Dead CPU?

[DMGTemplar]

Hi Folks. Long time lurker, first time poster etc...

I'm having a strange problem with 2 PC's.

First of all, I recently managed to fry my motherboard (ASUS A7V266-E) because of my PSU. It fried all the connectors on the mobo. It lead to me buying a new PSU, but the mobo was replaced under warranty (luckilly!).

Anyway, the mobo came back on last week (a replacement board), so I installed the CPU (Athlon XP 1800+), RAM & video card (ASUS FX5600 variety). The PC switches on, the fans all start up etc, but there's no display. There's no beeps or anything. Even removing the RAM & video card results in the same thing. So I put it down to the CPU being fried as I've tested the RAM & video card in my work P4 system...

Put that system on hold for a minute as I describe the 2nd system...

I was given a PC to fix from one of my mothers friends (Athlon XP 1900+ system). It was making a beeping sound when it was switched on. Being a Gigabyte GA-7DX board, it has an Award BIOS, so I looked up the beep codes. Unfortunately it doesn't exist! So I removed the RAM & Video card etc, only to get the same beep.

Eventually I put it aside for a few days in frustration.

On the weekend, I had another look at the 2nd system again. This time, there's no beeps. The system just powers up, but doesn't POST or beep...exactly the same problem as with my own PC. Now it's getting very strange...

I've tried 3 different video cards, 2 different monitors & even swapped CPU's. But still nothing. Bare power & that's it.

Is it Murphy's Law that both systems have dead CPU's? Or is it something obviously stupid that I'm missing? Yes...the monitor was plugged in & switched on!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,
Jimbo.

 

[SidVicious]

1) Fried motherboard caused by a bad PSU
- Both the motherboard and PSU get replaced

2) 1st and 2nd systems refuse to boot
- Check for a common cause like a bad power outlet or defective powerbar.

You may also want to get all of your hardware out of the case and re-build it on a table, it is possible that the motherboard is somehow making a bad contact with the case.

Fok Speling Misstake

 

[DMGTemplar]

Thanks for the help, SidVicious.

OK...here goes:

1) Both the mobo & PSU were replaced.

2) It's not the power as I've tried it a 2 different houses in 2 different cities.

Yesterday, somebody else also said to remove everything from the case. I'm getting a new CPU this afternoon, so I'll rip everything out & try it with the new CPU. If it doesn't work, then I put it down to another faulty mobo. Won't be happy about having to wait for another 5 weeks for a replacement...

Fingers crossed!

Cheers,
Jim.

 

[endyen]

Have you tried the new psu in your work system? If it's good, try it in system 2.

 

[DMGTemplar]

Nope. I should try it. That way I'd know for sure if the PSU is OK.

 

[endyen]

There seems to be a lot of inexpensive psus crapping out now.

 

[DMGTemplar]

I bought a new CPU yesterday (any excuse for an upgrade!). Just to be safe, I removed the mobo & PSU from the case. I installed the new CPU & it still didn't go. Not happy...

I then went through the book & tripple checked all the jumpers & they were ok. Except for one thing… There’s a jumper to clear the RTC RAM. To clear it (according to the book), you remove the battery, short the jumper by removing and replacing the jumper cap, reinstall the battery & then power up & go into the BIOS.

One problem…there was no jumper cap. Hmmm… So I removed the battery, took a spare jumper cap & put it on the pins to short it, then removed the cap, replaced the battery etc. It now goes! Woohoo!

So it wasn’t the CPU after all. Very strange… And I received the mobo directly from ASUS like that. I'll try the other 2 CPUs on the weekend to see how they go.

Thanks for your help guys. I appreciate it.

Cheers,
Jim.

 

[Mr_Nuke]

I never liked ASUS mobos a lot. Some even had capacitors that would crack or explode when powered on, but I never heard of a mising cap. I can admit that the faulty capacitors are entirely ASUS' fault, but missing caps ,not accepted. Guess ASUS isn't focusing on quality anymore. If you plan on OCing I suggest a MSI mobo and you won't be dissapointed.

 

[Zoron]

Believe me, the problem wasn't limited to Asus boards... in fact I have yet to see any Asus boards with faulty capacitors. I have seen a few ECS boards with that problem, though.

However, I don't think he was referring to capacitors, but rather jumper blocks. You know... the little piece of plastic with metal inside to short out jumper pins? I'm pretty sure that's what he meant by jumper 'caps', not electrolytic capacitors.

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