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I have three machines with the exact same hardware and the exact same problem. After I push the power button, the CPU fan runs continuously at a high speed rather than spinning down to a low speed. The IBM BIOS screen never comes up; in fact, nothing gets displayed on the screen. It appears that the CPU and RAM are not heating up but the video card is.

I've replaced the CMOS battery, but that had no effect. Running only one RAM module didn't help either. What is the problem and how can I fix it?

Specs:
Intel P4 1.8 GHz
2 x 256MB PC133 SDRAM
IBM 40GB IDE
NVIDIA Vanta LT AGP

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Have you tried testing with a different video card? Do the systems give POST beeps if you pull Video and/or RAM? Did the machines EVER work in this configuration? – techie007 Aug 31 '11 at 19:42
I have 27 other machines in the same configuration that ran without a problem. There's no on-board video and I've tried all RAM configurations without any POSTing. I don't have another video card to test with, though I could just swap a video card from a working machine. I did have another machine that never restarted properly (similar symptoms). However, it worked after pulling out the power cable for 10-15 seconds, then starting it back up again. – Wesley Aug 31 '11 at 20:56
If you pull ALL the RAM and Video out, does it give you POST beeps? If not, then the motherboard is probably shot. If it does (it should give you 'no RAM' beeps), then stick the RAM back in, but no video. At this point it should give you 'no video' beeps, if it does, then you know the video card is shot. – techie007 Aug 31 '11 at 21:03
I am getting a 1-3-3-1 beep code without RAM or video, meaning the motherboard is still working and detects the absence of RAM. With just video, I still get the beep codes. With the RAM in and no video, I am back with the same symptoms as mentioned before. Does this mean that the RAM is faulty? How could I check if I can't POST? – Wesley Aug 31 '11 at 23:39
Sounds like bad RAM. Can you try it with just one stick at a time? Perhaps pull RAM from one of the working 27 machines? – techie007 Sep 1 '11 at 0:10
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If you pull ALL the RAM and Video out, does it give you POST beeps? If not, then the motherboard is probably shot. If it does (it should give you 'no RAM' beeps), then stick the RAM back in, but no video. At this point it should give you 'no video' beeps, if it does, then you know the video card is shot.

Can you try it with just one stick at a time? Perhaps pull RAM from one of the working 27 machines?

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Thanks a bunch! – Wesley Sep 3 '11 at 23:58
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Did you change graphics card lately? I saw this happen when the graphics card does not get enough power. The two possible fixes are:

  • Get a more powerful power-supply.
  • Connect power directly to your video card. In my case I needed an adapter from the 5-pin power to the PCI-E connector on the card. It surprised me because my card was AGP too.

Actually, you may have to do both. Obviously, you can only do the 2nd thing if your card has a power connector.

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You used a 5-pin power adapter and connected it to the PCI-e connector on your AGP card? – techie007 Aug 31 '11 at 19:43
Yes. That is what I had to do. – Itai Aug 31 '11 at 23:45
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