First - Fantastic forum. I have been using it all day to find the problem with my Beast.

My computer froze this morning, and after a hard restart I got nothing - fans went on, led lights went on - but nada.

I tried all of the things mentioned by the forum gurus...swapped video cards, monitors, RAM, HD...no good. I took the battery out of the mobo and reset the pins. Still nothing.

The last thing I tried was taking out the RAM and starting the computer to see if it beeped - no beep. I gather this is a CPU or mobo death.

Is that correct? Is there anything else I can try before I slap a few hundred down on a new system?

The whole system is only a little over a year old - I don't OC and I don't run heavy graphics. What could have made my Beast die?

As for specs...I have to guess since I can't get into the computer. I THINK it's an Asus mobo with an AMD Athelon (??? 3600? Maybe?)

Any other suggestions of what it might be? Also, if it is the mobo or the CPU, which should I try to replace first? And what could have happened? Why do motherboards and CPUs go bad? Their upbringing?

Thanks in advance...and thanks for all the help you guys provided to me earlier.

What were you doing when it froze?

Any problems prior to that?

What is the make and model of the computer? Or was it custom built?

...just surfing the net like normal...no previous problems like intermitten failures or freezes (my DVD burner died a few weeks ago, but that was my installation gaffe)...and it's custom built. I did have a professional attach the processor to the board - I didn't feel comfortable enough doing it myself.

Sad that I can't remember what parts I got. If you need them I can always dig for the manuals.

I just looked at the caps to see if they are "bulging" but they look ok. The tower came with a 425 watt power supply, but it was a bit of a cheap case. No ventilation. I had 2 extra fans in there (Texas is too hot for computers) but the CPU fan was always reeeeally noisy. I only notice it now because I now have another system hooked up to my moniter and it's so very quiet.

Are Athelons supposed to be noisy?

Thanks for the quick reply. If you think it might be worth it, should I try to put the mobo and CPU in another case with a different power supply?

I would suggest removing the CPU and note any burning (carbon) conditions.

Cleaning the old thermal compound and then reinstalling is one try.

Artic Silver and ArtiCleaner are seen here just for example:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm

Trying this CPU in another compatible socket motherboard would also be a good test of the CPU.

I know what you mean by " I did have a professional attach the processor to the board - I didn't feel comfortable enough doing it myself."

I have been there but soon realized it is as easy as installing RAM or any other hardware.

If you are comfortable working inside your case there is no problem. Do it yourself.

So I would try to clean and reinstall the CPU and if that doesn't work try it in another socket compatible computer.

A heat issue could have affected the CPU although most new boards have shut off safety levels.

A motherboard failing although not out of the question is highly unlikely.

Ahhh...yes, I saw a lot of "soot" around the CPU (and the RAM stick). I've been doing some renovations to the house so I thought it was normal computer gunk and dust- but it stayed on my fingers like soot or carbon would. (But when I lifted the CPU it was clean where the pins are.) What exactly does that mean?

And since the heat has been so bad this Summer, I had set the CMOS to shut off after 70 deg C. It would get as hot as 60 deg C sometimes....

I thought about resinking the CPU, but there is compound on it already and I'm afraid I'll break it if I try to pry it apart. Maybe I'll try it on an older one that I have - a tester - and see if I break anything. It's one thing to break a $30 ethernet card - it's another to screw up a $150 CPU.

Oh...something else, though...I noted that others with the same problem don't have lights on their keyboard or mouse - but I do. So maybe I should go the CPU route first? Does AMD have a tendancy to burn out?

I'll do some research tomorrow to see if any of the boards I have laying around are compatible. (I collect other people's computers when they say they are going to throw them out...I scavenge for parts and rebuild to give to people I know who don't have a computer...I'll see if I have a mobo that can handle an Athelon blah blah blah )

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll post to tell you how it goes.

PS - AMD fans are supposed to be loud, right?

If the CPU is working and you try to boot with no RAM you should hear beeps.

Assuming that your on-board or case speaker is working. Did you used to hear at least one beep after the BIOS POST?

The carbon residue is very suspect but not necessarily fatal.

Try cleaning the CPU with a specific cleaner (such as ArtiClean) as well as the RAM slots and pins with alcohol.

I've never used AMD processors but the fan noise is in relation to the CPU temperature as the motherboard adjusts the fan speed.

I've moved completely to liquid cooling but that is another topic.

This helps a bunch. No beeps at all..even when I tried to insert a non-systems disk during start-up...and I KNOW it used to beep at me for that.

I just can't believe my cheaper mobo isn't the problem...that it's probably the AMD that I swear by - USED to swear by.

I've been looking into liquid cooling, but I'm slow to convince - all that water next to the machine...*shudder*

Thanks for all of your help on this. I'll see if switching the CPU fixes the problem and post the results.

Now I'm going to go take out my frustrations on some more penguins in the arcade.

Sorry that I haven't posted the results of this yet...I had to deal with a few "non-computer" things (ie "real life.")

I found a motherboard that works, but I'm concerned about compatibility. I don't want to blow anything else due my lack of knowledge.

The mobo I'm having trouble with is actually a cheap POC (piece of crap) ECS 755-A2 and my CPU is an AMD Athlon 64 3200.

Is it possible to test the Athlon 64 on a VIA chipset mobo? The nearest I can make out is that it's a VIA VT82C598MVP (an Acer?). It used to run an old AMD K6-2.

Would the CPU be in danger if I tried to run it on that board? I don't care about the VIA board...I just want to see if I really do have to buy a whole new combo or if I can get away with just buying a new (and better) motherboard.

Thanks!

Brrrrrrreak out the champahnya! The Beast is alive! It's alive!!!

I didn't get very far, but I have a signal and the barebones works. w00t! I have several theories as to what the problem was.

Far any future Google searchers, here were my symptoms:

No signal to the monitor, fans went on, LED went on, but the keyboard never lit up...the mouse didn't light up, either. There were no beeps when I tried a non-systems disk on start-up, nor were there any when I took out the memory.

I decided to try a motherboard first since it is easier to return to Fry's than a new CPU with gunk on it. I took my mobo CPU with me. The staff took one look at my CPU fan and reemed me for all the gunk that had collected in there.

I cleaned out the fan with air spray, stuck it on the new mobo, and VIOLA! Liftoff!

My theory is that it was either the motherboard, the fact that too much dirt was in the CPU fan (I will clean it regularly from now on) or the thermal paste. After slopping too much thermal paste on the CPU I did a little research. Apparently the paste degrades after a while, and people have reported that resetting the thermal paste gives them mush cooler temperatures. I had my computer set to shut off at a certain temperature, so maybe it was so hot on the initial POST that it never cut on.

That's my theory. Could have been any of those three.

I'm not happy with the mobo I had to get (the store didn't have many choices because of the new systems coming out) but it's better than the one I had.

Jephree, thank you for all of your help. There is a lot of great information in this forum, and I wouldn't have been able to fix The Beast without your (and the forum's) knowledge and immediate responses.

I'm not home-free yet, but seeing The Beast come on made things seem much brighter.

Cheers!