Hi,

Yesterday I received my new CPU cooler (Thermaltake P4/K7/K8 Silent Tower Heatpipe CPU Cooler) and graphics card cooler (Zalman Quiet Copper VGA Cooler) from dabs.com . I immediately got to installing them, which required removal of the motherboard from inside the computer - and believe it or not this was my first time attempting such a feat. Having followed the instructions, I had minimal problems installing these if you consider what I was to go through following this installation. I put everything back the way I thought it went, screwed the side panels of the cases back on and with crossed fingers powered up my system. No power LED, no beep, and no picture on the monitor. Shucks I thought.
I'll admit, I had messed up some of the connections, which I promptly put right. Great, so now I had a power LED, a 'busy' light LED and a working reset switch, but still no beep, and still nothing on the monitor. Fans were spinning, the lights were on but the hard drive was fast asleep.
I've been trying to sort it since, and to cut too long a story short, I'm worried that I may have damaged the motherboard/CPU. I have looked at some topics within this wonderful forum and made a lot of attempts to fix the problem.

Some points to take into account: I used a hoover to remove dust and the nozzle was really close to the CPU (I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS DANGEROUS BEFORE ). Also, I think I put too much 'goop' onto the CPU (the white stuff that goes between the processor chip and the base of the cooler) and some of it was squeezed out onto the metal components around the central CPU block as I placed the cooler - I removed this and used degreaser to try and clean it up properly once I was informed that this was dangerous.
Some observations I have made: Motherboard: It does not smell of smoke and no transistors have domed, and also when I keep my cable modem plugged into its corresponding socket on the motherboard and leave the flick the switch on the power supply from off to on, the power indicator on the modem lights up, indicating hopefully that the motherboard is fine(??). Also, my computer will only 'work' (to a point) if it is on its side - whereas if it is standing upright OR I am pulling (upwards) on the CPU cooler (relieving pressure on the CPU) and switch the computer on - the currently active 'system' runs for about a second (fans, power LED, 'busy' LED, hard disk) and after that second all that remains is the power LED. Even though nothing else is running - fans off, hard disk off, everything dead, the power LED remains and the only way to get rid of it is by holding the power button for about 5 seconds or flicking the PSU switch to off.

I do not know if these 4 points are relevant, I'll state anything in order to help you help me with my problem

The lack of a beep is what concerns me though and the cause of it is probably the root of my problem(?). I did remove this 'chassis speaker', mine being a single 4-ping unit with two quite stiff wires, one black, one red with a round black head, flat at the top with a small hole and what looks to be a metal plate inside (first time I have seen such a thing). I have tried putting it back in both ways round (red end on the left, then on the right). A friend advised me that the red wire (live) is to be on the left, (connected to the +5V pin on the motherboard) and this is how it is installed at this point. It just will not work though.
Currently connected to the motherboard are: processor + cooler (fan connected to motherboard), graphics card + cooler (fan connected to PSU), hard disk (320GB SATAII), power LED, power button, 'busy' light, chassis speaker and the cable from power supply. Removed are the network card, sound card, data cables from floppy/CD/DVD drives and pin connections to USB slots at the front of the case. Even with this setup the computer will not start and there is no beep.
There is no noise from the hard disk to indicate that it is loading/booting so I do not think that it is a case of a faulty chassis speaker or display connection.

I would like to be able to avoid purchasing a new motherboard and/or CPU and if I am not forced to then I will happily continue to use my current ones. If, from the information I have given, it is clear that it IS in fact an issue with one of these hardware pieces then I will have no choice BUT to buy new.

Also, at this time, it is late, I am tired and I am writing too much - if anyone needs any more info. I will be happy to provide it tomorrow morning

T

System specs:
Microsoft Windows XP SP2 OS,
AMD xp3200 (2.2Ghz) CPU,
1024MB + 512MB PC3200 (400MHz) DDR RAM,
320GB Seagate Barracuda HDD (SATA 2),
Hiper HPU-4M580 Type R 580W ATX2.2 PSU,
NVidia XFX GeForce 6600GT, 256MB AGP,
ASUS ASRock K7VT6 Motherboard,
5.1 sound card,
16X DVD-RW / 24X CD-RW Drive,
52X32X52 CD-RW Drive,
Floppy Drive

Hello? This isn't low priority, if you don't know what the problem is then please say so that I can move on and try to sort this out another way.

Just relax fella....there is only so much these guys can do at once...they will answer your questions as soon as they are sure of the answers. they dont want to mis-inform you and make things worse. they do what they do, and they do a brilliant job, its all about patience.

Point taken, can't wait

by the sound of it you've fried the motherboard with ESD

did you take precautions with ESD

the Hoover I should imagine gave a bit of ESD

no beeps doesn't sound to good

guide to ESD http://www.d-a-l.com/articles/library/72.html

we're all volunteers on here so sometime posts do get missed

Thanks. I'd read that very article AFTER I caused damage to my computer, and BEFORE I posted on the forum. So no, I didn't take precautions because I didn't know about the potential problems it could cause Is it definitely my motherboard? Is there any way to determine that? Could the lack of a beep be due to the CPU being broken at all? (Because if not it must therefore be the motherboard)

I will probably be buying both a new CPU and motherboard, most likely in a single package, are there any good makes and models anyone could suggest? And any quick tips on how to avoid damaging my new kit once I do get them, because that will be my second time dealing with motherboard installation, and, as you very well know, my first didn't go so well. I actually didn't even touch the CPU (apart from hoovering it lol) so it will be my first CPU installation. Can't be too hard can it??

Thanks again all the help is much appreciated Sorry for being impatient before!

I will definitely recommend this forum to my friends.

hi...me again....where in the world are you posting from...u in the uk?? when my mobo bust i went www.aria.co.uk and bought the asrock p4i65g mobo...only £26 quid before vat and delivery...woked out at about £35 altogether...really impressed with it...i burnt out my new mobo when i inserted the ddr ram in the wrong way(dont ask)....i sent it back and they replaced in....my mobo is a socket 478 to go with the intel celeron 2.4ghz cpu i already had...what type of cpu do u have?

buy only a new mobo at first.....no point in wasting more money if its not needed....oh by the way....it should come with instructions for installation....let me know how u get on.

My personal tip to you when installing you new kit would be- take your time,follow instructions carefully, AND double check everything before you switch it on.

apology's accepted

have a look at this site

http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/

I'm actually in the UK... and I was thinking of spending like £100 or similar because I thought that was the price you have to pay for reasonable kit. My current (or past, however you want to put it) CPU is an AMD xp3200 2.2Ghz, socket A, as stated in my system specs at the end of my first post And I got that in November 2004, so I'm thinking of getting something substantially better if I need to buy new. If I just bought the motherboard then I would be wasting money as I would have to purchase a socket A compatible one for my CPU, but those are a little out-of-date I believe and so this is my reason for choosing to buy a bundle. And although I usually buy from overclockers.co.uk I'll have a look on that site you gave me, thanks
And thanks for that site B_D, I'll have a read now.

Hm re. motherboards/CPU's, what's 'in' now for the kind of budget I stated (well - £100 - £150 if it's going to be mobo AND CPU) - I'm thinking AMD but I'm not sure which 'socket' is good or anything - I like a bit of speed and the most demanding game I play is BF2 - if that helps I mean I was happy with my current CPU, but if I'm going to buy something of that price I want it to last me at least 5 years (if I don't break it before then).