I have a Dell T3500 Workstation. It has been very reliable and haven't had any problems with it since I bought it in 2011 until recently. I currently have 2 Nvidia Quad Cards with 6 monitors attached. 4 Monitors attached to 1 Quad Card and 2 Monitors attached to the other card. The problem started when I turned on the PC and got this message - Alert ! Error Initializing PCI Express Slot 2, Strike the F1 Key to continue, F2 Run Set Up Utility, Press F5 to Run onboard Diagnostics. At first when I hit the F1 key the PC rebooted and both cards worked with all 6 monitors working. But after a few weeks of doing this only one card is working with the 4 monitors. I contacted Nvidia and they told me its a problem with the motherboard. I contacted Dell but didnt get a reply properly because its out of warranty and 9 years old. I have since changed the cards because i had a few spare and the problem is still persisting. Anyone else have similar problem.
Electronic parts don't last forever. 5 of my network machines were T3500s like yours... 2008 vintage. And while I expect workstations to run for 10 years (which is why it's a good idea to buy them off-lease at 3 years and save 75-90% of the original cost).... our T3500s are now 12 years old. Can't count on longer life than that. At the "end" for mine, I'd had a RAM slot go bad on one and "couldn't identify" mobo problem on another. A mobo replacement by Dell technician would cost too much. You could buy a mobo on eBay and swap it yourself, or you could buy another used T3500 on eBay. I bought one once just for backup... paid $75, included shipping. Of course there is no assurance any used part you buy on eBay will work perfectly. I replaced all my T3500s with T5810s to run W10.... bought used on eBay, of course.
Card slot or card is dead/dying. Switch cards around and see. I just got an old T5810, myself. They use server boards on real workstations. Auto-config is not robust. Try setting the bios manually. While your in there, replace the bios battery. It has to be due for a change.
Yes. Often overlooked. Sometimes you get intermittent, squirrely problems which are hard to pin down.... not uncommon for those issues due simply to low mobo battery.
Xandman mentioned "mobo battery"... suggest you try testing/replacing that first before doing anything else If your PCIE slot is really bad, shouldn't run at all, not "run for weeks, then fail"... that's something a weak battery might cause.
I will change the battery and see if that solves the problem. Before I bought the T3500 I had another Dell machine that I changed after 10 years. I think if you can get 10 years from a machine you have done well. If the battery doesnt fix the problem, could I buy a motherboard from Dell for a machine that old and how much would it roughly be.
Here is the EBay link for that: https://www.ebay.com/b/Dell-T3500-Motherboard/1244/bn_7023375401 If the CMOS battery does not correct the issue, I strongly suggest getting another used workstation like the model Scat suggested. It's just a matter of time before another component reaches the end of it's life, like a PSU. Plenty of resellers out there that take these off lease workstations and recertify them.
You're obviously not a person who gets hyped by the newer PC specs. And, everybody here also seem to agree on the T5810. Research the CPU which will affect the price most. Recommended for gaming: ( one of the most demanding real world applications) Notice the clock speeds. Pricing on these chips is as efficient as the stock market. V3 Procs: Up to 1 x QC Xeon E5-1620 V3 3.5Ghz 10MB Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR20P) Up to 1 x QC Xeon E5-2637 V3 3.5Ghz 15MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR202) Up to 1 x 6C Xeon E5-1650 V3 3.5Ghz 15MB Processor | 3.8Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR20J) Up to 1 x 6C Xeon E5-2643 V3 3.4Ghz 20MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR204) Up to 1 x 8C Xeon E5-2667 V3 3.2Ghz 20MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR203) Up to 1 x 10C Xeon E5-2687W V3 3.1Ghz 25MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.5 Max Turbo Frequency (SR1Y6) V4 Procs: Up to 1 x QC Xeon E5-2637 V4 3.5Ghz 15MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2P3) Up to 1 x 6C Xeon E5-2643 V4 3.40Ghz 20MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.7Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2P4) Up to 1 x 8C Xeon E5-2667 V4 3.2Ghz 25MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.6Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2P5) Up to 1 x 8C Xeon E5-1660 V4 3.20Ghz 20MB Processor | 3.8Ghz Max Turbo Frequency (SR2PK) Up to 1 x 12C Xeon E5-2687W V4 3.0Ghz 30MB 9.6GTs Processor | 3.5 Max Turbo Frequency (SR2NA)
The risk with this approach is that the replacement mobo is also about 10 years old. Just like the mobo that you're now replacing. And thus is it questionable how much life is still remaining in it.