FRIED MY PROCESSOR, DOH!!! *UPDATE: OK, mabey not*

[DrCool]

Okay guys, wanted to run this by you, to see if you had any other suggestions... but I think I've narrowed it down..

Just setup a new workbench,
ASUS A7N8X DELUXE v1.04 (bios v.1003)
AMD ATHLON XP 2000+ (1.67GHz) AGOIA STEPPING
512MB (2x 256MB) PC2100 DDR CRUCIAL (1 in first channel, 1 in second channel)
Enermax 350W whisper power supply

Okay so here's the story..
I get everything up and running and install win98:se (cause I wanted a 9x operating system, have win2k and winxp machines already), and got all the drivers installed and everything was working beautifully. Then I installed pcmark2002 to benchmark the sucker.. and got a decent result..

well I decided to tweak some motherboard settings and see how far I could OC the processor and the memory.. I got it up to 12.5x 138MHz FSB for the processor and 166MHz FSB for the memory, on 'agressive' timings.. so I'm thinking well thats really cool, but can I push it farther ("DOH!?!")..

So I reboot and up the anti to 12.5x 144MHz and 144MHz FSB for the memory, i reboot, and windows doesn't load.. So I'm thinking okay, I'll just go back into the bios and change the settings back.. ("beginning of the end") I get into the bios, and the letters are all wacked out, and looking wierd, so I'm thinking 'thats not good', so I reboot, and try again.. this time letters are fine, I lower settings, and try to save and exit, but no go, won't let me save and exit.. 'thats DEFINITLY not good'
So I turn off the system, power down, and reset the cmos..
now this is were we come to my current predicament.. I power on the system, and the drives spin up and the green light on the board is lit, and all i get is a black screen... no error messages (have speakers plugged in, no error beeps, nothing)..

okay so i'm thinking, mabey i fired *UPDATE: that is FRIED.. F-R-I-E-D* something, or messed something up pretty mad.. *UPDATE: sure did, BIOS BORKED!*

I swap the ram - no go
I swap the video card - no go

finally I narrowed it down to a fried mobo or processor.. I have noticed before that the best way to test, whether the motherboard is dead, is to remove the CPU, because if the motherboard isn't dead, not having a CPU installed should cause it to have a FIT! *UPDATE: this theory is correct, the board isn't dead(FRIED), it has a borked bios* Well i remove the cpu and power up, and low and behold i hear "no cpu installed, no cpu installed" over and over.. Okay, so my conclusion is I fried the CPU*UPDATE: wrong!*.. does that seem like a legitimate conclusion? *UPDATE: NO! you idiot! you borked the bios, DUH!! but it wasn't because your an idiot, though that may sometimes be the case, the board or chipset is flawed, and shouldn't do this, it should automatically reset itself, when a setting is set improperly, like every other motherboard and chipset*

things i've tired already:
*reset cmos - power down, switch off power supply, remove battery, reset cmos jumper..
*set FSB on CPU to 200MHz via JUMPER instead of 266MHz...
*swaped every other piece of hardware except the processor, don't have a spare *UPDATE: tried another processor (1.3GHz Athlon)"

okay.. now it's your turn.. what do you think, is my conclusion accurate?.. I've tried to be as detailed and descriptive as possible.. let me know if I missed something.. *UPDATE: did miss some things, thanks for anybody that has helped me solve this problem, and MY CPU LIVES!, =)*

Dr Cool

 

[amcdonald]

I'd also assume this is a cpu problem. You should grab a 1700+ or a 2100+ anyway. Also, that board is supposed to run memory in sync with the fsb as far as any tests I've seen show.

 

[stultus]

This sounds like the dead bios problem. Ask on this forum and you should get some good advice from people who've had this board crash and burn in more ways then you can imagine

 

[BlvdKing]

You may need to buy or borrow another CPU to test the motherboard. Or find someone with a socket A computer and test the CPU in their system if they are nice enough to let you. Test the RAM in another computer too just in case.

 

[KillaBong]

I doubt that it fried... the bios probly didnt reset properly or something and left it cleared. There is probly some way to fix it.

 

[DrCool]

I already got an RMA for it, but hesitent to send it in, because I'm almost positive its a borked BIOS, especially because this is the last place I was before it stoped working..
;-)

it will probably take at about a week for them to fix it, and usally when I RMA stuff, I notice some other small problem with the board later.. ie. USB no longer works, sound ports are bad, onboard video is screwd.. they seem to fix your main problem, but screw you by messing up something you wouldn't immediatley notice... anybody else had simliar experiences?

I might just put down the $19+$5 shipping for a new bios from these dudes.. BADFLASH!

i guess it wouldn't hurt to have a spare one..

but the board is used in my workbench and not as my main system, so It isn't critically needed at the moment..

FYI: ASUS TECH SUPPORT (502)995-0883, HOURS: M-F 9:00AM - 5:00PM PST, they were very friendly, and it only took about 20min on hold to get it taken care of.. just explain the steps you've taken and how you arrived at your conclusion.. only thing I'm angry about is they won't send me a bios chip at thier cost... they're causing me undue down time.. ABIT sent me a chip, no charge when I told them my BIOS was borked on an KT7A i had..

just thought I should pass on the knowledge i've aquired.. also check out this forum, they are dedicated to the nForce2 platform.. nForcersHQ

some usefull ASUS technical information: helpdesk

Dr Cool

 

[DrCool]

~bump for important info!

 

[JSSheridan]

I saw this at NForcersHQ.

Bios Save of Death Counter Mesure

Let us know if this works for you. Peace.

 

[DrCool]

the outcome:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=28&threadid=1036443

Dr Cool