[robertian]

Hi chaps,

I have a 5 years old computer with an AMD athlon 1200, 512 Mb ram, nvidia GeForce fx 5900 video card and have just tried to upgrade my processor to to an AMD 2600 which I bought at a computer fair (stop laughing). On restarting my computer, I could hear the processor working, although no bleeps but the was nothing on the monitor, black screen, although the power light was on. Also
keyboard appears to be dead, no caps lock nor num lock LED showing.

Tried putting old processor back in but same result. When I press the restart button you can hear the computer restarting but nothing on the monitor.

Cheers to anyone who can help without telling me its going to cost a lot!

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A few things :

1. Are you certain that the motherboard supports the new processor? Theres a huge jump between the old & new one & I would be very surprised if your board is capable of supporting both.

2. When you installed the new cpu, did you change any jumper settings or dip switches on the mobo?

3. When you installed the new cpu, did you have a new heatsink/fan for it or did you use the hsf that came off of the old cpu?

[Samm]

A few things :

1. Are you certain that the motherboard supports the new processor? Theres a huge jump between the old & new one & I would be very surprised if your board is capable of supporting both.

2. When you installed the new cpu, did you change any jumper settings or dip switches on the mobo?

3. When you installed the new cpu, did you have a new heatsink/fan for it or did you use the hsf that came off of the old cpu?

[anoobrew]

Buy a new mobo. It wont cost too much and it brings you more up to date with better performance (FSB) and options. Go to tigerdirect.com and you'll find one for a good price

[robertian]

Hi Samm,

1. Took advice from the guy at the computer fair who said there would be no problem up to 2800. Seemed to know what he was talking about which was more than I did

2. no switches nor jumpers altered. It was a straightr processor switch using the old heat sink.

[robertian]

Buy a new mobo. It wont cost too much and it brings you more up to date with better performance (FSB) and options. Go to tigerdirect.com and you'll find one for a good price

Thanks for the advice but I'd prefer to find out why I've got a dead monitor first before I start possibly throwing good money after bad.

[Samm]

OK, suspect I know what the problem is, or at least, whats caused it!

Firstly, lets assume your mobo does support the new cpu or something close to it and that the cpu settings are set to auto. In that case, the heatsink you installed on the new cpu would not have been sufficent to keep it cool. AMD cpu's in particular can overheat & burn out within just a few seconds if the heatsink/fan is massively underated or missing.
Also, whenever a heatsink is removed & reapplied to the cpu, the old thermal compound must be removed from the cpu & heatsink and a fresh blob of thermal paste applied. If you didn't do this, then that will have contributed to the cpu overheating even more.

This may also explain why your old cpu won't work either. If you simply put the heatsink back on the old cpu without new paste, it too may have overheated.

If it turns out that your board doesn't support anything close the new cpu, then it may also have sent the wrong core voltage to the cpu.

If I were you, before you switch the system on again, buy some decent thermal paste (artic silver is good)

Clean the old paste off of the heatsink & cpu (theres special cleansers for this that won't harm the cpu)

Apply a pea sized amount of the paste to the centre of the cpu & spread it over the die (the square shaped bit in the centre of the cpu) to a thin film.

Reinsert the cpu & connect the heatsink/fan - make sure you unplug the power lead & the internal power connector to the motherboard first

Clear the bios using the clear cmos jumper on the motherboard for about 10 seconds

Try & boot the system again.

If you tell me the exact make & model of your motherboard (normally printed on the board itself), I will find out for you what the fastest cpu is that it supports

BTW never trust advice from anyone at a computer fair!

[robertian]

Hi Samm,

Appreciate your reply. I think you may have it when you talk of thermal paste. Even when putting the heat sink back on the first time, it felt gritty and flaky. I'll invest in some new paste and try again. Thanks for your help

[Samm]

You're welcome.
To be honest though, I strongly suspect the new cpu is fried. The old one may have survived with any luck.

Good luck