Yeah the problem though now it wont even boot or post at all soon as I turn it on the fan maxes out and thats it the system does nothing.
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Dell Optiplex fan and thermal issues
I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 that is having startup issues. It appears to be a thermal issue as the fan comes on mostly at full speed. It has com on a few times and booted up but then would lock up so I know there is some kind of issue. I have reseated and cleaned the processor and heatsink and still the same effect. The only thing I can think of is if the CPU or motherboard is going bad. The motherboard has the yellow/amber light inside lighted up but I do not know if that is a problem or a normal circumstance. So any help solving the problem would help either if its for sure the cpu or motherboard or some thermal issues I have missed.
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Answers
No post is baad, Mkay?
I believe that there is a 4 position LED display on the back. That tells you where in post it fails. Any beep codes?
When you said you cleaned the fan and reseated the proc. Did you remove the fan from the CPU? Did you use any thermal goo for heat transfer to the heat sink? You may also try clearing CMOS. Remove the battery. UNlplug from the wall. Wait 5 minutes, replace battery, plug back in and try again.
No post typically means: no memory or CPU (On old machines no video)
if it does not start, you can try this : start with the minimum :
mobo+ cpu + 1 ram stick, video card, PS -->any display? If N it is one of the connected; try swapping Ram, video card, PS. leaves only mobo & CPU.
also, inspect the mobo for bad caps : www.badcaps.net
You can also test devices on another PC.
Also check you did not dislodge a cable by cleaning the PC.
Most probable causes : PS - and mobo
Ok that seems to work some so far. I took out 1 stick of ram after removing the battery and such and it started up normal. Powered down and put the stick back in and with the restart there was no post and the fan went back to blowing hard. I took it out and restarted and it did the same. So right now I am resetting again and hopefully that will clear it out. So a bad stick of ram?
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by: chingmdPosted on 2007-09-26 at 12:25:28ID: 19965968
I woudl log on to http://support.dell.com
Enter the service tag of the Optiplex. Download the DIAGs for the machine. This will also show if the machine in question has any warranty support.
Run them. If it's a hardware issue, the diags test should show the issue.
Another possibility is to donwload and burn a LIVE OS CD. like knoppix. If it's a hardware issue, the differing OS should lock up as well.