Let's play "What the &%#@ is wrong with Nightfall's &@#$ing PC?"

[Nightfall]

A little mystery game. The winner gets my eternal gratitude.

A little less than a year ago, I got an Alienware PC. Paid a little more for what I thought would be higher quality. Right out of the box, it had a faulty power supply. Anytime I ran a game or other graphics intensive program that pushed the video card at all, the whole PC would power down. They had a description of this occurrence in their knowledge base stating it was caused by a bad batch of power supplies. Despite my pointing out that this was an exact description of my problem, I got several different "solutions" to try. After several months of getting fed up enough to ask for intermittent tech support solutions (check this, check that, make sure the fans are clear), they finally came out and replaced the generic power supply with a quality Enermax one. Yay, it didn't shut down anymore. Oh, how short lived the joy was.

A few weeks later, the computer wouldn't even turn on. Push the power button and the LED indicator would light up, the fans would spin around once, and then nothing else. Called tech support again. Spent who knows how long pulling out every part in there, and putting them all back to make sure it wasn't the vid card/memory/HD/etc. So they get me to ship it to them. A week or two later, it comes back with a note saying they "could not reproduce the error". Plug the computer in, it comes on. Turn it off... and it won't come back on anymore. Same as before, power indicator LED comes on, fans spin around for a second (seems like a very short burst of power), nothing else. Tried different power cords, different outlets, etc. Same result.

So here I sit with a 3k "high quality" PC that, almost a year later, has only had a few blissful moments of full functionality. I would call tech support (again), but they've proved thoroughly incompetent. For crap sake, they sent it back to me with the same exact problem! Now before I start beating in heads to get a full, complete refund for this POS, I'm hoping somebody here is a good enough computer sleuth to tell me how to fix this problem.

In summary;
Everything from the memory to the modem has been removed to check if any of these parts were at fault.
Tried different outlets, power cords, surge protectors, etc. with no effect.
The power LED comes on, the fans spin very briefly, then nothing else. No beeps, sounds, images on the monitor, etc.
Motherboard LED is good and green as well.

So WTF is wrong with this thing?

[K Frame]

Put a new power switch in it.

[Sindawe]

A little less than a year ago, I got an Alienware PC.

Dude, you should have gotten a Dell.  That way you'd be playing these sillly tech support games with a HUGE multinational computer company instead of a niche game PC company.

If you get ZERO response out of the MB/BIOS an power up, I'd look to the MB being bad as the first step.  It is possible that the cheap-ass power supply Alienware put in originally toasted something to just this side of total failure. Now it works sometines, and sometimes it don't.  If they will not replace the MB, demand a full refund on the purchase price.

[mtnbkr]

I'd try another PSU first.  I had a PSU go bad and cause the exact same symptoms.  One new PSU later and it's been running ever since.

Chris

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

Sindawe's right on the money.

I'd give them ONE chance, as follows:
call, ask to speak with a SUPERVISOR or MANAGER of support.

Briefly and courteously explain (15 seconds or less, suggest "digest" version of your post above) what you've been through so far.

Explain that you spent MORE on an Alienware PC and you don't want to lose confidence in their "high quality".

Ask for a replacement.

IF you have to send it back to them, DOCUMENT with bullet points EXACTLY what you've done to resolve the issue, and ask them to boot it up MORE THAN ONCE.

If all else fails, contact BBB or your state's Dept. of Consumer Affairs.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

...oh, and one more thing:
components are commodities bought in bulk by every PC manufacturer.
You aren't getting any better quality buying an Alienware PC with the same mobos, RAM, and wiring harnesses that you'd get in an Acer.

Alienware uses the same components as every other manufacturer.

Buy a Dell in order to have recourse in resolving problems.
Better yet, consider hardware disposable and buy the cheapest you can buy.

[Sindawe]

Buy a Dell in order to have recourse in resolving problems.

Dell really is not a shining example from my experience.  Better than others, but it still took four weeks of bickering and arm twisting to get Dell to properly fix one of our servers at work, and the fix involved replacing MB, RAM and RAID controller/RAM.

Best bet for a new PC, do the legwork up front and build it yourself or pay a skilled shop/hobbiest to build it to spec.  That way you know EXACTLY what parts are going into the box.

[jefnvk]

Alienware uses the same components as every other manufacturer.

Except they have a much cooler case

Things like this is why I build my computers for half the price.

[KenH]

Boy, am I behind the times. I still use the same computer the Ol' Lady got me for Christmas in 2000. And I still think smokeless is a passing fad.  Really. ;-)

[Nightfall]

Called again, they tried to make me do the exact same things all over that had just failed a few weeks ago, before I sent it in to them. They also wanted me to ship it back so they could check it, again (because this time they'd try to fix it for serious, no doubt). What's that saying about insanity and doing the same thing over and over, hoping for different results? Told em I wanted a full refund, because the computer has not worked correctly since day one, despite multiple repair attempts. Was told I couldn't get my money back past 30 days. Got contact information for higher-ups. Letters to the top and then BBB now. I'm sure this will be loads of fun.

Last PC was a Dell, which also had some problems out of the box. Their customer service was better at least.

[Cyanide_357]

When I built my computer two years ago, I had the exact same problem you did (fans & lights come on, but no signals to the monitors, or beeps of any kind).. My problem was a bad motherboard, shipped the mobo back, got the replacement a week later, hooked it all up again and it worked.  However, I had to replace my ram about a week later, as it was also bad and caused it to crash/reboot randomly - especially if I pushed it in any way.

But since when they shipped it back, and it worked one time, It might not be the motherboard.  I had a compaq that was buggy, shipped it back for repairs.  Got it back exactly like I sent it to them - they couldn't reproduce the error.

Cyanide

[garrettwc]

Ditto what Fig said about calling customer service. Same story on the parts. When you buy an Alienware, or a Dell for that matter, you're not getting anything you can't but in pieces from NewEgg and build yourself. You are paying the premium for their supposed "expertise" in tweaking all the settings to the best possible for playing games.

I'm in the jefnvk camp, build it yourself. If you don't know how, there are lots of e-z guides both in print and online. You can save the extra $1500 you spent on expertise to buy more games with.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Bad power source (wall outlet), bad power supply, or bad motherboard.

The faulty electrical outlet would make sense, especially if Alienware really/honestly couldn't replicate the problem.  If your home can't supply enough power, or power that isn't sufficiently steady and clean, then squirrely things will happen with your machine.  Try it in another location, preferably an industral place with beefy wiring.

The replacement power supply could be faulty.  It isn't uncommon for a new part to fail within it's first few hours of use.  But the alienware techs should have cought that.

Replacing the power supply could have damaged the motherboard.  *expletive deleted*it happens.  Maybe you zapped it when you swapped out the power supplies.  Or maybe the old (or new?) supply was faulty and zapped the motherboard itself.  But a bad motherboard is also something the techs should have found.

Maybe a bad power button or switch?  Possible, but not likely.



Ship it back to alienware.  Tell them you want to give them a second chance to fix it.  Describe the problem very briefly (i.e. "Computer won't stay powered up for more than a second or two").   Be polite, but firm and direct.  Insist that they keep it and send you a new one if they can't identify and repair the problem.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

Oh!
Good idea, garrettwc!

When you buy a "bare bones" system from Tiger Direct, they enclose a GREAT step-by-step manual including pictures (idiot-proof) as to how to install everything.  

You save a bunch of money, and learn a bunch in the meantime.
That's how I started building systems.

[Strings]

[drawl]
Sounds like opperator error to me
[/drawl]

Seriously dude... sounds like you need a refund...

>And I still think smokeless is a passing fad.<

Yeah... that and those new-fangled breech-loaders. They'll never catch on!

[jefnvk]

Oh, forgot to throw in a solution.  Check the RAM, and mobo if possible.  Also, check the grounding.

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

Theare's a $30. power supply in your future.

Just go get one. You'll be time and aggrivation ahead.  

Trust me, I'm a professional and I do this for a living on the big iron.


Regards,
Rabbit.