Have i fingered my Mobo or processor?

[Grungle]

Righto,
Before i start i would like to confirm that i'm not a complete novice when it comes to upgrading or building computers.This upgrade would be around the 8th or 9th i have done(although my first intel 775) and i normally upgrade or build new every 12-18 months.(pre-amble out of the way)

My recent upgrade has really gone pear shaped.The upgrade consisted of the following bits.
*Asus P5N-E SLi motherboard
*Intel E8400 processor
*Geil F2-600CL6D -2gigs x2
*8800GT- Will be upgrading the Vid card at a later date

I always assemble the new config outside the box,normally using the yellow pages as a base with the new mobo sitting on the anti static bag.I took my time,didn't rush with any part of the install.i took particular care when installing the processor and HSF.I made sure everything was grounded before installing the mobo to the case,installed and fixed into place as normal,clipped all the wiring in place.After satisfying myself everything was in place,went to fire it up and nothing happend....nada.....jackshit.
Righto i think, been here before, can't be anything too serious, i'll just start fault finding...............see list below


So far this is the fault finding conducted.

*removed mobo,disassembled and reinstalled all parts(no luck)
*Inspected case for any out of place motherboard raisers or any other points where shorting could occur (all good)
*Reinstalled old mobo and config to confirm power supply(worked fine)
*changed to larger power supply-500w (no luck)
*stripped mobo back to bare bones.ie. processor,HSF,1xmemory,Graphics card and changed memory into different slots ,removed graphics card and alternated memory (no luck)
*cleared cmos and removed battery (no luck)
*installed in different case and powersuppy(too eliminate shorting of some kind)(No luck)
*Piss farted around with power sw and reset wires (work fine and installed correctly
*Installed mobo,removed all parts including processor,HSF installed( Motherboard fired up and ran)
*When the processor is re-installed the mobo wont fire up

I have inspected the pins on the motherboard and cannot for the life of me see any damage,i have inspected the processor and cannot see any problem with it also(mind you the only magnifying glass i had was the lens out of my binoculars)
I have a 50% chance of getting the fault right, i have no way of testing the processor or mobo with another machine and my nearest computer shop is 1400km away.

If there is anybody out there with some other ideas on how to narrow down the fault i would greatly appreciate the input.

Thanks in advance

ps.sorry for the long rant

[Philquad]

tryed less ram?
maybe mobo dont like 2gb sticks or brand.

[dan22]

there meant to handle 45/8400,them mother boards, maybe processor is fxxxxd.
hope not though,good luck lets us know how ya went

[Grungle]

It's looking like the bios is an earlier revision and wont accept the new E8400.
Have tracked down an earlier 775 and will see if i can get the board running to update the bios

[Glenhuon]

Just what I was going to say. Had a similar problem recently, Mobo didn't like the processor. You may find that it still won't work even with the latest bios.
Best of luck

Bill

[bcni]

Had a problem with a Gigabyte board where the BIOS wasn't happy with the 8400. After upgrading to the latest version it worked fine. Not that it wouldn't run, it kept crashing. Did the BIOS upgrade on the original system which was prone to frequent crashes - very nervewracking. Cheers

[anyone]

did you use a heatsink compound ? does the power supply fan spin when machine is turned on?

*When the processor is re-installed the mobo wont fire up

so yeah bios or cpu not up to it

[cd_toaster]

too bad you can find out what BIOS the mobo is running
there is a compatibility list here

tbh i dont think you would of broken anything, pc stuff is actually pretty hard to break. if the pc shop is so far away id buy a second hand cpu from the compatibility list which is supported from the earliest BIOS revision, shouldnt cost more than $30. or you could ask to borrow someones cpu