Big Problem With Dell Desktop- Narrowed Down to Motherboard & CPU

[guitardude777]

I took the pentium 4 cpu out of my dell desktop yesterday to get rid of the old thermal paste and apply some new thermal paste. I reinstalled the processor correctly and now the computer won't even boot. The light on the front of the computer is solid amber when the computer boots and the cpu fan runs at maximum. The screen is completely black; the computer won't even boot to the bios screen. I've concluded that the problem must be the CPU or the motherboard, but I have no idea how I could have fried either of these. I did notice that one of the gold dots in between the prongs on the cpu socket is slightly darker than the rest. Is it possible for just the CPU socket to be bad? I'd appreciate it if someone could help me because I need to get my computer running again soon.

 

[darroll]

Take off your processor again.
Did you put too much goose grease on it?
Could you have bent a pin?
I hope you didn't handle the CPU roughly. (static).
Did you close the CPU gate tight?
good luck.

 

[guitardude777]

I didn't put too much grease on it and did not get any on the motherboard. I checked the pins and none of them are bent. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "roughly", but I handled the cpu very carefully and never touched the bottom of it. I also closed the cpu gate tight. Can anyone tell me if it's possible for just the socket to be bad?

 

[familyman1]

Sounds like ESD zapped either the cpu or the mobo. Did you take the proper precautions for ESD?

 

[sniperviper21]

ESD = Electrostatic Discharge.

if the OP didnt know, just a FYI

 

[familyman1]

Thanks Sniper! Forgot to explain the lingo for everyone.

 

[guitardude777]

When I was working inside the computer I had myself grounded the whole time. I think I might have walked around with the CPU in my hand though. Let's hope it's just the CPU that's fried, because that's about a $15 fix.

 

[guitardude777]

I just bought a used pentium 4 off of ebay and I'm hoping that will fix the problem. Since I may have damaged my CPU when I was handling it, what's your guys' advice on how to handle the processor so that I can be sure not to damage it?

 

[Computear]

I just bought a used pentium 4 off of ebay and I'm hoping that will fix the problem. Since I may have damaged my CPU when I was handling it, what's your guys' advice on how to handle the processor so that I can be sure not to damage it?

I always wear my anti-static wrist straps when I work on my computers.

 

[guitardude777]

Is touching the metal of the computer case not sufficient?