Need help! Motherboard not staying booted!!

[Deemo13]

Hey community,

So I'm having an issue with my motherboard. I'm using I'm an old school A8MZN-LA with an Athlon 4600+. I know it's old, but it's not my main rig.

I believe the issue lies in the board or the RAM. It happened when I was replacing a rear case fan. I may have touched a part of the motherboard and shocked it (I was wearing a strap, but you never know). It would stay on, and then turn off after maybe 5 seconds or so.

So after this, I started taking part by part off and testing to isolate the problem. Right now, the board is no longer in the case and I've even tried 2 known working power supplies.

I've isolated the problem to either the RAM or the board. I'm pretty confident its the board, but I would like to keep the board around if it works. When the RAM is in, either stick, the board shuts off after five or so seconds. With the RAM out, the board stays on with a long series of beeps. The problem is that I have no way to test the RAM, since its the only DDR2 I have lying around.

Any help is fantastic. Thanks.
Gunner

 

[Deemo13]

Also, if the old dog has seen the end of its days, I have a H61 motherboard lying around with no use, and if a cheap processor could be recommended that would be absolutely fantastic. Don't want to spend very much on this

 

[aicom]

If you don't want to spend much, this Sandy Bridge dual-core Celeron would be a huge performance increase and only $50.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116409

 

[Deemo13]

If you don't want to spend much, this Sandy Bridge dual-core Celeron would be a huge performance increase and only $50.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116409

I did see that at Frys earlier today for the same price. It seemed like a great deal. It was the G530 I believe. I'm assuming its up to the task for some mid-range gaming, such as LoL, Civ IV, and some LAN games among some others. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[JKatwyopc]

Your minimum upgrade will also require adding DDR3 Ram to your list. You'll need at least 2x2GB for a total of 4GB. Also, what OS are you running?

 

[Deemo13]

I'm running a Vista 32bit, and my friend has a stick of 4gb DDR3 I can use. I have an 8800GTX I was using that I plan to put in there.