Ok the scenario is that my friend has a AMD 1400 Athlon CPU and gave it to me saying he doesn't know whether it works. So I ebay a GA-7IEX4 motherboard to try it and hope it works so i can make a box. Now the motherboard has come. I plug in the ATX power, insert graphics card, CPU, CPU FAN, tower power button jumper put on and RAM installed. Turn on the power and all the fans go on but nothing shows up on screen. How do working motherboards with dead CPUs react? I basically want to find out if it's the CPU being dead or motherboard being dead. And if there are ways of checking and which parts i'll need in order to check them. Thanks in advance! btw, on the motherboard there is only the frequency jumpers for the CPU. Where is the ratio jumpers? or are they built in on AMDs? I've tried all the frequencies btw but i'd still like to know if there is meant to be a ratio jumper.
In a bit of a rush at the moment mate but it's not your CPU by the sounds of it. If the CPU was either faulty or dead, the computer would shut itself off after a few seconds. Where i'd look to diagnose is the RAM and/or the video card. I'm sure if you have a squiz around the forums, you'll find your answer
Is the motherboard dead? Very unlikely because power is getting through and the fans are spinning. Is the CPU dead? Possibly, but it doesn't explain the lack of picture on the screen This is what i'd do: 1) Double check all connections are in tightly - all expansion cards are seated nicely in their slots 2) Double check all jumpers are in the right positions - make sure the CMOS jumper is not set to clear. 3) Clear the CMOS either by the jumpers or taking the battery out for 10 seconds. Is the fan spinning on the graphics card? Make sure the RAM slot nearest the CPU is occupied Make sure the motherboard isn't shorting out anywhere - touching the metal case. Have you installed standoffs?
The Ratio (more commonly, multiplier) jumpers have pretty much gone the way of the dodo. Instead, the ratio adjustments are in BIOS. The other thing is that the motherboard is more likely to automatically detect the default multiplier---although, if the multiplier is unlocked, you can adjust this. The FSB jumper is probably best left at 100MHz, unless you know for certain the CPU is supposed to use a 133MHz FSB. I'd definitely start out by clearing CMOS as megamaced suggested. You don't know what the previous owner had in terms of settings, but there could theoretically be some setting that he used for his system that may be wreaking havoc for yours.
