So, is it my processor or my power supply?

Now this is just silly.

Assumed my A7V333 was dead because of the "System failed CPU Test Error" and the symtpoms that matched it with a problem that several others have had with that board.

Got an Epox 8K5A3+ for a good deal today, installed it, and no POST whatsoever. The LEDs that are supposed to display an error code show nothing. Swapped the drives to different cables & tried all ATA channels. Tried different RAM slots. Still nothing. Only card in was a Kyro 2 AGP, and I even tried my tested & working Kyro 1 PCI from another machine, and nothing. The PSU is connected properly and I have no PCI cards on the board.

At this point it HAS to be either my processor or my power supply. Anyone agree with me on this?

I'm going to pick up a Duron when I get my paycheck, and try that to eliminate the CPU problem. I'm also going to see if I can borrow a friend's P4 PSU to try on it.

I believe it's your CPU. My 8K3A does the same thing when a dead CPU is in it and it's basically the same as the 8K5A.

~THT

Are there any tests or anything I can do to tell if my XP is dead?

When I first took it out of the package and put it in an A7V333, it ran for about 2 minutes, went to restart to install Windows, and no video, & a CPU error.

Now that you say the same thing happens on your 8K3A+ (8K3A & 8K5A are pretty much the same except for teh extra RAID connectors, ethernet, and USB 2.0), I'm really convinced its the CPU. I get a paycheck on Friday, so I'll pick up a Duron.

I can't see how the processor could have fried, used AS3, 30cfm YS-tech fan & Thermoengine hsf, and I checked the front and back of the chip, no burn marks, the AS3 cleaned right off, wasn't burnt or anything, and no burn marks or anything on the core. The core is nice and shiny and I can easily read all the numbers and stepping info on it.

Would it have been possible for the chip simply to fail after 2 minutes of use?

Disconnected all drives and took out the RAM (256MB Mushkin PC-3200), still nothing, just no video, no post, no beeping or error codes on the debug LEDs.

Should I take out the CPU and try booting without it? If I did that, I would get an error code on the debug LEDs saying that I had no CPU, right?

is the psu running at all?
http://www.burningissues.net/how_to/power/psu.htm
that shows how to jump the atx plug to run it outside the box.just to see if it turns on.

2 bad boards is weird,and if i remember the asus mobo u had it wasnt getting power or was shorted.

try this and see what ya get.

if it is a bad cpu, then your case fans and psu fans would spin up. I had this happen to me with a different board. I slapped my 1800+ into my kx7, and after restarting it just didnt boot. I then put it into my ga7vrxp, and all that happened in both boards was the fans spun up, and no video. i dont know if your board would do that, but i have a feeling that this is a dead power supply. i would definately check the link that deathstar gave you and try to get the psu running with out a mobo. if you do that, just make sure you have nothing on the power supply. on my power supplies if i try to do the shorting trick, and have a fan running at 7 volts on the line it doesnt turn on.

best of luck

deathstar13 said:

is the psu running at all?
http://www.burningissues.net/how_to/power/psu.htm
that shows how to jump the atx plug to run it outside the box.just to see if it turns on.

2 bad boards is weird,and if i remember the asus mobo u had it wasnt getting power or was shorted.

try this and see what ya get.

Click to expand...

I was assuming that the A7V333 was bad since it ran for 2 minutes, then conked out on me, no video, no post, just the "System failed CPU test error". Since I found a lot of other cases like this around the net, I figured it was the board.

Now that I have a different board and I'm having the same problem I have two things to rule out. Getting a Duron friday to try, and if I have no luck with that, a diff PSU.

All the fans spin up, the drives power up (but do nothing), the fan in the PSU spins too.

then it's your cpu, if the fans spin up

definately

RMA

You may have cracked your core. It's not hard to do.

The core isn't cracked, checked it already. =/