XPS 8300, starts for a few seconds then shuts for a few seconds

that 8300 is not new at all it is 10 years old. (the coin cell needs to be new , not removed, but replaced at 7 year mark if wise) or below 2.9vdc on any meter used (volts)

sorry but old PCs do fail, Lots, in fact all PCs do and all brands do , just like all old cars do and any brand.

first off we need more symptoms.  ( and yes there are many power problems possible "CAUSES")

does it run with all USB device unplugged (ALL) {after all , all things can short out}

no monitor stated, so no idea at all what is there, nor how connected if said PC has PCI-express Video GPU card present? and must be use if present, is it? DOES THE Monitor work on 2nd good PC>?

the first thing for me is sounds, do the fans spin, any? (some must) the CPU fan must spin, felt heard or seen.?

the power button has LED lamp is it dead, white, orange or flashing (front of PC not rear)?

does the screen even put up any thing at all.?  a working screen (monitor) all warn you that the inputs are dead.

GOT BIOS screens working first the F2 Key is that, power on hammer f12, BIOS bingo.

(no signal, no sync, no connections, or out of range, all do, does yours"?) this means the PC video lines are dead if it does, no signal..'

is the video cable plugged in right.? to the correct jack,  (PCI GPU if there, or to main chassis video jack.

got beep codes?

got LED error codes?

we can test the PSU on a bench ( a bench test, basic or even full load tests in pro shop)

we can strip the PC down

is the monitor at #1 Hdmi or #2 at VGA,or  at the PCI GPU slot ports (endless cards exit, vast)

see sold this pc with optional GPU cards, quoting your manual.(dell options only , vast exists 3rd party)

NVIDIA GT 420/ GTX 460AMD HD 5450/ HD 5670/HD 5770/ HD 5870

if all else fails do the strip down test, this finds parts shorted

see the 14 steps here, I bet you missed some , no?

step 1 is first.  the long power reset test.  do that on all PCs that fail ,all makers and brands.

billions of transistors inside if the wrong one shorts or CAPS do, PC goes dead.

Thanks for your reply. This happened less than 1 year of use. It's been sitting collecting dust ever since. It was manufactured in July of 2011. It worked fine and then all of a sudden this not powering up issue started happening. I did nothing to the computer. Right now I have nothing in the USB slots, no monitor hooked up. There is a solid amber light on the motherboard and on the power button when it's starting up for 3 seconds at a time. There is a green light on the back of the power supply. Both fans turn on and off as the computer starts and shuts down over and over. I get no beeps. The original PCI video card is installed. I removed it and put it back in but no change. Same with the RAM. I tried the power reset. Cleared the CMOS. No change. Everything is original to when I bought it. I did a Google search and someone else with a Dell computer had the exact same issue but that link no longer works. I have no idea if that person found out what caused the issue.

You have probably singled out and ticked off most of the problems. There may be one thing you may have not tried. That is, have you checked the ceiling limit of the CPU temperature that the BIOS allows before shutting off the PC? If tinkering has been done with the BIOS then you'd have to resolve it.

I do not know how to check the ceiling limit of the CPU temperature. I did not change anything in the BIOS. My computer just decided to go on strike and frustrate me for no good reason. Should I try resetting the BIOS via the jumpers? I have a Dell Dimension 3000 that hasn't been used for years. I'm wondering if I can put the hard drive of the XPS 8300 in that computer so I can see what is on the hard drive. Would that work?

It's not going to boot without a monitor attached. And if you have an add-in video card, the onboard video ports are disabled so the monitor has to be connected to the add-in video card.

Are you saying the power button on front of PC comes on and then goes off? That could mean an ailing power supply. The green LED on back just means there's power to the PC, not that the power supply is actually working

After you removed the battery, did you press/hold the power button for ~30 sec?  And did you install a fresh battery after pressing/holding the power button?  And is it installed right-side-up?

You can't put the HDD from the XPS 8300 in the D3000. There's only one drive bay for a HDD in the D3000. The XPS 8300 uses a SATA HDD, but the D3000 only supports IDE HDDs. And even if you could, put it in the D3000, it's not going to boot from the XPS 8300 HDD.

Your only hope would be to put the XPS 8300 HDD into a PC that supports SATA HDDs, but as a secondary drive, not as boot drive. Or install that drive in an external enclosure that supports SATA HDDs and allows you to connect it to any PC via USB.

I just attached a working Dell monitor to the computer but that made no difference. I changed the battery but that did nothing either. The light on the power button turns on, amber colour, then turns off and on and off and on... Could a bad hard drive cause this power up issue to happen or do you think it's the power supply? Is changing the power supply difficult to do? I don't want to waste money buying parts that are not needed.

Disconnect the hard drive from the power supply. Do the "battery thing" to reset BIOS and then see if it boots up, at least as far as an error "no system drive detected".

If you get that far, connect a bootable USB stick to the PC and then reboot. If it boots from the stick, then the problem may be with the HDD. If not, the problem might be with the power supply.

And in that case, try doing the power supply paperclip test.

I already tried disconnecting the hard drive, USB ports, CD/DVD drive but that made no difference. I'm thinking either the motherboard or CPU are screwed. I was wondering if I should buy the same model of motherboard off of eBay and give that a shot. What a huge pain in the ass. I noticed all the components are made in China. Give me strength.

Do the PSU paperclip test...

Was a monitor connected to a port on the add-in video card port (assuming you have an add-in card) or to one of the onboard video ports when you tried all those things? Like I said, it probably won't boot if no monitor is connected. And if you have an add-in video card, did you physically remove it, clear BIOS and then connect the monitor to an onboard video port?

Only you can decide whether it's worth putting any more time/money into this old system or better spent on a new one. You get what you pay for on fleaBay, so who knows if a replacement motherboard will solve the problem - or not, assuming the replacement board actually works (and for how long?). And if it doesn't solve the problem, are you then going to buy a new CPU?

If your files aren't backed up externally, you could always put this HDD into a new PC as a secondary drive to recover your files. And then use this drive for extra storage in the new system.

As for parts being made in China, virtually all high tech gear is made in China so that doesn't tell you anything...

My computer has a separate video card that I did remove and put back in. The motherboard does not have an onboard video port. I took out the CPU and the same power on and off cycle keeps happening. Why wouldn't the computer boot up without a monitor connected? It could be the motherboard or power source. If I purchased both of them used it's over $100 easy. I'd rather not waste money. I'm tempted to remove the hard drive from my XPS 8300 and throw the tower off the roof. I dusted off my Dell Dimension 3000 after many years and it still slowly works. I forgot that I pretty much filled up the hard drive. Could I take out the hard drive in my very expensive door stop, the XPS 8300, and hook it up to my Dimension 3000 so I can use it as a secondary drive to see what files I have on it? I was also wondering if the Dell Dimension 3000 can run Windows 10 and if a SSD can replace the HDD that's in it.

"Could I take out the hard drive in my very expensive door stop, the XPS 8300, and hook it up to my Dimension 3000 so I can use it as a secondary drive to see what files I have on it?" I think @RoHe wrote earlier that the XPS 8300 uses SATA hard drives and that the Dimension 3000 uses IDE hard drives, so no it will not work. One option if you want to use the XPS 8300 hard drive is with a SATA to USB adapter. SSDs are also SATA so you will have the same issue as with the XPS 8300 hard drive.

bill NO,  that old 3000  uses ide PATA drives only ! relics, forget that  3000, it is useless here.ok.

the PC will not stay on,

sure it can over  heat, if the CPU fans is dead, or fan and heat sink on CPU fall off, (see it many times on AMD)

but on a intel dell mobo there are 4 screws that hold the CPU down.

your BIOS is dead, F2 dead, right>?

if you were a tech and wordered if an old PC PCU  overheats fast,  we'd upgrade the TIM, heat sink grease (slange)

then 10  minutes later we know that was not it.  no shop on earth has no TIM grease at hand. ok>?

and spare good PSU, yeah all shops do. do you?

you do not want to pay to have your OLD PC fixed in a real shop so ask now to do it your self ,,fine.

but you need tools and kills.

learn this , when a PC does what you did, in a real show we strip the PC down to min,

to minimum configuration. i posted how to tdo that, read that yet.

1. remove power cord, from wall AC power,
2. push power button 3times to discharge all CAPS in the PC or until fan CPU ends twitching as pressed.
3. remove the GPU card from the x16 slot, in PC.
4. remove all USB devices,
5. remove all PCIe slot devices.
6. go to one stick of ram. (even try all sticks 1 by 1, for sure) power up then back down AC power cable off. last.
7. remove all SATA (your 3000 has none) POWER CABLES AND DATA, CABLES FROM THE DRIVES.
8. only the power button is connected to PC, and 4 pin power cable and 24pin PSU power cables.
9. the MOBO is now  near slick I call it, min, system. does the PC turn on now? and show BIOS F2 screens?
10. if not replace the TIM. (thermal interface compound (intels name for that )
11. the CPU fan must turn on, now  if not the PSU is NO GOOD or worse (learn that there can always be worse in the real world and a bad mobo is that worse.

see the 14 steps here.

this PC is old a new coin cell is first. did you.

a new hard drive never fixes any dead PC , dead as in DEAD BIOS, !! Learn what minimum system is first.

BIOS runs with no HDD present at all.  and yours does NOT. so forget HDD, that is last , fix the dead mobo first. first things first, or bad PSU. 

forget useless PATA drives, do not move jumpers on the mobo until you understand them

if set wrong the PC will be dead, ok>

the service guide covers the jumpers did you get it from dell and read that first./? 

to diagnose a PC dead, most lists are wrong. we strip the PC down first then if that fails out comes  new PSU.

we only know the power button works, and that is it, see?

ceiling limits

the intel CPU (and some GPU cards)

all shut down at 90C (centigrade) the CPU even slows down before (all by intel inside logic P4 to today)

all do, that, if the heat sink grease dried out (as many love to do this old) the grease is NOW ZERO

has zero thermal conductivity, and the CPU overheats in seconds flat, ALL DO THAT and BY DESIGN (intel)

all shops know this, everyone.

and on old PCs we fix that first, as no computer can run with a DEAD CPU.

I have the data sheet to prove all I said above, ask and can link it. 

Could a bad hard drive cause this power up issue to happen or do you think it's the power supply?

NO if you unplug a bad and shorted HDD the BIOS then start working, you need to focus on BIOS F2 first.

like laser beam and learn to stirp down a PC, first.  or you well get no where fast.

same goes from DVD drive, unplug it, and if BIOS goes  good, the DVD driver was shorted (is) shorts happen

the PC, all PCs made use electronic fuses (called VRM) that shut off at any short, ending that FIRE thing.

learn too that all things made by man like this can in fact short and any time, learn that please and first.

to find the short remove parts from the PC, like my list showed, that you ignored.

Is changing the power supply difficult to do?  if removing 4, (6-32) screws is hard  for you then IDK what to say.

nobody on earth knows you or your skills, why ask that and is covered in the service manual free from dell.

4 ATX screws, and lots of cables simply umplug. pulled.

even wild 10 year old gamer kids do this, zero fear, unplugged from wall. AC.

I don't want to waste money buying parts that are not needed.

why tell this,  there are lots of things to waste not just money.!

real time,. down time, your time, your labor, your gue$$ing wrong,  a real shop has spare PSU waiting to uses or goes broke fast,  buy you have no spare parts, leaving what,  a brick wall.

why did no not do the strip down test I told you to do and link of 14 steps.??/

Bill ,

vast PCs fail like this,  and is endless this topic, you only have 2 choices, learn to do the tests or let those that do know , test if for you. ALL PCs made end like this dead, or infected.

2 choices besides 9 years as  a door stop,  if you were my neighbor I'd show you step by step the tests, in the correct order too. order matters, for sure shorted parts in any PC made.

I told you the steps, but you did not read them why not?

first off , this is power failed PC not a simple POST failed or more simple BOOT FAILURE,

Goal #1 is getting F2 BIOS screens up, you can't so booting will never work until BIOS goes LIVE and GOOD.

OK?

the PC will not hold power, on, that is a power failure or CPU overheated.

the top fails are ,

1: HDD died, does not kill BIOS dead unless the HDD is shorted, so we remove the HDD cables.

 we run BIOS screens on the VGA port rear , not GPU card. ports remove the GPU card, the I5 has  VGA port

all do in fact, i5-i7 fitted new CPU day one.

2: the COIN cell fails next is yours new? 2.9v or more not less....!!! a $1 part,  I buy then 10 for $1 bulk.

3: shorted modules of any kind make the PSU go off line, (by design to keep that fire/ smoke thing at bay.

all PSU made shut off overloaded in 1 second or less that IS ATX SPEC,. BTW. and by laws.. (fire,etc)

4: PSU bad. (top reasons caps baked ry and shorted)

The reason you can not press is 2 fold, no spare parts and not doing the 14 step strip down test.

that is all I have to offer,  I could fix yours in minutes , less time than teaching anyone how.

Every thing in a PC is module and all can short at any time , for sure lightening hits.  or power surges on the AC line , yes ! even USB stick or any uSB device  can short out.

now you  know why we do the strip down test. to see if there is a SHORTED module  and NOT remove any CPU until I show you the intel page teaching now to NOT WRECK SOCKET PINS there. as most noobs do.

with no CPU the MOBO is 100% Dead, so taking it out proves othing and adds only huge risk.

no tools , no spare parts make the shop dead to...  yah there is that.

just like fixing a CAR, tools, skills and spare parts;. same story.