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[Hitokage]

Ok, in a continuing effort to reduce the roar from my PC to a hum, last night I took apart my PC(self built to begin with) to replace my Thermaltake Volcano 7 with a Zalman Something-6000A AlCu HSF. This included detatching the motherboard(along with everything on it) so I could install the heatsink mounts in the holes next to the CPU socket, and attempting to apply thermal grease myself for the first time. Following instructions, I used Isopropyl Alcohol with lint-free fabric to scrub clean both the cpu core top and the base of the HSF, and used a fresh straight razor blade to apply the grease. Everything went relatively smoothly until I try to power on... blank screen followed by a repeating series of long beeps, the error signal for missing RAM. I tried reseating both DIMMS(256 and 512), and got the same result. Now, the funny part... when I only have one in, doesn't matter which, I won't get the RAM error but the mobo still won't boot. Harddrives spin up, power is sent to PCI/AGP cards, and both my cdrw and dvdrom eject when I push the button(this doesn't happen if you plug in the IDE cable backwards, btw)... but that's it. Nothing on either the CRT or TV output from my vidcard, and no beep indicating successful mobo startup. It doesn't give the error for a missing or bad vid card, and it doesn't behave as if the cpu was missing(tested this possibility already).

For reference, I have an Asus A7V266-E/AA mobo with an Athlon XP 1500+ Palomino core, and both ram DIMMS are DDR266 Crucial brand. I'm pretty sure that the ram is ok, because all I did was take them out then rest them on a clean flat surface. I did use a compressed air can to blow off the dust that had accumulated on it, but that wouldn't kill them. That means that it's either the CPU or the mobo that's broken. Now, I admit I wasn't as careful with the cpu as I should have been and it's probable that I fried it(in fact, I hope that's what happened)... or it could be something in the motherboard.

At any rate, I was wondering it if was possible to determine what's broken without being able to swap in another Athlon(every other computer in the house is Intel based) or ram DIMM... because I'm going to end up spending money on something and I don't want to waste time and money guessing.

 

[borghe]

is the thermal grease conductive? did you short pads on the cpu? crack the core?

when shit is acting flaky, and doesn't even boot, more often than not it is either the mb or cpu.

 

[Hitokage]

is the thermal grease conductive? did you short pads on the cpu? crack the core?

The Arctic Silver people claim its nonconductive, but don't make guarantees. I wouldn't rule out cracking the core either, but the surface of the chip unit looked fine when I took it out.

when shit is acting flaky, and doesn't even boot, more often than not it is either the mb or cpu.

... I already deducted that far.

 

[borghe]

arctic silver, at least when I last bought it about 2-3 years ago, is most definitely conducive. it has traces of silver in it. not much more really need be said.

when you take the cooler off is the grease limited to just the top of the core or is it splashed all over the place, like the jumpers sitting around the core?

 

[NohWun]

If you're getting beeps, then you probably haven't fried the CPU (yet).

Look at the DIMM slots under a magnifying glass, make sure it all looks fine.

I did have an Athlon machine that was acting up a lot (giving memory errors and such),
and it does seem like replacing the power supply has made it more stable.

 

[Minotauro]

I would bet that you permanently damaged the cpu. Do you have a spare you can test it with?

Goddamn AMD and Intel for making those things so fucking fragile. I miss the Genesis cart-like processors of old.

 

[tenchir]

How can they not guarantee it's not conductive? It's either conductive or not, don't they test their product? The artic silver I use is differently conductive.

 

[borghe]

you can definitely get beeps without a cpu. hell, you get beeps for not HAVING a CPU!

like I said, I haven't purchased arctic silver in many years, but AFAIEK the entire point of arctic silver is that it has silver elements in it which is how it conducts heat so well. it also means it conducts electricty real nice also. if you have thermal grease anywhere on the bridges along side the core, more than likely you have fried your cpu. you can always try removing said thermal grease and hoping it was just shorted and not fried, but I've never heard of that happening (though it doesn't make it impossible).

 

[dem]

Not Electrically Conductive:
Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity.
(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)

 

[Darias]

Did you use a static grounding strap while handling your components?

 

[tt_deeb]

The man shoots himself in the foot and thinks the whole world stops but we're still turning baby!

 

[CrunchyB]

A while ago my PC refused to boot. It did absolutely nothing. Now, the LED on the the mobo was burning, so I assumed the power supply was ok.
But the CPU, memory and motherboard all worked fine (tested them with another system), so I switched the power supply and my PC booted as normal. Looks like the power supply was only partially broken, bah.

Another time my newly built PC wouldn't boot because it was short-circuited with the casing. Whoops.

 

[NohWun]

you can definitely get beeps without a cpu. hell, you get beeps for not HAVING a CPU!

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a motherboard that would do that.
There might be some motherboard that does, but most won't.
I've been putting together PCs since the '286 days, and have yet to see
one beep without a working CPU. Of course, I've usually put them together
correctly, so I can't say that I've had lots of experience with bad setups.

 

[Hitokage]

when you take the cooler off is the grease limited to just the top of the core or is it splashed all over the place, like the jumpers sitting around the core?

On my first attempt I kept it on the core but made a couple mistakes leaving grease on the area immediately surrounding the core. I didn't think it would be as far as the bridges and I cleaned it off before I put it back in. Nevertheless, that might have been it.

you can definitely get beeps without a cpu. hell, you get beeps for not HAVING a CPU!

In my case the system components, such as the fans, powerup without booting if the CPU is missing and the power supply is switched on.

A while ago my PC refused to boot. It did absolutely nothing. Now, the LED on the the mobo was burning, so I assumed the power supply was ok.
But the CPU, memory and motherboard all worked fine (tested them with another system), so I switched the power supply and my PC booted as normal. Looks like the power supply was only partially broken, bah.

I have little reason to believe that the power supply coincidentally broke in all of this.

Another time my newly built PC wouldn't boot because it was short-circuited with the casing. Whoops.

Now this I might have to check for.

 

[NohWun]

For future reference, here's the heatsink you should have gotten:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-106-602&depa=0

The above heatsink clips onto the socket; no undoing of motherboard needed.

In addition, you can get this to make your fans quieter:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-205&depa=0

Zalman does make some good stuff, but it's not worth the hassle to remove your motherboard.

Anyway, given your current situation, I'd suggest removing the motherboard again and seeing if it works outside of the case. Only plug in the vitals, and work carefully to avoid shorting or zapping anything. Frequently touch the power supply metal case to discharge any static from your moving around.

 

[Hitokage]

BTW, looking at images of more recent CPU revisions, apparently my Palomino model doesn't even have the bridges you're talking about, not next to the core anyway.

 

[fart]

1) back to basics

pull everything out of the machine that's not required to post.

2) find known good spares to swap in

right now you're looking at possibles: cpu, motherboard, memory, video card (assuming it still doesn't post when everything else is out)

the fact that it's giving an error is GOOD

off the top of my head the two things i would think are suspect is,

bad sink mount. maybe not bad enough to fry, but bad enough to kill post
bad ram. dimms go bad. find known good, test with.
something stupid - clear cmos before proceeding. pull everything as in step 1

highly unlikely that the thermal conductor is to blame

'arctic silver' is silver in silicone with some alchemy or mojo or some crap. i'm shit at chemistry but i do know that the mixture is basically a dielectric.