, then likely the power supply is secondary as to suspect of failure.

As to power supply suggestions, the best brands that everyone here (including me) swear by are Corsair or Antec. A good power supply for that tower that is relatively inexpensive is this one (link HERE)

However, again I'm going to guess that it is likely the motherboard. The CPU heatsink should run even if the motherboard is bad, due to the fact that it takes its own power connection from the power supply.

 

googled specs for this machine to see if it had on board speaker and it says *Embedded high-definition audio with 7.1-channel audio support* dont know if it means that it has a speaker or not, but surely most boards do have them due to fault finding i.e beeps can tell a techy what is wrong with the machine!!

 

Onboard audio is standard for almost all motherboards... that does not mean it has a speaker... it simply means that it can process audio, i.e. you can plug speakers into it for music, etc. Also, the beeping won't be heard through connected speakers, as motherboards have a separate connection for the error beep speaker.

However, most commercially built computers do have a speaker connected to the motherboard.

One thing I wonder... if only the graphics chip on the motherboard went bad, then why wouldn't it still beep at least something?

EDIT: Do you have a power supply, perhaps from your own machine, you could temporarily hook up to see if it works with that? That would likely rule out the question of whether it is the power supply.

 

Thanks again, so it looks like a new mother board and psu is in order then!!! or replacement machine, as he could be looking at around £180.00 plus to put it right. if he decides to replace mother board what type will i have to get him for it, as i dont want to replace with the original due to the known issues with them.

 

First of all, I think it's either the motherboard OR the power supply, again I'm leaning toward the motherboard.

Also, upon reviewing the power supply, even though Corsair is a good brand, that particular model doesn't have the greatest reviews. I would rather suggest this one (link HERE). It's Antec, the other good power supply brand.

But again, I think it's likely the motherboard... the power supply is (hopefully) fine. I will post if/when I find a suitable replacement motherboard for you.

 

Don't really want to hook my power supply to his machine in case it decides to fry mine!!!! will any power supply unit run it cos my mate has a busted Dell lying around that he might let me use to check to see if it is psu issue.

 

The only reason a power supply would blow from being connected to a system is if the power supply is underpowered for the system. Anything of the same watt rating (can be found on the actual power supply housing in most cases) or higher will be fine.

EDIT: the socket is the same for either CPU.

 

I found one motherboard compatible with that CPU and RAM. However, it needs a power supply that supplies +5v@20amp, which I'm not entirely sure is on that system. If it isn't, you can always order the power supply later, unless he is in a rush.

Motherboard I found (there may be others, I only looked on Newegg):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500044

The Antec power supply that I linked to before is compatible (if the current power supply doesn't work for some reason... which I don't see why it shouldn't), link again below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371023

Motherboard and power supply I linked to are each US$45, total of US$90 (plus shipping). If you are not in the USA, there may be more suited sites for ordering your parts from, though.

 

It's very late here, and I have an early morning tomorrow... sorry I couldn't help more, but there's plenty of Geeks around that will help you sort everything!

Best of luck!

 

Thanks for your help and pointing me in the right direction. will let you know how i get on with a different psu.

 

I was wondering if this type of board is compatible with my machine...

http://www.techdepot.co.uk/TD/product/COMPMEMO/CM.MTRBRD/productdetails/IT81600/MSI_G31TM-P35_-_Micro_ATX_-_iG31_-_LGA775_Socket_-/G31TM-P35/default.aspx?_$ja=kw:msi+g31tm+p35+motherboard|cgn:Motherboard%7c%7cMsi_g31tm-p35_-_micro_atx_-_ig31_-_lga775_socket_-%7c%7cIt81600|cgid:1632028636|tsid:7803|cnPCPM%7c%7cProducts%7c%7cComponents+%26+memory|cid:36668026|lid:16830630550|mt:Broad|nw:search|crid:7048876966

 

Sorry about that was trying to put a link in but will paste specs instead!!!

MSI G31TM-P35 - Motherboard - micro ATX - iG31 - LGA775 Socket - UDMA100, SATA-300 - Gigabit Ethernet - video - HD Audio (8-channel)
APS (Active Phase Switching) is complete function to control power demand with switching dynamically; it's for CPU, memory and chipset PWM Saving power under variable loading Power usage more efficiency Faster and flexible and instant If BIOS crash, it still can boot from USB drive Update BIOS from USB drive by M-flash function Help end-users upgrade CPU FSB directly Buy an essential CPU but want to reach higher performance Skip the complicated BIOS OC setting and enjoy the higher level CPU performance

is this compatible??

 

Hi again,

Yes, that board does appear compatible. Looks like a better board than the one I found in my limited search, as well.

 

Hi again mcsmc, haven't had the opportunitie to see my mate who has other psu as of yet, though did try graphics card in it just before and it did not work,card works perfectly on my machine + its better than the one that is onboard on mine, so not to worried about wasting money on the card!!!
the motherboard i was looking at is only £41.70 shipped which isnt bad at all,will i have to use cpu that is on the old board or does the new board come with cpu ?? only asking as it will be my first time at swapping over a motherboard,so probably will be looking for help in that direction also soon, thats if he wants to go ahead with the rebuild!!!!!!
Cheers again
Iain.

 

Sorry to jump in here but I had an issue with no signal and this procedure worked. Maybe you can give it a try.

• Unplug the computer
• Hold down the power button for a minimum of 30 seconds to drain the capacitors
• Plug computer back in and press the power button.

 

Hey,

That's not a bad price for the board. The new board will not come with a CPU, you will have to transfer the CPU. In that case, you will need to purchase some thermal paste as well (Arctic Silver 5 is recommended by most of us here).

Transferring the CPU:

You will need to thoroughly clean the CPU top and the part of the heatsink that comes in contact with the CPU thoroughly, I've used rubbing alcohol with Q-tips and paper towels (be sure to wear latex or similar gloves, so you don't get skin oils on them!). Once thoroughly dry, seat the CPU in the new motherboard socket, and then place a rice grain sized amount of thermal paste on the center of the CPU, then clamp the heatsink onto it, and you should be good to go! A tube of Arctic Silver 5 runs around US$10 plus shipping, perhaps you can find a better deal either online or at a local computer shop.

 

I'm gonna jump in here for a minute and suggest you try another monitor just to rule that out...

 

Tried all suggested fixes but end up with same result,pulled a psu out of non working dell only to find it has a different sized conector (20 pin) the one in the acer is 24 pin.
Sounds simple enough to change motherboard as long as i'm carefull !!!!

 

Hello,
I do not know if Dell has changed their power supplies but I have read some are proprietary even though they look exactly like a standard ATX power supply. You can fry a motherboard because the power connector uses different voltages along the connector. I found this from Wiki

 

If that is the case then i am well pleased that the aspires PSU has a 24 pin ATX power connector, because if it fitted and i went along and fitted a new mobo, i wouldnt of been overly pleased with myself.