4 Posts
0
4304
Studio 540, seems dead
I have a Dell Studio 540 from January 2009.
Last week, it stopped turning on. There is a green LED at the back (below where AC cord connects to PC). When I connect the power cord to PC, the LED lights up. From what I read though, it seems this light does not mean the power-supply is good... it just means AC power is detected (not sure if that info is accurate).
If I then press the power button to turn on... all that happens is the green LED (at the back, as described above) turns off immediately. At this point, if I disconnect AC power and reconnect back to the PC, the green LED still stays off. If I disconnect AC power, and then hold down power button for a few seconds (about 5 seconds), then the green LED will turn on. At this point, I continue holding down power button, and the green LED stays on for about 6-7 seconds, and then turns off. At this point, everything seems discharged, and if I reconnect AC power, the green LED will light up once again.
Incidentally, I have FOUR other Dell Studio 540s. All were bought between Dec 2008 and Jan 2009. Each of the FIVE Dell Studio 540s died over time, this fifth one is the last one. None of them power up anymore. I probably should have tried harder to troubleshoot the other 4 before this last one died (since it might help me debug better), but right now, I do have 5 Dell Studio 540s that I can swap parts around to see what works... even if all 5 are dead (not powering up) at this point.
Any idea what I should do? Having 5 Dell PCs die on my over 10 years is a rather sad. Since Dell Studio 540 is rather outdated by now, I won't want to spend too much to revive them... not worth replacing CPU or motherboard if it comes to that. But it seems like I should at least try a bit more before ditching all 5 PCs.
Thanks for any suggestions!
68cutlass
192 Posts
1
February 16th, 2019 10:00
I'd start with the PSU. Problem you'll have is you won't know if any of the dead systems have a functional PSU.
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
44.3K Posts
1
February 16th, 2019 10:00
How to Troubleshoot a No Power Issue on your Dell Desktop
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln285154/how-to-troubleshoot-a-no-power-issue-on-your-dell-desktop?lang=en
HanoverB
798 Posts
1
February 16th, 2019 20:00
I still have three Studio 540 machines in the office and they are fine for web browsing, email, and most office tasks.
The quad processors in them like your Q8200 were really popular and decent processors.
I have changed the PSU in two of the machines that died like yours and used the now discontinued Corsair CX430M PSU both times. Last one was in 2015.
Installed easy, perfect fit and modular cabling. If unsure what you are doing just take pictures of the connections in the machine before you disconnect them. The case is fairly uncluttered considering how small it is and is easy to work with.
This is the current model of the PSU.
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Power/cxm-series-2015-config/p/CP-9020101-NA
Good luck and you should be able to get your machine up and running again.
dellsos
4 Posts
0
February 16th, 2019 10:00
I should mention that all five Dell Studio 540 are described as:
"Studio 540 Mini-Tower: Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q8200 (4MB L2, 2.33GHz, 1333FSB)"
Not sure if Intel Q8200 is to be suspect. It was cheaper model of Dell Studio 540, if I recall correctly.
dellsos
4 Posts
0
February 16th, 2019 22:00
Just wanted to update that the issue is indeed the power supply unit (PSU).
I managed to find a HEC-350TA-2RK supply (very cheap after rebate, 350W)... I think I had bought it soon after the first Dell Studio 540 died (years ago), but didn't successfully swap/install it then, and it had been lying somewhere. I think the issue is the big power connector (that has some 24-pins) to the motherboard has 4 fewer pins (only 20 pins), and when I saw that, I assumed I got an incompatible PSU. In reality, I just need to ignore those 4 pins, and things still work.
Using this cheap PSU, I confirmed that at least 4 of my 5 dead Dell Studio 540s will come back alive with a PSU replacement. The fifth Studio 540 is buried under some stuff, so I haven't got to it.
I had also already ordered at least one other PSU, and that is a Corsair CX450 (currently a promo at newegg will take 10% off, and then there's also a $20 Corsair rebate right now), brings the price down under $20 after rebate. I hope that will work/fit when it arrives. It should be even better (450W, instead of 350W).
Thanks to everyone who responded, indeed, all of you suspected or suggested that I start at the PSU, and it seems to be the problem.
dellsos
4 Posts
0
March 6th, 2019 14:00
Hi all. Bad news. I tried installing the Corsair CX450 into my Dell Studio 540. The fan in the PSU comes on, the fan attached to the CPU on the motherboard also spins. The LED power light is looking solid/steady (not blinking) amber/orange color instead of white though. I do not hear POST beep, nothing seems to be happening other than the fans coming on.
I thought it was a faulty Corsair CX450 unit, because as I said, if I try the HEC-350TA-2RK power supply, things will work (POST beep, monitor displays BIOS boot screen, and so on). So I rule out that any components are bad or motherboard is bad. Thus, I claimed the Corsair CX450 unit as faulty and asked newegg for a replacement unit. That has arrived, and then I tried new replacement. Alas, SAME result. Amber light. Fans turn. No POST, no beep, nothing on monitor.
At this point, I scoured the Internet some more to find this link: http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106880. So it seems the more recent power supplies all might not work with Dell Studio 540... I might need to ensure I find some PSU that is ATX12V 2.01, and that probably means hunting on ebay, rather than getting anything new.
Now I might need to pay for return shipping to newegg... or somehow do something with this Corsair CX450, since it will not work with Dell Studio 540.
Does anyone know if there's some hack I can do to make Corsair CX450 work with Dell Studio 540, or there's just no way? At this point, since I know that HEC-350TA-2RK worked, I could get more of those units (used, on ebay), or get other used PSUs from ebay that were pulled from other old Dell PCs. Maybe it is time to just throw away the Dell Studio 540... since so much of it is too old, and even trying to get replacement parts seem hard now.
HanoverB
798 Posts
1
March 6th, 2019 15:00
Take a look at this post I did a while back regarding the ATX v2.01 compatibility, both the older CX430M and TX850 PSU I have installed were backwards compatible.
https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Successful-Studio-540-Power-Supply-and-Graphics-Card-PSU-GPU/m-p/3840078
Newegg does sell a ATX v2.01 PSU
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707074&ignorebbr=1
https://www.amazon.com/Watt-ATX12V-Computer-Power-Supply/dp/B000FHGW8W
Not sure if Newegg should have recognized the issue after the first PSU didn't work, have never dealt with their support.
It comes down to if you think it's worth spending the $50.00 for a PSU to keep those machines running,
HanoverB
798 Posts
0
March 6th, 2019 16:00
Also the Studio 540 has a 24 pin ATX connector on the motherboard.
The Startech 350W version is 24 (20 + 4) pin ATX connector
The cheaper 300W version is only 20 pins, so be aware of that.