Motherboard dead? I need help!

First, I'm typing this on a crappy tiny laptop, so there will be
typos.

I have an Abit BH7 with P3 2.4GHz...about 3-4 years old.
The other day, it just wouldn't boot up. It would give me a long beep
(about 2-3 seconds long) and repeat.
No BIOS, no video signal. Sometimes no beeps at all.

The first thing I did was swap out RAM with known good RAM.
Then I bought a new video card. No help.

I stripped everything down...took out all the cards. I removed the
heatsink, blew dust out of everything.
I reseated connectors, RAM, etc.

The only thing I noticed is that the thermal compound between the CPU
and heatsink is all dried out. I don't have any more.

Anything else I can check, or do I have a dead motherboard?

If so, I just want to get back up and running. Can I still get a
BH7? If not, what should I get?
I'm not looking at gaming, this is my general-purpose PC that I badly
need to get back.

Hope someone can help.

Oh, I also removed the battery, disconnected the cables from the mobo,
and discharged the CMOS.

It looks like you tested everything but the power supply. Be sure bend the
power connector at motherboard as I have had trouble there. The most common
method of trouble shooting is replace with known good. Motherboards do go
bad. If you replace with similar Intel chipset motherboard, you will not
have to do a repair intall of Windows. Maybe get used for $30 on Craigslist
or new ~$50. At this point in time consider that Tiger Direct has many
factory re-conditioned name brand Core 2 Duo and Athlon X2 complete
computers for $300-$350.

On Jan 27, 1:14 pm, "Kent_Diego" <N...@no.way> wrote:
> It looks like you tested everything but the power supply. Be sure bend the
> power connector at motherboard as I have had trouble there. The most common
> method of trouble shooting is replace with known good. Motherboards do go
> bad. If you replace with similar Intel chipset motherboard, you will not
> have to do a repair intall of Windows. Maybe get used for $30 on Craigslist
> or new ~$50. At this point in time consider that Tiger Direct has many
> factory re-conditioned name brand Core 2 Duo and Athlon X2 complete
> computers for $300-$350.

If I want to keep my P4 and everything else, what mobo should I get?
It looks like the Slot 478 boards on Abit's website are all
discontinued.

Mitch wrote:
> On Jan 27, 1:14 pm, "Kent_Diego" <N...@no.way> wrote:
>> It looks like you tested everything but the power supply. Be sure bend the
>> power connector at motherboard as I have had trouble there. The most common
>> method of trouble shooting is replace with known good. Motherboards do go
>> bad. If you replace with similar Intel chipset motherboard, you will not
>> have to do a repair intall of Windows. Maybe get used for $30 on Craigslist
>> or new ~$50. At this point in time consider that Tiger Direct has many
>> factory re-conditioned name brand Core 2 Duo and Athlon X2 complete
>> computers for $300-$350.
>
> If I want to keep my P4 and everything else, what mobo should I get?
> It looks like the Slot 478 boards on Abit's website are all
> discontinued.

The 478 boards are hard to find.I'm wanting to get a abit BE7II BOARD
But have not found one yet.

Mitch wrote:
> Oh, I also removed the battery, disconnected the cables from the mobo,
> and discharged the CMOS.

Kent has come up with the most likely problem. You should check the PSU
by trying another, known good PSU, as mentioned. A PSU can fail in many
ways, so symptoms will be varied, but with all you did, it's the most
logical component that is causing you problem. Plus, the way you
explain the initial failure, as being good one day, then system dead the
next time you boot, is the most common way a PSU failure manifests.

Before you turn the system on again, though, make sure you clean the CPU
and heatsink bottom to remove any left over dried out compound.
Usually, high percentage alcohol (100%, 91%) is all that is needed, but
tough stuff will go away with nail polish remover.

Then get some heatsink compound. Radio Shack sells a small tube of it
and is adequate for any system. Higher priced "silver", etc. compounds
are really not much, if any better, than regular old white heatsink
compound. Apply a thin coating to the CPU only and then mount the
heatsink. Any excess compound will be squashed out the sides.

Without a good heatsink, joined by active compound, the CPU can overheat
nearly instantly and shut down the CPU, shutting down the computer.

On Jan 27, 3:25 pm, Mitch <brink.mi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If I want to keep my P4 and everything else, what mobo should I get?
> It looks like the Slot 478 boards on Abit's website are all
> discontinued.

After so much labor, please list what is known good and what is
known bad. Nothing. Everything is still in a third category:
unknown. A problem complicated by fixing things before knowing what
is wrong.

Step back and start over. Assuming the entire machine is in
complete disarray, then assemble the computer with only these
components: power supply, speaker, motherboard, power switch, and CPU
(hopefully you did not try replacing thermal compound or heatsink).
Notice what is not required (but if already installed - then leave it)
- mouse, keyboard, disk drives, video controller, memory.

Now connect AC power cord to wall receptacle (or course never
connect or remove anything until power cord is disconnected - never).
Press power switch. What does and does not happen? For example, a
minimal configuration should, at least, create speaker beeps. That
says what is and is not working. Beep counts provide more useful
facts.

If nothing happens, or if only fans spin and lights glow, well,
anything can still be 100% defective including power supply. Yes, a
100% defective supply can even boot a computer which is why numbers
are necessary fix things final and the first time.

This two minute procedure is what you should have performed before
removing anything. It can still be performed on the minimal
configuration if the minimal test does not work: "When your computer
dies without warning....." starting 6 Feb 2007 in the newsgroup
alt.windows-xp at:
http://tinyurl.com/yvf9vh
Connector chart for where each color wire should be located:
http://www.hardwarebook.net/connecto.../atxpower.html

Numbers either report what is and is not working, or provide
information so that your next post will result in "definitive
answers". "Try this and try that" is called shotgunning. And since
only two minutes provides so much useful facts, then don't waste time
and money replacing perfectly good parts. Know what is a suspect
before replacing anything. Your replies will only be a useful as
information you provide. Solution requires taking each component from
'unknown' to 'definitively something'.