Simple Question

My computer a couple weeks ago basically went "down" and I've had no luck with it since. The main problem I'm having is no picture. Without any picture, I'm basically screwed.

While I don't believe it is my graphics card, I have tried another one that is now functioning fine in a friend's computer, so that shouldn't be it. My main question was, if the processor is messed up but inserted, will that stop any kind of screen from coming up? I can't quite remember and I'm running out of ideas after having tried another graphics card and motherboard.

try swapping the battery on the mobo. for some reason i had to do this in an old compaq for a friend once when they couldn't get any picture.

Well I don't think it's the motherboard just because I've tried two seperate motherboards. Same battery since they're almost exactly the same model so I could try...but still, if my processor was messed up, would I get a picture at all?

If the processor is hosed, you will get no picture. I suggest removing all cards except video. Remove all but one stick of ram. Disconnect all hard drives and other drives. Try to boot to bios. If nothing, did you hear any beeps? If yes, try another stick of ram. Try again. Did it boot? If not, did you hear beeps? If not, remove cpu. Try again. No beeps = bad mobo or psu. If beeps, cpu may be bad.

Ok, on the old motherboard(Asus A8V Via K8T800Pro deluxe) I get "cpu error", literally. The motherboard says that. So of course I would think that but to make sure I took it to a PC place for a diagnostic, they said it was the motherboard. Without being able to "see" anything, I wanted another opinion before buying a new part.

So I tried a new motherboard, it's exactly the same motherboard minus the "deluxe"(couldn't find one anywhere), and this time I get no picture, no beeps, and no sounds whatsoever.

I don't know if I should try a new processor or PSU first. If it's not the motherboard, I'm screwed I even bothered listening to them and buying a new one(which seems likely), and I dont have a lot of money to go out and buy like 3 new parts to see what the problem is.

I've had everything removed except the video card and 2 sticks of ram though, all the drives disconnected. This being on the new motherboard, as I said, I had no picture and no sounds at all.

*Edit* It'll be hard to actually keep up with this thread since I have no computer working at home at all. I have to go to work or school to get computer access. But any and ALL help is appreciated. I could go out and spend 500$ on new parts, but I'd rather not.

Give us the system specs in detail. Is the vid card powered by an extra plug? did you switch plugs in the harness? Did everything run except the video card when hooked up? Then I doubt its the PSU if everything was running minus card. Did you try a different monitor instead of the one you have? You havent gotten the resolutions set too high causing the screen to go black did you? Its possible your monitor is toast.

ASUS A8V K8T800| AMD 64 3000+| 2GB DDR400| eVGA 6800 GS| 160gb Maxtor + 80gb WD| Tsunami Dream| Thermaltake 450W

Specs

It's not the monitor, positive. I run dual monitors off my card, and using either monitor in either output on the card(dvi is it? and vga) I get no picture. And whether or not the graphics card is messed doesn't matter because I tried another one(my old 9800 pro) that I know works(is in a friend's computer right now working fine), so I doubt it's my regular card anyway as neither produce a picture. They both have an extra plug and while not actively switching which connector was going into them, I know that yes I have switched the connector when hooking them up and trying to get it running.

The video card "runs". It all does. Fans, lights, etc, I just get no picture. That's why my initial question about the processor since everything else seems to be fine. The power supply seems to be doing it's job, there isn't some kind of case where everything looks "on" but isn't really getting power, is there? Heh.

So if the PSU can't be the problem(everything runs) and atleast the other graphics card I know works, as well as my monitors, it has to be the processor, right? I can't get a picture using either motherboard...I just wonder how the processor would've gotten screwed up.

You said that you went down to mobo, video, and 2 sticks of RAM. Try one stick, then the other. If that doesn't work, get hold of a digital voltmeter and check psu voltages with it powered on. If any leg is more than 5% different than nominal voltage, then try a new psu. Otherwise the cpu is probably hosed. If you can try the cpu in another computer you can prove that.

Sometimes when a PSU craps out, the fans, lights, etc will still run giving you a false sense that it's NOT the PSU, but when in fact it was, in my case at least a while ago. This went on for about a month where sometimes my PC will run np, but most days it'd crap out with fans and lights running.

Most likely you were OC'ed right? Did you try to manually clear the CMOS? I read somewhere the ASUS A8V doesnt require you to manually clear the CMOS or something like that. I don't know how that works, but try clearing the CMOS if possible.

I can't think of anything else so like JimmyG said, I'd test the RAM, then the PSU, and lastly the cpu.