dead motherboard?

[stevty2889]

I have a gigabyte 8IK1100 motherboard with a 3.06ghz p4, and 1 gig of ram (pc2100 4x256). The system was running good for 9 months. I took out the ram and the cpu to troubleshoot another system. I put the ram and cpu from the other system(2.4c p4 and 2x256Mb pc3200 ram). booted up fine with no problems, and the other computer continues to have the same problems, so I swap the cpu's and ram back. Now I can't get the computer to boot. When I turn on the power, the fans spin, and thats all that happens, no post beep, no video, no beep code errors. I took it out of the case and set it up with 1 stick of ram, and the video card. again, no post, no beeps, no video. So I tried it with the 2.4c again, and the pc3200 memory. no post, no beep, no video, just the spinning fans..I tried reseting the bios several times with both cpu's and all 6 ram chips. I also turned on the power with no ram, and no video card to see if I would get the normal beep code's. Stil nothing, just the spinning fans. Is there anything else anyone can think of, or is my motherboard dead??

[Dj-Icer]

Welcome To Tech-IMO

Maybe the mobo needs fixing

Can be a dead motherboard..but it was okay before. How did it got broke so soon? I would replace the RAM and cleaned it, by polishing the copper grill. Get a clothe and get it cleaned. I have the RAM problem in my mind...

[DallasDon]

Did you maybe unplug the 4 prong power connector, and not plug it back in?

Or not have the power connector seated all the way?

[stevty2889]

I thought it might be the ram too, but I tried all 6 chips, the 4 that were being used on this motherboard, and the 2 from the other one. I tried each one individualy, and I also tried it with no ram at all, as it should have at least giving a beep code error with no memory installed, but all it did was spin the fans. I made sure the power connectors were connected.

I guess this'll teach you not to break what ain't broken.

First, I'd inspet the capacitors around the CPU. I've had two boards that had blown caps but the board didn't show any signs until the machine was powered down. It never powered up again after that, just spun the fans and that's it.

If everything looks oky, I'd put it back in the case and then just install the CPU, RAM, FDD, and Video card. Make sure you've got the RAM seated and the HSF on securely.

[billniceguy]

No beeps! thats bad. For fun try another speaker. Would think ram problem, but no beeps, hummm. If speaker ok and no beeps, must be mom, sorry.

[gbjbaanb]

I had this exact same problem - I replaced the mobo, and the ram.. and then the CPU. Yep, I don't know what happened to mine (as I never removed the CPU), but.. put a new one in and its back to working.

It wasn't the speaker, and I was so sure it *must* have been the mobo.

I had an ASUS A7V8X-X, with crucial RAM, and a Athlon-2500XP (333 fsb).

I hope this helps someone in the future.

[elroy]

Did you try clearing the cmos?
Unplug the pc, remove the battery and move the clear cmos jumper. Leave it for a while unplugged with no battery before replacing the battery and cmos jumper and then trying to power up.

[demon_wolf]

The board should be giving off beep codes......it sounds like the mobo has gone.

If possible, test all the components...eg: CPU, Memory etc on another board.....and if they all are working, then its the board.

Hope you get it worked out

[gbjbaanb]

thanks guys, but read my post - I had no beeps, so I thought it was the mobo. I cleared the cmos - no effect. I replaced the mobo, but no effect. I replaced the RAM - no effect. It was only when I changed the CPU that it sprang to life.

So. It obviously was the CPU that was at fault.

I did try the RAM on a different PC (one from work), but I think that must have been ECC/buffered/registered/etc and didn't work either

I thought there should be beeps too - I even took the speaker from an old case and plugged that in. Either the mobo has broken speaker connectors, or these BIOS chips refuse to start without a working CPU. I don't quite get it - mobos I have known have beeped at me when I havn't inserted ram/cards fully. This is the first time I've had a bust CPU though.

anyway, thanks again for the advice. Can anyone reproduce these problems (maybe booting without a CPU present?) to see if you get no beeps either.