Diagnosing a problem; mobo or processor on a Dell Optiplex GX280

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I've had an intermittent problem with a Dell Optiplex GX280 P4 3.2GHZ.

  • Was able to install both WinXP and Ubuntu 8.10, however after updates Ubuntu crashed and would not reload. WinXP intermittently got the blue screen of death.
  • Ubuntu would not reinstall.
  • Ran Memtest, and the RAM appears to be ok.
  • Replaced the Hard Drive, same problems, Ubuntu still refused to install.
  • The computer shop said it was probably the mobo or the processor (duh)
  • I won an Acer Veriton 2800 in a scholarship and surprise, surprise, it has a compatible P4 3.2GHZ processor, so I might switch the processors and see what happens, if it's still buggered, I'll assume the mobo is at fault. -I don't get the Acer till next week.
  • If that is the case, I'll probably buy a new motherboard and rebuild the comp into an ATX case I have lying around.
  • Will update the processor at a later stage

Any ideas on diagnosis? Anything I might have missed, or not thought to check? Cheers
 
Hi,

If Windows XP is throwing off a BSoD then what error is it reporting? I haven't done this in awhile but I recall you need to go into the setting and make it so that upon BSoD the PC doesn't restart until you say to so you can see the error. Also, check the dump files. You'll need to Google the rest of that.

Good Luck,

Adrian
 
dell MBs are notorious for messing up if i had to guess i would think it was the motherboard. I have read lots of forums about dell MBs and how they mess up or just stop working.
 
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