Computer died overnight

[kungfuconure]

Here is the story:
I was messing around with the CPU fan, I put the power for it on a potentiometer because it was noisy and I couldn't sleep at night. To make sure it didn't mess up and my computer didn't fry, I installed Motherboard Monitor and Shutdown Now. I tested it out a few times, then went to sleep. I woke up the next morning and everything was fine. I went to school, came home, played games, and everything was normal. I left it on again that night, with Motherboard Monitor and all up. On the second morning I woke up and it was frozen on the desktop. I hit the reset switch, and nothing came up on the monitor, not the bios stuff. I checked the fans, they were all running, I felt the heatsink, it wasn't hot. I was forced to go to school, but I was pretty pissed off and scared, this hasn't happened to me before. I've tried a lot of stuff to fix this.
I think the components I have in my computer would be useful at this point:
Asus A7A266 Motherboard
AMD XP 1900+ CPU
SoundBlaster Audigy Gamer Soundcard
GeForce 4 Ti4600 Videocard
CNet Networking Card
Linksys Networking Card(to connect to my network)
56k Modem(don't really need, I'm on cable)
Western Digital 80GB Hard Drive
52x CD-Rom Drive
8x DVD Drive
250mb Zip Drive
Samsung SyncMaster 753DF Monitor

Spare Parts Available:
3D Prophet II GTS AGP Video Card
TNT2 32meg PCI Video Card
Samsung SyncMaster 753DF Monitor(using on old HP computer)



I took out my GeForce 4 Ti4600, and put in my old 3D Prophet II GTS, still a blank sceen. I took out the 3D Prophet II and put in a TNT 2 32Meg PCI card, still nothing, but at least I know the problem isn't the AGP slot. I put my GeForce 4 back in. I cut out the potentiometer, I figured maybe that was shorting against the case. The green LED on the motherboard is lit, so I know it is getting power. I'm not sure whats wrong but I'd like to get this fixed as quickly as possible, because I just bought Unreal Tournament 2003 and I'm dieing to play it.

 

[kungfuconure]

Come on, I know some people have viewed my post. PLEASE, if you have ANY ideas as to what could be wrong, reply. Help me save my weekend...

 

[Black_Cat]

Try resetting the CMOS. If that doesn't get it to POST, you might want to try a different power supply. It could just be a dead board. It happens.

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.

 

[kungfuconure]

How do I reset CMOS? I turned off the PSU and unplugged it. I opened up the cover and I took out the CMOS battery, and shorted the solderpoints below it with my screwdriver tip. After I put the computer back together and turned it on, I got nothing...

 

[Black_Cat]

It doesn't beep does it? If not I think it's time to write a eulogy for that board.

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.

 

[DrJeckyl]

If u can convince a friend to bring their system over, u could test each component out one by one. I would start with the PSU, then CPU, then test ram, then test expansion boards.
You might have to do some serious convincing though.....(could end up with 2 dead systems)
After u shorted the board, did u flash the bios again? And yes, I'm going to have to agree with Black Cat, it's sounding like the board is fried.

Good luck!

 

[kungfuconure]

Damn. Thanks for trying to help. Would anything in the bios show up if there was no processor in a working computer? No it doesn't beep when I boot it. I can't flash the bios because there is NOTHING on the screen. Reseting CMOS didn't work. It's about 7AM now. I'll go sleep for 5 hours and wake up at 12. I'll check the forums to see if there are any more suggestions and I'll try them. Then I'll go to the computer store near me and buy a new PSU because I wanted a better one anyway, a new CPU(XP 2200+ I guess), and a new motherboard(A7V8X probably).

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by kungfuconure on 10/13/02 07:01 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[tombance]

Dont go out and spend $500 just yet. Try doing what the person above said, try just one component at a time and that way you wont end up replacing some very expensive but still working items. Try swaapping out the ra and then CPU one at a time. If this doesnt work try taking out all of your expansion cards except graphics. If you have the new PSU, try it. If none of this works it looks like your board might be dead.

My sig's faster than yours, and it overclocks better too....

 

[jihiggs]

im not sure why every one is saying its the board. its more likely that its the cpu. try another cpu

how do you shoot the devil in the back? what happens if you miss? -verbal

 

[DrJeckyl]

You can still try and flash the bios from a floppy if you've made a startup disk with a version of the bios on it. You don't have to do it from cmos. Do you see it try and boot from the floppy drive first? (does floppy drive LED light up?)
Once again, I would rule out all the variables by testing out each component.

 

[Black_Cat]

Explain exactly what happens when you go to turn it on. Do the fans work? Does the little light on the board come on? Give us an exact description of what's happening.

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.

 

[rabbitskunk]

Did you do a visual examination of the cpu. Are there any shadow areas visible on the chip. My best guess is when you fooled around with the cpu fan something happened and caused your processor to fry. It only takes a second to burn up one of these xp,s. I have the A7a66 and it has been a good board for me.

 

[kungfuconure]

I got took the heatsink off a few weeks ago and found black marks on the top of the CPU, bottom of the CPU, and on the heatsink. I also found that the heatsink wasn't sitting flat on top of the CPU. It was leaning against a capacitor so about half of the CPU core wasn't touched by the heatsink. The slower fan speed in combination with this is probably what killed it.

 

[Dreadnaught]

wow, were you the one that put the fan on? you replace the cpu and it work now? build a new one instead? learn your lesson? heh