Suspected power supply problem, Dell Dimension 3000 desktop

[peteinmd]

I have a circa 2005 Dimension desktop that is starting to have issues powering up and booting on a "cold start", and wanted to confirm this is something that can be fixed by just installing a new power supply.

System is presently running Windows 7, and has been upgraded over the years with memory & disk drives, and otherwise works fine. Lately when I try to start the PC in the morning after it's been shutdown overnight, it acts as if the power is failing during boot up. The first attempt won't even boot into the BIOS. Simply unplugging the main power and then switching it back on again will get you further into the process each time; i.e., at try #2, BIOS will load, but when you exit BIOS and attempt to load Windows, it will power down. If I keep repeating this process (try #3, #4 and beyond), Windows will eventually get me to its startup repair & diagnostics mode, and will let me login to Windows 7.

Seems that the power supply may need some run time to warm itself up & stabilize before it can supply enough power to support all the electrical loads that occur during boot. Also, If I shutdown the PC in Windows, I can fire it right back up with no issues as long as I do that within 30 minutes of shutting it down.

Thoughts? Does this sound like a simple swap in a new PS fix?

[speedstep]

Not worth fixing.  Cost of Newer Model like GX620 is easily worth the price to upgrade all the way to windows 10.  The system below would allow you to remove the hard drive from your current broken system and recover all the data.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/803416719

This unit has windows 7

https://www.walmart.com/ip/945821534

This one has windows 7 Pro

https://www.walmart.com/ip/617094949

This one comes with Windows 10 However it requires an IDE to SATA adapter in order to recover data from the Dimension 3000.  GX620 towers include IDE cable and adapter that drive could be reovered with.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/55080037

[peteinmd]

That may be a good alternative if the problem is more than just a replaceable PS. From what I'm finding online, I should be able to get a suitable new or refurbished PS for under $40. The Dimension 3000 used a fairly standard 250 Watt ATX power supply, still cheap & readily available. I may even have a good spare one laying around from an old Compaq PC that I had - may wire that in to test the 3000.

[speedstep]

The age of the system indicates that motherboard capacitors, hard drive, power supply etc are going bad and will need replacement.   Its not economical to keep the older systems going because the parts you can find now are quite old and they arent making new ones.  GX620 is DDR2 and has PCI-E video slot as well as BOTH IDE and Sata Interfaces.  The other reason I recommend it is due to it having Floppy controller and legacy serial and parallel ports.  You can even get an optional 2nd serial port /PS2 Keyboard and Mouse Adapter.

 Power supplies in these if Tower units are standard 24 pin EPS12v

 Most obvious first test would be to replace the DL2032 cmos battery.

https://www.amazon.com/Duracell-Features-DuraLock-PreserveTM-technology/dp/B009A58GIY/

Dimension 3000 power supply is PS-5251-2DS  M0148

I believe however its more than just the power supply.

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-ORIGINAL-Supply-Dimension-Computers/dp/B000N2BR5C

[peteinmd]

An update to my problem... It went from intermittent to permanent. Since the PC was running, I decided to just let it stay running 24/7, logging on & off of Windows 7 as needed. It finally powered itself down permanently after about 24 hours of run time. The power indicator light on the front panel was flashing green, which is supposed to indicate a "standby" mode, which I didn't command. Pressing & holding the power button would not bring it out of "standby" as it should. Unplugging the PC cleared the flashing green light

Anyway, since then I took the suggestion to change out the CMOS battery on the motherboard - no change there. Also gave the mobo a very close visual inspection - no signs of bulging or leaking capacitors (aka "capacitor plague") anywhere. Then I found another post here that gave directions on how to test the PS, which basically says to (1) Disconnect 20 pin connector from mobo, (2) jumper together the green wire & any black wire on the 20 pin connector (3) Plug in the power cord back in and see if the PS fan runs.

Result was the PS fan ran, albeit slowly, so I went a bit further and tested to verify all the PS voltage outputs with my DVM. Result there is that the all the +5VDC & +3.3VDC pins were spot on at those voltages but the +12 and -12VDC lines were all a tad low at +11.85 and -11.85, respectively. Note that this was under no electrical load - all PS connectors disconnected and with just the DVM measuring voltages across the appropriate pins.

Does this sound like an out-of-spec/bad PS or is this within acceptable tolerance?