Ugh...What did I do now?

[Josh7289]

Alright, here's the deal. I just got my replacement motherboard from MSI, so I started to put my PC back together, right? Well, I screwed in the motherboard, stuck the CPU in, put on some thermal paste, put on the heatsink, stuck in my RAM, stuck in my video card, connected everything else, and tried to turn it on. Well, I got the start-up splash screen for the MSI mobo, then nothing else, so I hit the reset button on the front and got the same thing. I then started to consider what could be wrong:

1) I don't think any parts are bad, since they all worked fine before I RMA'd the board, and they were all stored in anti-static bags.

2) Maybe I put on too little thermal paste or it wasn't contacting nicely? When I re-installed the heatsink before turning it on the first time, the CPU itself looked pretty clean, simply from wiping it with tissues and napkins, and the heatsink had a very thin mark where the old paste was, and I reduced that by rubbing it with tissues and napkins, then rubbing some rubbing alcohol on it with a towel, and rubbing most of that off with some water on a towel, before blowing it dry with a hair dryer. When I took the heatsink off this time, there seemed to be a bit too much thermal paste, so I just started wiping some of that off, but it seems much more stubborn this time...What should I do? (The first time it was the stock stuff, this time it was Arctic Silver 5).

3) I don't think it beeped when it started up, but there may have been one very short, very quiet beep. This may have just been a normal start-up sound, though...

What do you think? What did I do? What should I try? The rest of the system is in my sig, except the motherboard is now a slightly different one, I think the RS482M4-ILD or something like that.

Sorry for being vague, but I don't know what to do. Thanks.

 

[Nocturnal]

Disconnect everything and if you can move the mobo to outside the case. Connect just the essentials such as the CPU, video card, memory and PSU. Now try and turn it on and see if you can go any further than you have.

 

[Josh7289]

I'll try that tomorrow, but why do I have to take it out of the case? It would be a lot less trouble to just leave it there. Also, what do you consider a "clean" heatsink and CPU for me to re-apply thermal paste to?

 

[Nocturnal]

The way I apply thermal compound is I drop a little bb sized drop and let the heatsink smashed it down into the CPU which will then move it all around.

The reason why I say to remove it from the case is just in case it is grounding out on something, this will eliminate that. If it's too much, I highly suggest just leaving the essentials connected.

An easier thing to do right now would be to clear the CMOS.

The good thing is that you are getting video. At least you are getting something.

 

[Josh7289]

Yeah, I know what you mean...Do you think I could have killed my CPU somehow? If it overheated and died, I guess I would get no video or anything, right?

Also, can you please tell me how clean the heatsink and CPU must be before I re-apply thermal paste?

Thanks for your help so far.

EDIT: Spelling.

 

[Nocturnal]

To clean the thermal compound off of the CPU, use some isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel. People say to use a lint-free napkin or whatever but I've used all kinds with no problems. I don't think you killed the CPU. For the most part, that's one of the harder components to actually kill just by turning the computer on. Most times a CPU will die from giving it too much volts due to overclocking and or overheating.

 

[Josh7289]

Well, I left it on for 30 seconds, at least, but I also don't think I could have killed it with the heatsink on with some thermal paste, even though it may have been too much...I forgot to say before, when I first put the thermal paste on, I lifted the heatsink once then put it back on. I don't think this messed with it too much, so I still don't think the CPU was damaged or killed. Anyway, should there still be a "stain" or mark where the paste was, or should it be spotlessly clean?

 

[Nocturnal]

It should be for the most part spotless clean. Also about removing and reseating the heatsink, I've done that on countless occasions and have never fried the processor.