Computer Hangs at Motherboard Splash Screen

Hello,

I have the same issue where my HP Elite desktop hangs at motherboard splash screen. Basically, the PC would not go past that initial splash screen. The hard drive stops too. When I try to press F10 for BIOS setup, it will say it is initializing the setup and just stay like that forever.

The technicians checked all hardware save motherboard and CPU. All was OK. At home, I did reset the CMOS but that did not alter anything. I did remove all RAM and the motherboard sounded the warning beeps at restart. That was based on a previous advise in this thread, in order to see if motherboard responds. When I put the RAM back in, I go back to my initial issue - PC hangs at motherboard splash screen. Does that mean it's the CPU?

I tried that too - switched to the onboard video - since the ATI Nvidia that came with the PC is bad. Makes crazy noise. But that is not the problem. Seems to be either MB or CPU. Trying to figure which one of the two to replace. MB cost about $120 on ebay. CPU is over $250...