So did I fry something or?

[winwiz88]

Background:
Moved into a new apartment last week. I had packed up my computer as I have done several times, placed into a harness and in the same spot in my car as before. Got to Orlando and unloaded and proceeded to set my system up. Unfortunately when I went to press the power button, it turned on and then turned off after a few more seconds. I opened up the case and found that the heatsink was attached but not very well, possibly shaken around from the 6 hour drive. So I tried to power up again, and it wouldnt go, eventually it did but then immediately shut off. Thought I smelled burnt, but it wasnt a very profound smell. At this point I figured well maybe my PSU finally bit the dust. Ran down to best buy picked up a new PSU and plugged it in. Now it powers up, but will not post. So I started to attempt to eliminate issues. First I tested all my drives with a IDE/SATA to USB cable and all those tested fine, so a power surge probably didnt happen (or atleast I wouldnt think so). Next I removed the motherboard an all components, and placed on a cardboard box and checked for anywhere there could be a short. Nothing on my case or any other components was causing a short. Still when I powered up the system, I did not a post, and I should note that at any time, I never did get any speaker beeps.

Basic System Specs:
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
Intel E6600
EVGA 8800GTS
2x 1GB Corsair XMS2

So what does everyone think? Could it be my CPU, or maybe the motherboard? Is there anything more that I can do to test for dead components? I dont have a spare PCI Express video card lying around as thats in another city, and wont be able to get for a few months. No one has a motherboard that can handle the E6600 that I know of as well. Any suggestions as to what else I can do to test?

I am very hesitant to buy any new parts as 1) I bought these components back in January 2) As with many people money is a bit tight right now.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Blain]

If you replaced the PS, my bet would be on the MB. CPU's are pretty reliable.

But just to check...
Remove everything from the MB (PCI devices, optical drives, etc.
Leave the main HD, memory, CPU (and HS of course). Recheck

 

[nerp]

When you say the heatsink wasn't attached very well, did you actually remove the CPU and make sure that it wasn't knocked out of place? If you removed the cpu from the motherboard you would certianly notice whether the heatsink and cpu ISH were fused together potentially ripping apart the CPU itself.

You probably know if this happened -- I just wasn't sure based on your post.

 

[winwiz88]

Originally posted by: Blain
If you replaced the PS, my bet would be on the MB. CPU's are pretty reliable.

But just to check...
Remove everything from the MB (PCI devices, optical drives, etc.
Leave the main HD, memory, CPU (and HS of course). Recheck

I have attempted this various ways, both mem sticks in all of the 4 slots. I even tried to boot with no ram hoping for atleast a speaker beep. So from this information, are you thinking MB?

Originally posted by: nerpWhen you say the heatsink wasn't attached very well, did you actually remove the CPU and make sure that it wasn't knocked out of place? If you removed the cpu from the motherboard you would certianly notice whether the heatsink and cpu ISH were fused together potentially ripping apart the CPU itself.

Well what had happened, is that upon visual inspection the of the four mounting pins, only one was tightly secured, one secured, but allowed for some movement, and two off the not even attached to the board. The CPU I did removed verified that it was still in place as well as reseating it several times. In addition the CPU is physically intact, no damage caused from fusing or riping.

Here is something else I am wondering, say if I were to get a new motherboard and try this first (as oppossed to just junking the motherboard and CPU), what would the risks associated with putting a potentially dead CPU into a good board? I know CPUs are quite reliable, but if it really did fry up in those 10 seconds or so, whats the worst that could happen? Or vice versa...what about a good cpu in a potentially dead motherboard. I've come to quite like this board and would be shamed if I had to trade it out for something else (same for the E6600)...

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: winwiz88

Here is something else I am wondering, say if I were to get a new motherboard and try this first (as oppossed to just junking the motherboard and CPU), what would the risks associated with putting a potentially dead CPU into a good board? I know CPUs are quite reliable, but if it really did fry up in those 10 seconds or so, whats the worst that could happen? Or vice versa...what about a good cpu in a potentially dead motherboard. I've come to quite like this board and would be shamed if I had to trade it out for something else (same for the E6600)...

I would imagine that the worse that could happen is that...
The MB/CPU/PS combo might explode in a fireball, blasting shrapnel through the case and walls of the building, resulting in a raging fire, loss of life and limb.
But that's a fairly extreme scenario.

 

[Paperdoc]

I'm going to assume that, in examining and reseating the CPU, you did renew the thermal paste and then securely re-mount the Heatsink.

My guess is: put a burned CPU into a good board, and you are very unlikely to damage the new mobo. Put a good CPU into a damaged mobo, and there may be some risk of damaging the CPU, but I would expect that also is unlikely. Since nobody handy has a mobo to handle your CPU as a test, try the other way. Can you borrow just about any CPU supported by your mobo and try that. That would test the basic mobo functions, anyway.

One other easy thing to try, even though it may not do any good: reset the BIOS to defaults. This requires two things: you have to know how (not hard, you proably do know, but you can look it up in the manual); and, you will need to manually change some settings back to where you want them, as opposed to the default values restored by a Reset operation. Of course, if you have a faulty mobo or CPU, this step will do nothing for you at all.

By the way, you mention you never got any speaker beeps. Did you before the move? Some modern mobo's don't even have a speaker to beep friendly sounds at you. On the other hand, mine does but the manual never even mentions it!

 

[winwiz88]

Originally posted by: Paperdoc
I'm going to assume that, in examining and reseating the CPU, you did renew the thermal paste and then securely re-mount the Heatsink.

My guess is: put a burned CPU into a good board, and you are very unlikely to damage the new mobo. Put a good CPU into a damaged mobo, and there may be some risk of damaging the CPU, but I would expect that also is unlikely. Since nobody handy has a mobo to handle your CPU as a test, try the other way. Can you borrow just about any CPU supported by your mobo and try that. That would test the basic mobo functions, anyway.

One other easy thing to try, even though it may not do any good: reset the BIOS to defaults. This requires two things: you have to know how (not hard, you proably do know, but you can look it up in the manual); and, you will need to manually change some settings back to where you want them, as opposed to the default values restored by a Reset operation. Of course, if you have a faulty mobo or CPU, this step will do nothing for you at all.

By the way, you mention you never got any speaker beeps. Did you before the move? Some modern mobo's don't even have a speaker to beep friendly sounds at you. On the other hand, mine does but the manual never even mentions it!

Another one of my issues, is that everyone I know has a laptop, except for two people. One with an Athlon, and one with a Socket 478 (he really needs to upgrade) P4. I've also tried resetting the bios but no luck on that end either. As for the speaker, I've never heard any beeps in the 8 months I have owned it, but the manual does claim that it will give a few different beep codes for errors (case has a speaker wire, while the board lacks a physical speaker). However, no suck luck in hearing anything...

I think it starting to look like the end of the battle with this motherboard. I may just cut my losses now and get my hands on a new mobo and cpu. Then try my current CPU in the new motherboard, and then if that works, return the new CPU for a refund....