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February 18th, 2009 13:00

Precision 470 takes 5-10 minutes to start boot process and turns itself off without warning (PSU issue?)

I have a Dell Precision 470 workstation. For several years it has been working fine. Now suddenly I am getting the following problems:

When turned on for the first time in the morning it takes 5-10 minutes before the BIOS info shows. Once the boot process has started however, it starts up normally. When the power is initially turned on, the LED behind the power button and the LEDs labelled A B C D on the front light up. However the screen is black for 5-10 mins until there is a click (like a relay) and the BIOS info appears.

Also, the PC turns itself off a couple of times in the first hour after being switched on. There is the click sound then the screen goes black. The LED behind the power button and the LEDs labelled A B C D on the front remain lit (although I think some go from green to yellow). Again it takes 5-10 minutes before the PC comes back on. This happens a couple of times, then generally it stays on without power loss for the rest of the day (although it does sometimes turn itself off at random times). When the shutdown happens there is no BSOD, and no event is recorded in the Windows event log.

There have been no hardware changes for several months prior to this problem occurring, and no changes made to the BIOS (firmware or settings). It seems to me like something in the power supply is "wearing out". Should I replace the whole PSU or do these symptoms indicate some other problem?

Many thanks.

February 20th, 2009 16:00

Problem getting worse - turning itself off randomly during day now. When the power goes off the LEDs on the front are:

A - green
B - yellow
C - yellow
D - off

 

82 Posts

February 21st, 2009 05:00

The manual for this system states that this error relates to a VRM 0 fault. You can find the information using this link: 

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

Bob

 

February 21st, 2009 15:00

Thanks for the link. I checked the manual and searched for "VRM failure". The machine definately has the classic signs of VRM failure - trouble starting, random shutdowns, and now won't start at all and fans blowing really loudly.

The lights indicate VRM 0 failure - presumably the VRM that goes with CPU 0. I opened the case and checked the System Board Components 

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

and there is only one removable VRM on the board that I can see, and that goes with CPU 1. When I bought a 2nd CPU I got this VRM with it. So where is VRM 0 ?????

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