Dead CPU or dead motherboard?

[mattc]

Hey all. If you have any insight for me i would really appreciate it.

Heres my problem:

My Asus A7A266/TBird 1Ghz system, which has been running perfectly for over a year, refused to boot this morning.
From what i can tell, it isn't POSTing.. no beeps no nothing, just blank screen.

The fans all start up, and the motherboard is getting power because the status light comes on..

It's not the monitor, it's not the video card, it's not the peripherals, all have been swapped/removed etc to make sure.

Basically i have come to the conclusion that either the cpu or the motherboard has been fried somehow (both?).

One weird thing though.. i couldnt eject the cdrom when that was still plugged in. Even though there was a power connector attached to the drive and the machine was running it refused to open.. so maybe it is a power supply issue? Also.. if it had been a power spike, you'd think it would have killed both machines attached to the same power bar, but the other one is fine.


Anyway, my question to you all is does this sound like a CPU failure or a motherboard failure? Also, what further tests should i do? Is there any hope of fixing this or should i just move on and look at replacing something.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

-Matt

UPDATE: Ok.. now i can power the cdrom and eject it.. damn erratic bastard.

 

[DarknRahl]

I had the same problem with my mobo. I ended up with a spare processor as I foolishly bought a new one. I narrowed it down to either the motherboard/cpu and got it wrong 8)
In your case it sounds like a dodgy motherboard. Processors will rarely ever die from what I have seen. Either way it sux not having a pc while your mobo is being sent back to Taiwan... 8)
gl

 

[mattc]

yeah thats what i am afraid of :-(

i have another cpu here that i could theoretically put in there to test the motherboard.. but what if the motherboard is broken and it fries this cpu as well.. can that happen?

daaamnit.

 

[Fireman]

Another member just posted a post about posting problems.
With posting issues, I always try replacing the BIOS battery on the motherboard first before buying any new hardware. You could have a power supply issue as well, even though the lights on the board power up.

 

[mattc]

I tried a different PS and it was the same.

Can a dead bios battery really cause it to not POST? i always thought that the battery just sustained the clock, bios pw and settings and stuff.. but then again i have never had a motherboard die on me before, so this is new.

Oh well.. i think it's time i just moved on and bought a new motherboard.

Thanks for your help guys.

-Matt



btw: any recommendations for a new one? 266mhz fsb, ddr, stable but relatively cheap. I am tempted to stick with asus, but i havent done any hardware research in a long time so i dont know.

 

[MARMADUKE]

K7master MSI-6341v1.1

got mine when it came out $125, do a search and you will find 1 now for $75.

very strong & stable board and great for overclocking, but make sure you get the best HS out there cause these boards run hot!

 

[alm4rr]

check the top of the capacitors on the board to see if any are bulging at the top.