What to do to check/rescue a dumped PC?

[Zucca]

I found a spotless Dell mini tower XPS 8910 in the dump, sticker says i7... . Looks like new.
It does not boot because there is no RAM in it. I just ordered 4x16GB DDR4 just to give it a try.
Then MEMTEST86 it and see what happens.
I tend to say 4x8GB is plenty for my bench PC to use it with a Picoscope, but you know me I can't resist to max out the RAM.

Any further particular stress tests you guys suggest to check a unknown PC found in the garbage?

[tunk]

Run a stress test, e.g. prime95.
Check if there's any SMART disk errors.

[Zucca]

Check if there's any SMART disk errors.

There was no RAM, nor disks just a CD reader.
I would install of course a SSD and let it go.

I hope the MB [EDIT] and the PSU arer just fine.

[Ice-Tea]

Go hunting for the porn folder? 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

As it's a Dell PC, just use their own pc check utilities on it. Assumes it boots, allows you into bios, and recognizes everything, all you need next is an OS. The dell utilities will exercise all the parts.

Throw an SSD in it, load up a temp win10 OS on it, and finally load up an appropriate pc check utilities from dell's website. You can then test all the hardware to see what has happened in this PC's hard life, to end up on the dump heap.

That's not the worst abuse I've seen, so it might work out for you ... a hurricane was the worst, with PC being relocated by tornadic winds, saltwater exposure, etc.

Some dumps have a special "location" for electronics, and if one has the time, it might be worth it to look through the stuff being dropped off, to find similar gems such as your dell tower, or UPS's that just need a battery, specialized audio equipment, and so on.

Hope this helps ...

[Zucca]

Hell yeah it helps, W10 install is also interesting to see if there is a paid license on that machine....

It is such a clean machine I think it was dropped a few hours before I saw it.
I am now so temped to swing by the dump every week and pull my luck again.

[xmris]

You can check on dell.com the history - what accessories have been with it even what OS was pre-installed- if it's still on warranty (even then zero chance to use the Dell warranty as you need transfer of ownership) etc , by using the service nr of that machine.

[tunk]

And maybe see if there's any BIOS and firmware updates.

[Zucca]

All already on my list.... appreciate. I can't wait the RAM to come in.

[Johnny B Good]

 I'm rather surprised that no one has suggested the more obvious way to test it out (once you've received your memory modules). Why not just download a recent version of Linux Mint (KDE) ? The current version is 21 but, if you can still download it, I think  Linux Mint 17.3 'Rosa' KDE 64 bit would be a better bet for testing in live usb boot disk mode. You'd only need a 2GB (or larger - v21 needs an 8GB minimum) USB thumb drive to create a Live boot disk.

 If you fancy trying an actual install of Linux on that 'spare' machine, you can always install Oracle's Virtualbox and then install your favourite flavour of MS Windows OS in a virtual machine as a workaround for any "must have" windows only software packages - with 64GB of ram, you needn't skimp on the ram allocation to a VM.

[Perkele]

In addition to Memetest86, also try stress-ng.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/Reference/stress-ng

Prime95 is OK for CPU testing, but in this case you also need to put some pressure onto the chipset and I/O in case if motherboard is faulty.

[iJoseph2]

And maybe see if there's any BIOS and firmware updates.

Yes definitely reflash the BIOS from the dell website so you know you have a trustworthy BIOS.

Wrt memtest, I memtested (I think it was the version on the fedora install iso) a HP elitedesk 800 and it would always come up with errors (quite quickly) with more than one stick installed.. one stick would be fine.. which threw me around in circles for a little while.
Testing another (same) HP and it did the same thing..
At that point I just assumed that memtest wasn't suitable for this hardware.

[james_s]

Unless you're planning to sell it in which case it's worth checking out thoroughly, I would just install an OS and use it, if it works it works, if it has issues you'll probably notice pretty quickly.

[AndyBeez]

Find the user manual for the motherboard and check for any pin jumpers that are missing or misplaced. Erase the BIOS password if that can be done with a jumper setting.

You should be able to view the BIOS page without the need for RAM or HDD. Press DEL, ESC, F12 or something like that. This will also reveal if there is a BIOS password.

If you can access the BIOS, set the boot sequence to include USB - as you can run a Linux distro from a USB stick.

As other's say, reflash the BIOS as you have no idea of where that PC came from and what malware might be inside the BIOS.

If all is okay, fit a brand new memory backup battery.

[Zucca]

RAM installed, pass POST (Power On Self Test) on LED Diagnostic level (solid LED white on the power button)... but no image on monitor.

from service manual:

    Power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST)
    XPS 8930 supports a new power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST). BIST can now be performed by connecting the power cord to the
    power-supply unit.
    1.
    Turn off your computer.
    2.
    Disconnect the power cord from the power-supply unit, and wait for 15 seconds.
    3.
    After 15 seconds, connect the power cord to the power-supply unit.
    •
    If the LED is on for 3 seconds and turns off, it indicates that the power-supply unit is functional. Continue with troubleshooting
    steps for other devices.
    •
    If the LED does not turn on, it indicates a hardware failure.

LED does not turn on.... I hear you guys laughing....

[2N2222A]

As other's say, reflash the BIOS as you have no idea of where that PC came from and what malware might be inside the BIOS.

Which has to be done without starting the system using the system firmware, since the malware would add itself back to the BIOS or system firmware again during the reflash.

Modern serial SPI flash in the standard 8-pin IC has no hardware means to write protect it, unlike the old parallel flash. Write protect can only be done through software programming the IC or sending a session write protect command to the IC, and the write protect pin on the IC is a software write protect override, to turn off the software write protect, not to turn it on!

Power supply is probably bad. Try another one. Else the local CPU / memory power supply on the board could be bad.

[Johnny B Good]

RAM installed, pass POST (Power On Self Test) on LED Diagnostic level (solid LED white on the power button)... but no image on monitor.

from service manual:

    Power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST)
    XPS 8930 supports a new power-supply unit Built-in Self Test (BIST). BIST can now be performed by connecting the power cord to the
    power-supply unit.
    1.
    Turn off your computer.
    2.
    Disconnect the power cord from the power-supply unit, and wait for 15 seconds.
    3.
    After 15 seconds, connect the power cord to the power-supply unit.
    •
    If the LED is on for 3 seconds and turns off, it indicates that the power-supply unit is functional. Continue with troubleshooting
    steps for other devices.
    •
    If the LED does not turn on, it indicates a hardware failure.

LED does not turn on.... I hear you guys laughing....

 Looking at those instructions, I'm left wondering if they mean the power led should light up for three seconds and extinguish after connecting to a mains outlet before you try pressing the front panel on/off button???

PS Almost forgot; some MoBos won't boot if the lithium coin cell (typically a CR2032 but a CR2025 could be used in a pinch) has become so discharged as to only show a few millivolts using a DMM to test it. If the coin cell has become so deeply discharged it might be worth replacing it and testing again.

[DonKu]

Hell yeah it helps, W10 install is also interesting to see if there is a paid license on that machine....

It is such a clean machine I think it was dropped a few hours before I saw it.
I am now so temped to swing by the dump every week and pull my luck again.

For similar reasons both the electronic and battery sections of my town dump recently added prominent "No Scavenging"  signs all over. Yet, one guy ignored the signs and scavenged. He said he had official approval to do so.

[james_s]

For similar reasons both the electronic and battery sections of my town dump recently added prominent "No Scavenging"  signs all over. Yet, one guy ignored the signs and scavenged. He said he had official approval to do so.

I think it should be illegal to prevent people from scavenging, it is certainly environmentally irresponsible. The most efficient form of recycling by far is repair and reuse. Blocking people from salvaging what can be salvaged is reprehensible, that e-waste just gets shipped over to 3rd world countries where poor people pick through it to recover raw materials. I scavenge stuff when I can, so far nobody has tried to stop me. With so much actual crime going unpunished are they going to actually prosecute someone for "stealing" garbage?

[themadhippy]

Blocking people from salvaging what can be salvaged is reprehensible, that e-waste just gets shipped over to 3rd world countries where poor people pick through it to recover raw material

Only after the tips  provider of the largest brown envelope preferred  contractor has had a good sort through

[AndyBeez]

Indeed, some tragic loses to the great e-waste pile in the sky. Once saw full spec gaming PC crushed to death. Why? The gamer did not want his old machine to fall into "enemy hands". He had issues.

DDR is about the most economically recoverable and reusable part from a dumpster surf, followed by CPU's and SATA leads. Unless in mint condition, everything else is really just someone else's junk.

The real issue with e-waste is data. @Ice-Tea mentioned, search for the porn directory. Thieves are looking for more than just compromising images of your ex wife's sister. Bank statements, personal letters and stored passwords, are all on the identity thieves want list. Never send a PC or laptop to the dump with a drive inside. Physically smash the HDD. So for a disposal facility, people should have confidence that their HDD is not going to end up in the hands of thieves or geeks. Even if that WD 4TB Red drive had only had 100 hours usage before the crap PSU blew.

on a side note:

With so much actual crime going unpunished are they going to actually prosecute someone for "stealing" garbage?

Come to Britain. We had a dumpster out the back of a nearby store in which the store would dump produce which had exceeded the sell by date. The only crime was the prices they were charging, which is why the dumpster was filled on a regular basis. Enter a homeless guy who thought he'd gone to heaven, until the police prosecuted him for stealing a cheesecake. The waste was the property of the waste management company which ergo, made him a criminal mastermind. Unable to pay the fine, the court ordered the confiscation of his property. Which amounted to a cardboard box and a sleeping bag. So he went to prison for six months for stealing a cheesecake. Okay, he now had a roof over his head, a door that would lock and three good meals a day. But that's not the point. Just yards away from where this purp' was busted, drug dealers operated in full public view. Thanks mainly due to the council providing CCTV cameras to make the dealer's clients feel safe. The homeless guy was not a drug user, just some poor bastd with PTSD.

[2N2222A]

I think it should be illegal to prevent people from scavenging, it is certainly environmentally irresponsible. The most efficient form of recycling by far is repair and reuse. Blocking people from salvaging what can be salvaged is reprehensible, that e-waste just gets shipped over to 3rd world countries where poor people pick through it to recover raw materials.

Definitely! Makers of new electronics may have an interest in preventing scavenging. We need more reuse!

There is however a situation where scavenging becomes a problem. It's when scavengers pull valuable parts off of something, making what remains in to junk with negative value. Metal scrappers are best known for this. They'll cut a power cord of some working equipment that someone would have taken as a whole. They'll break apart a TV to take the copper off of the back of the tube and leave glass everywhere.

[james_s]

The real issue with e-waste is data. @Ice-Tea mentioned, search for the porn directory. Thieves are looking for more than just compromising images of your ex wife's sister. Bank statements, personal letters and stored passwords, are all on the identity thieves want list. Never send a PC or laptop to the dump with a drive inside. Physically smash the HDD. So for a disposal facility, people should have confidence that their HDD is not going to end up in the hands of thieves or geeks. Even if that WD 4TB Red drive had only had 100 hours usage before the crap PSU blew.

That's absolutely absurd, I think people that smash functional hard drives have some kind of paranoid delusional mental illness, either that or they are just stupid. Simply wipe them with one of the various programs out there that is meant specifically for wiping hard drives, or if it's a decent drive keep it yourself for other purposes. I'm glad not everyone out there is that paranoid, I've scavenged quite a few hard drives that I've put to other uses. If it's been wiped you're not going to recover any data from it.

[AndyBeez]

Most people are not computer nerds. Simple file deletion is all they think they need, especially when listing some forgotten PC on ebay. Long cold 40G HDDs end up in the scrap bin with their redundant data intact. House clearances are an issue - watch out for any CDRs in drawers. So too are industrial asset clearances where the system manager forgot to erase the RAID array before he collected his last pay check. As for miitary grade data erasure, nothing beats a few turns of det chord. Or a chain saw, if your Walmart is out of explosives for this Thanksgiving holiday.

[2N2222A]

That's absolutely absurd, I think people that smash functional hard drives have some kind of paranoid delusional mental illness, either that or they are just stupid.

Agree 100%!

They're usually the same people who have already had their data taken several times over by installing malware. And then the legitimate spyware has been capturing all their browsing history for years already.

The only real threat is if the user has checked "save password" in the browser or password manager. But honestly nobody cares. Millions of passwords are stolen by software means through malware, not from someone reusing junked hard drives from a dumpster.

[Zucca]

PS Almost forgot; some MoBos won't boot if the lithium coin cell (typically a CR2032 but a CR2025 could be used in a pinch) has become so discharged as to only show a few millivolts using a DMM to test it. If the coin cell has become so deeply discharged it might be worth replacing it and testing again.

coin cell battery is ok.

Anyway the original DELL PSU is a strange unicorn with strange spec.
I already swapped the PSU with a brand new one EV3A 700W Bronze.
Same shit. Turns on, passes self PC diag with LED white. but nothing out the Video card.
After 20 sec or so it turns off by itself, always.

FLIR Thermal Camera shows nothing cooking on the MOBO.

I'll do a last jump on the service manual and then I'll return it to the dump.

What a pity it was so clean!!!!

PS: tool the CPU heat sink off, it has Core i7 6700 3.4 GHz

 

[tunk]

If you have an extra PCIe graphics card, maybe you could try that?

[xmris]

Did you check the CPU socket's pins? Just in case the previous user tried to meddle with the CPU and messed something there.

[Zucca]

CPU socket pins looked okay.

The guy who dumped it was not an old grandma with no PC knowledge, took all the obvious good components out....
There are indication of a missing PCIe graphic card [GC], I think it was good and it did not made its way to the dump.
I suspect that a PCIe GC will not solve the problem.

So I am left with either a bad MOBO or a bad integrated GC in the i7.

My spider senses are telling me it's the MOBO.... but to know that I need to buy and diagnostic POST tool or similar.

[50ShadesOfDirt]

Don't know how much more effort you are willing to invest ...

Goal is to boot up with video, such that you can hit the right key for this mobo and get into bios. Once in there, a better determination of what is salvageable can be made.

If onboard video is hosed, I'd go with a video card as suggested by others, as most bios' these days will boot into that card, if onboard is dead.

If the bios post error (which you can't see) is holding things up, I'd spend some time rummaging through google/dell, and find an online article about next steps around this specific mobo led error indication. There's an art to getting the keywords right, but I'd use some combination of dell model number, mobo info, etc, to see what comes up. This should save on 3rd-party post-capable utilities.

Finally, I can't recall the info, but I thought there was a way to get another pc involved to debug the first, at a very low-level (device-driver stuff? dd sdk's?). Don't know how to do this, but some research might yield methods for it, on the cheap. Maybe the 2nd pc can host video for the first, at this low-level of debugging ...

Hope this helps ...

[tunk]

I suspect that a PCIe GC will not solve the problem.

It could be a damaged DP/hdmi port.

[Zucca]

Don't know how much more effort you are willing to invest ...

Not too much really.... I probably keep he case and replace the MOBO. Micro ATX is kind of perfect size for me.
I can only hope the i7 is okay.

If onboard video is hosed, I'd go with a video card as suggested by others, as most bios' these days will boot into that card, if onboard is dead.
If the bios post error (which you can't see) is holding things up, I'd spend some time rummaging through google/dell, and find an online article about next steps around this specific mobo led error indication.

There are no LEDs on the MOBO, another reason to toss it into the bin.
You are correct with the graphics card, but I do not have a spare one around. So I have to invest to buy one.
With the same amount of money I could get a new MOBO for the i7 (praying it is good) and start fresh.
I am reluctant to buy a new graphics card, since the one that was there was removed. So I suspect the problem of not booting properly is unrelated to the presence or not of a PCIe GC.

[Zucca]

I suspect that a PCIe GC will not solve the problem.

It could be a damaged DP/hdmi port.

Tested both, no joy.

[50ShadesOfDirt]

My guess is someone removed the graphics card to transfer to their next PC. These should be dirt cheap, and possibly *another* trip to the dump will net you a pci video card. More dump(ster)-diving?

But, if everything else checks out around the mobo, and you can replace it (sometimes dell does something proprietary w/ mobo or case design, and generic stuff just can't be squeezed in), then it is a good idea to replace the mobo. After about 30m or so w/ struggling to diagnose things with stuff on hand, I start replacing, especially if research doesn't yield good answers as to what's going on.

You've got the ram, the i7 might transfer over if right mobo is picked, and built-in video on most mobo's these days will get you up and running. The PC gods could be challenging you with this one, and sometimes you just have to see it through to the bitter end, to show them who is boss.

[neil555]

One thing to try is to totally wipe the CMOS (There should be a jumper for this, if not the pull the battery).  If the bios is set to always use an external graphics card this could stop the internal (intel HD530 in the CPU) from initializing.

[Zucca]

One thing to try is to totally wipe the CMOS (There should be a jumper for this, if not the pull the battery).

already done no joy.

[Zucca]

sometimes dell does something proprietary w/ mobo or case design, and generic stuff just can't be squeezed in

Yes that's the case, but I could do some metal job to open up the I/O panel. Yes call me crazy... 

Maybe I am overthinking, but it is my first CPU with integrated GC.  If the integrated GC is not working/not used do I gain any performance in the CPU that it is doing less job?

[MK14]

Have you tried with less than all 4 memory slots full, e.g. the CORRECT 2 sockets out of 4, or even 1, if it supports running from just 1?

As already mentioned, ideally reset the CMOS battery first.

Also, what is the exact CPU part number, did you check?

Some DON'T include the iGPU, to save a few dollars.

[2N2222A]

With a good power supply, board, and CPU, there should be a beep code for no RAM installed. I would start there. The manual should list the codes. It could be an LED now.

[Zucca]

Also, what is the exact CPU part number, did you check?

i7-6700

SR2L2 3.40GHZ

X639B344 e4

https://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SR/SR2L2.html

Does it means no iGPU in it?

[Zucca]

With a good power supply, board, and CPU, there should be a beep code for no RAM installed. I would start there. The manual should list the codes. It could be an LED now.

The (power) LED (that's the diagnostic designed it at DELL) without RAM tells RAM is missing. with the RAM tells everything okay but does no output video signal and turns off after 20sec.

No speaker in my system.

[MK14]

Also, what is the exact CPU part number, did you check?

i7-6700

SR2L2 3.40GHZ

X639B344 e4

https://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SR/SR2L2.html

Does it means no iGPU in it?

That sounds like the standard I7, which does have the iGPU.

The following link:
https://hexus.net/tech/news/cpu/89171-intel-intros-pair-skylake-cpus-without-integrated-graphics/

Lists some Skylakes, WITHOUT iGPUs, which seems to be designated by ending in the letter 'P'.  Later Intel CPUs, seem to use the ending letter of 'F', to mean no iGPU.

Anyway, one less reason, why you got no display from your computer.

[Zucca]

If the integrated GPU is not working/not used do I gain any performance in the CPU that it is doing less job?

That could be a reason to slap a graphic card in it...

[Zucca]

BTW thanks everybody to stay with me in this madness...

[Zucca]

Okay, somebody else was thinking like me.

H270 or B250 Mobo?

I was already looking at the B250 on Ebay.

Decision was made tonight: a new MOBO is the next step.

[MK14]

I'm worried the motherboard, may have gone faulty.  The one way, the motherboard could still be fine, is if the RAM you purchased and used to test the PC with, is the wrong type (incompatible) with that motherboard.

But if you have already tried it with 1 or 2 slots occupied, the others empty, assuming you filled the ram up, in the CORRECT way, when only using 2 slots out of the 4.  E.g. refer to motherboard/computer manual.  That probably should have worked, even with a non-recommended ram type.

Also, is the ram working?
(Brand new, rather than from a possibly dodgy supplier).

[Zucca]

RAM brand new from amazon, already returned unofficially....

This is the one I got, Corsaris LPX 3200Mhz 4x 16GB

Since I will toss that atrocity MOBO anyway... don't know if I will test a single RAM ... maybe in the next days if I am courious.... now I have to choose a used MOBO... from evil bay.

Ah I need the heatsink as well...

[MK14]

RAM brand new from amazon, already returned unofficially....

This is the one I got, Corsaris LPX 3200Mhz 4x 16GB

Since I will toss that atrocity MOBO anyway... don't know if I will test a single RAM ... maybe in the next days if I am courious.... now I have to choose a used MOBO... from evil bay.

That ram should be ok, from me googling round to check.

I worry about buying second hand motherboards from ebay.  Because of the risk that the seller, knows full well it has one or more faults, which is why they are selling it.  E.g. it intermittently reboots, for no good reason.
But they want to get the full/maximum selling price, so don't bother mentioning that fact.

But due to the age of that CPU, you have to buy from sources like ebay.

Please don't take offense.  But if the motherboard is faulty, you might end up building a technologically old computer, around that older generation CPU.

The later generation CPUs, are something like three times faster (double the core count, and faster single core execution).  E.g. AMD Ryzen 5700G, and have been reduced in price lately.
Also, its onboard iGPU, is fairly powerful 5700G, comparable to older real GPU graphics cards).

Why not just sell the extracted CPU on ebay and worry about a better PC, later.

I.e. Taking an older generation CPU, then buying lots of bits to go with it (RAM, Motherboard, power suppy, SSD?, etc), is perhaps a false economy.

Or even going with the latest CPUs.

In other words, the Skylake computer (for free), is a good deal.  But it might not be worth it, if you need to get RAM, Motherboard and perhaps other bits (does a DELL power supply, plug into a normal motherboard, these days?, in the past, they used different connectors, on purpose).

[Zucca]

MK14 I hear you, I am not offended at all! I am really enjoying this conversation.

https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/x11sae-m

The above caught my attention.... I always wanted to get a SuperMicro one...

It has all the upgrade possible I want and should be compatible with my sad dumped I7 6700.

Yes I am still thinking if recycling the mini tower case and old I7 6th gen makes still sense or not.

I need:

- Mobo $100 (this one is cheaper)
- Heatsink $40
- RAM 64GB used another $120
- used PSU (again Dell is junk) $40

<200 dollars... right were I want...

- SSD am M2 disks, I have them already..

[iJoseph2]

Also, what is the exact CPU part number, did you check?

i7-6700

SR2L2 3.40GHZ

X639B344 e4

https://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SR/SR2L2.html

Does it means no iGPU in it?

That sounds like the standard I7, which does have the iGPU.

The following link:
https://hexus.net/tech/news/cpu/89171-intel-intros-pair-skylake-cpus-without-integrated-graphics/

Lists some Skylakes, WITHOUT iGPUs, which seems to be designated by ending in the letter 'P'.  Later Intel CPUs, seem to use the ending letter of 'F', to mean no iGPU.

Anyway, one less reason, why you got no display from your computer.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/88196/intel-core-i76700-processor-8m-cache-up-to-4-00-ghz.html

Processor Graphics section about half way down

[iJoseph2]

Found something similar for XPS 8930 and 8910 ...

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-no-display-LED-lights-on/td-p/7288865

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8910-no-signal-to-monitor/td-p/8138374/page/2


And there's talk about BIOS recovery on 8930 (is there something similar on your 8910?) ...

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-white-LED-no-video-or-beeps/td-p/8077518

[Zucca]

Thanks for the links, but they do not help too much. They are slightly different problems/situations.

[iJoseph2]

No worries. Thought I'd post them just in case there was some something helpful in there.

[MK14]

MK14 I hear you, I am not offended at all! I am really enjoying this conversation.

https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/x11sae-m

The above caught my attention.... I always wanted to get a SuperMicro one...

It has all the upgrade possible I want and should be compatible with my sad dumped I7 6700.

Yes I am still thinking if recycling the mini tower case and old I7 6th gen makes still sense or not.

I need:

- Mobo $100 (this one is cheaper)
- Heatsink $40
- RAM 64GB used another $120
- used PSU (again Dell is junk) $40

<200 dollars... right were I want...

- SSD am M2 disks, I have them already..

I'm getting mixed messages, on the requirements/specifications and budget.

As I see it, the sensible options would be (I can't seem to get the NEW/modified text formatting to work, so I've improvised here):

=>  Use a free dumpster find PC (find one that works), and don't spend any money on it.

=>  Choose a sensible, very cheap, but powerful, reliable/durable ex-business PC, or well cared for home-PC, from ebay or somewhere.  With a specification, already just about bang on what you want/need.

=>  Make or buy a brand new PC, with cheap but modern components, such as bottom of range 6 core AMD processors (this or previous generations, zen 3 or 4).

=>  Raise the budget up, and make the PC you want/need, perhaps with 8 core CPUs (or the Intel 'funny' number of big/little confusing cores, performance and economy cores).

Just shoving a budget in the thread, such as $200, is too confusing.  Major compromises may have to take place, and I can't really make those decisions for you.

What worries me about the current situation, is that you need to go for something like one of the options I mentioned (or the numerous other options, there are probably an infinite number of them).  But then STICK TO IT.  This business of adding on all those bits and pieces, such as 'I hate that PSU, so getting a new one', I MUST get a new massive CPU fan, ... I MUST MAX OUT THE MEMORY and get 64 GB, etc.  Is budget wise, NOT sensible overall (in my opinion).

It would be better to just come up with a pile of money (budget), at the start (e.g. $600), then choose what you can get, in an overall sense. Based on that.  Which may get you the best, overall PC and value for money etc.

Analogy:
A rubbish/trash/garbage car costs perhaps $100.
A sensible car perhaps costs $6,000+ (opinions can vary).

You seem to be buying a 'bargain' $100 car, which was about to be scrapped, if no one bought it.
Then saying it must have a flashy $500 exhaust, flashy go faster wheels ($800), a paint job ($700), a cheap turbocharger fitted to the engine ($900), a new big battery ($300), new seat linings ($500), flashy bumpers ($850) ..... etc.

So you end up spending $10,000 on the $100 beater wreck of a car.  Instead of buying a sensible car, at the beginning for $6,000+.

If I understand things correctly, the Skylake CPUs, don't support Windows 11 (unless you want to significantly mess around, and jump through a few hoops).  Which for some people, is a major downer.

[Zucca]

So you end up spending $10,000 on the $100 beater wreck of a car.  Instead of buying a sensible car, at the beginning for $6,000+.

In general you are right, but it needs to analyze every single case at the end. Not all used wreck of cars are the same.

Anyway just to close the circle:
- tossed the DELL mobo, saved the coin cell battery.
- tossed the DELL PSU after saving out some components I could use (inductors mainly)
- tested the i7 6700 with another MOBO --> same shit no video output, CPU fan on but no video.

I have to assume the i7 6700 is bad as well, so I will toss it. The Dell mini tower case will be tossed as well, saving all the fans.

My father in law had two Lenovos thinkcenter mini tower he did not use, so I save you the details but I will move one with those two and call it the day.

I will return all the parts I bought in amazon prime, so no money was wasted in this rescue action, only some time.

Long story short, the guy who dumped it knew what he was doing.

[MK14]

So you end up spending $10,000 on the $100 beater wreck of a car.  Instead of buying a sensible car, at the beginning for $6,000+.

In general you are right, but it needs to analyze every single case at the end. Not all used wreck of cars are the same.

Anyway just to close the circle:
- tossed the DELL mobo, saved the coin cell battery.
- tossed the DELL PSU after saving out some components I could use (inductors mainly)
- tested the i7 6700 with another MOBO --> same shit no video output, CPU fan on but no video.

I have to assume the i7 6700 is bad as well, so I will toss it. The Dell mini tower case will be tossed as well, saving all the fans.

My father in law had two Lenovos thinkcenter mini tower he did not use, so I save you the details but I will move one with those two and call it the day.

I will return all the parts I bought in amazon prime, so no money was wasted in this rescue action, only some time.

Long story short, the guy who dumped it knew what he was doing.

Maybe the power supply (it should have had effective overload protection) blew the CPU and/or Motherboard, or the previous owner abused the system so much, they ended up breaking it.

As you say, used stuff, can get very complicated.  Especially when you don't know its history.

EDIT: On reflection, I was actually reading up recently on those i7-6700 (Skylake) and related Coffee lake (and Refresh) parts.  There are quite a few different chip set series, despite the similar CPU socket, they are often incompatible, both for slightly later, or slightly earlier parts.
I.e. You can easily need at least 3 motherboard types, to cope with the various CPU variants (Skylake, Coffee lake and the Coffee Lake refresh ones, on essentially the same socket), so care is needed.

Intel were way too keen to change motherboard/chipsets at the drop of a hat, and make them incompatible with each other.

So assuming you took that into account, I suppose it may well be a bust CPU.

N.B. I could have mis-understood the article(s) I read, so don't take what I just said as being definitive, best to independently check things.

I think you have put some time and effort into it.  So, if it still wasn't working, it makes sense to do exactly what you just said.  I.e. Call it quits.  You tried, at least.

[Zucca]

Happy ending... I sold that dumped i7 6700 for about 70USD in evilbay.

 

[Doctorandus_P]

Happy ending... I sold that dumped i7 6700 for about 70USD in evilbay.

 

Selling that crap is awfully close to fraudulent behavior.

And on top of wasting your own time you're now also wasting others people time.

[Zucca]

Maak je geen zorgen mijn vriend.

I cleary stated in the Ebay description what in my tests I got no video from that CPU. I did not force anybody to bid on my auction.
Yes wasting time is terrible, this is why I will not respond to any of your future posts.

[Doctorandus_P]

I am clearly not your friend.

And I'll assume there is as much truth in the other things you write.

[2N2222A]

Or not anyone's friend really. If you attack someone who recycled a computer and sold the parts to someone who needs them.