bad mobo or cpu?

[bigbird]

I picked up a system free that was used as a video surveillance machine from the building my company just moved into. I thought I could use it for another home unit or sell it w/e.
Well the machine will not boot. No post! Fans come on and I can hear the HDD make a few clicks but nothing. I swapped the PS to make sure that wasn't an issue. So is there a way to test whether the motherboard is bad or the cpu? BTW, the motherboard is Gigabyte GA-945GCMX-S2 and the cpu is a e2160, 1 gig stick of DDR2 667, trying to use on-board GPU.

 

[voyagerfan99]

Typically if it won't POST it's a motherboard issue. It's rare that CPU's go bad and if it was bad it would at least POST but you'd have other issues.

 

[87dtna]

Actually if you have other ram try that first.

Also, if the HDD is clicking thats bad. Disconnect it and see if the PC posts.

 

[cabinfever1977]

new motherboard time

 

[Ischinel]

It's very rare for a processor to have any problem. I think it's the motherboard too.

 

[87dtna]

Wow really? It HAS to be either the cpu or the motherboard huh?

noobs.

 

[wolfeking]

ok. I see a couple of issues.

1. Clicking isn't a sound that should be coming from a computer. In the case of a hard drive, its a good sign of catastrophic platter damage happening. Remove the power and Data cables from the HDD and retry to boot.

2. RAM may be an issue. See if you can find another stick of DDR2 to test it.

3. could be a messed up setting in the CMOS. try resetting that, but only after trying the above two.

4. If you get this far, then I would say try a POST card if you can find one and see if you get any codes. If you do, then its not the motherboard. If you don't then at this point, I would say your board is bad.

 

[bigbird]

Okay guys, first thing I did was rob a case speaker from another unit so I would be able to hear any beeps. Next, I disconnected the HDD, no change. I didn't have a spare stick of ddr2, so I removed the one in the board. I should expect some error beeping about no ram, but all I got was silence. Tried clearing Cmos, no change! I don't have a post card so I cannot try that, but I'm thinking the MB is dead!

 

[wolfeking]

Another quick notice. Since your not getting beep codes and nothing else helped, you might try adding a dedicated video card to test it. Your integrated video might be shot.

 

[87dtna]

Try that stick of ram in a different slot.

 

[bigbird]

Ok, I'll try a vid card, just to try it out. I did try the memory in another slot, no go!

 

[87dtna]

Yeah that was a long shot, but without having another stick to test with thats the best thing to try.

I would find another known working stick of ram before determining the motherboard is dead. At this point, it looks that way but dead ram is always more likely than motherboard.