XPS 9000, replace motherboard or gut it?

Best to just recycle the whole thing. One thing to try first--replace the bios coin cell battery for $2. That retains the bios settings when the computer is unplugged. Since yours was not plugged in for a long time that battery is dead. Usually it's a CR2032 but check the manual.

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@J_the_Gemenon wrote:

Hey, everyone. I've had myXPS 9000 since 2010, and it was custom build through Dell for gaming.

It has been unplugged for about 6 months (we moved) and now the power light is solid white, but nothing happens on screen. Asking around with my tech savy friends, they agree it's the motherboard.

Now, my question is:

-Do I replace the motherboard and hope that fixes it? OR

-Do I just gut it and build a new gaming rig?

My concern with replacing the motherboard is that it's an 8yo computer. My concern with gutting it is that the parts are all outdated, but could I reuse the case for a new build? Also, would saving the harddrive and RAM be worth it, considering they are old as well?

 

Thanks in advanced.

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I would replace it, you can check that battery with a multimeter though. Batteries go dead when they sit uncharged.

I replaced the battery; Still no change. All the fans and lights come on, but the monitor just goes into sleep mode, regardless if its using the DVI or HDMI. Could it be the graphics card? The fan for it runs, but idk if that means it's working or not.

...most likely it's a loose internal connection from moving.

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@J_the_Gemenon wrote:

… (we moved) …

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Been there, done that.  Same machine - moved - it no longer worked (until I reseated internal connections).

When trying to figure out what's wrong, I always try to ask myself "what changed?".

In my case the answer was:  the cables were all unplugged and it's been bouncing around in the back of some vehicle.

So, I made sure all the external cables, especially to the monitor, were reconnected properly.  Then opened the case and checked anything that plugged into a socket for a loose connection.  If nothing obvious, then reseated everything anyway.  Can't remember what was loose, but after that I was back in business.

Sockets to check:

• All the end points of the cabling that runs from power supply to motherboard, drives and video card (if it has a separate power cable that runs to it).
• SATA cables that run from the hard drives to the motherboard - both ends could come loose.  (Many SATA cables don't have locking mechanisms on their endpoints.)
• Seating of the video card in its PCIe slot.  Same with any other PCIe cards. 
• Seating of memory sticks

The other possibility is bouncing around while moving damaged the internal moving parts of the hard drive.  Note there's a small dim light next to the power button that flashes when the drive is busy.  You might try watching it when powering up.  If it's flashing, the problem is more likely the video card, video cable or even monitor. 

Also, when booting normally there is a single beep, as opposed to no beeps or multiple quick beeps (which indicate an error - # of beeps for what's wrong).

If the above doesn't work, I'd probably think about buying a new machine.  Reason being it may be hard to determine what's wrong and guarantee spending more time/money will fix it.  (It's possible the motherboard is cracked, some solder connection is broken, etc.)

I'd consider replacing the machine especially if it's on the original hardware.  Not that components wear out, but the time/money to upgrade it to latest tech (the Studio XPS 435T/9000 is a highly upgradable X58 machine) isn't worth it if done all at once, especially on a non-working machine.  It's easier and likely a better use of your time to buy a new machine.