My verdict= bad mobo. Yours?
 

I bought and assembled a system about a month ago.

Athlon 3500+ (x64) on a MSI nForce4 Ultra board. 4x512 of kingston ram. MSI 6600GT. 2x Maxtor SATA 200GB. Some generic card reader and dvd burner. Running Windows Media Center.

I played a monster session of games last night. A couple hours of AOE3, followed by about an hour of HL2. I wasn't overclocking, but the system got a little hot, speedfan gave me a warning when I hit 50*C. I didn't think it was a big deal. It shut down without any problems last night.

This morning, it hangs on the inital post. On initial powerup, I get the 'ok beep'. A bit of a header, then a line that reports that my processor is what it is, but doesn't proceed to perform any other checks. I can't hit F2 or F8 to enter boot menu or bios. Nothing happens.

Unseating everything and reseating does nothing. No ram gives me the expected beep error. Minimal system; processor, one stick of ram (checked all 4 individually) with only my master hdd (non-raided) and video card doesn't seem to change anything. Plugging in an old working ide drive. Nothing. Same when trying to boot to a usb jump drive (once I reconnected the front usb port). I don't have another pci-e video card to check, but I am getting a picture on the screen, so I suspect it isn't the problem.

So I think it is something on the motherboard, not entierly dead, but something problematic. I believe that my northbridge was the sensor that was reading hottest.

What else should I think? I want to be pretty sure of myself when I go to exchange the board.

Oh, I also reset the cmos, both by the built in button and by removing the battery, so now it hangs at a silly splash page, instead of post. And hitting tab doesn't let me switch to the hung post.

Removing the battery alone does not necessarily always mean the CMOS is reset. There is usually a jumper with 3 pins, on two of them is the normal position, move it over one to the reset position. Once in the reset position, hit the power button. The unit should not come on. Move the jumper back to the original position and push power. Your computer should now come back on.

When you try this, does it change anything?

There is a little red button (SW1) for clearing the cmos. I can't seem to find the jumper you are referring to, although I'll look again in daylight. I can't see it, can't find it in the manual, but there is a 'bigger then life labeled fold out chart' that I'll find and look at tomorrow. It is a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum.

I had assumed that since it started going to the splash screen, instead of of post, as soon as I reset it, the reset was successful. I had disabled the splash screen when I initiallly assembled.

I have 12 hours of class that start in 8 hours, so I think I'm going to cry myself to sleep and give up until tomorrow evening.

Ouch.

Have you removed all extraneous devices? Disconnect everything that isn't keyboard or video. Traditional non-USB keyboard, if you have one.

I've seen MBs choke in POST with what seemed like normal functioning devices attached. Even something as simple as a misbehaving USB flash drive can cause it. I have a couple Lexar sticks that catch me out when I forget and leave them in machines.

I still can't find any pins/jumper to reset the cmos. I'm starting to suspect that I won't find them on this board.

I had nothing plugged in but a multimedia microsoft ps2 keyboard. I just tried with an older, very basic ps2 keyboard, but still no change.

Thanks for the advice so far. I'm taking all my ram to my friends house to confirm that they aren't in anyway a problem. Normally, we are the people that people go to when they have computer problems, but we are fresh out of ideas, even though neither of us have ever run across a 'partly dead motherboard'.

The board gives me the 'no ram beeps' when I have no ram plugged in and the 'no processor beeps' when I unseat the processor. I'm working on the assumption that since the post does 'post' the processor, that it is functional. Although, since it hangs at that point at well, I guess it could be the problem. Maybe I'll take my processor to check as well...

That button is the correct method. It's an MSI thing.
Okay, I had to ask.

You're right. Time to swap MB and/or processor.

A month after assembly is when I think about assembly procedures.

Be sure to unplug the power - or at least discharge the p/s - before removing or installing components like RAM. Many systems don't bleed down the caps or do it too slowly for bench work. I've had many knowledgable customers fry their systems by forgetting.

Then there's ESD damage. It can take a while for the component to degrade and show symptoms.

Hey, you may do everything perfectly but I can't see from here. :)

Last night, I tried all my components on a similar system, they all checked out, including the carefully swapped processors. I just got back from the local retailer who pretty much asked me every question that I was asked here. It was suggested that I may have a random grounding issue. Then he shrugged and gave me a brand new retail box with a new mobo and all the goodies.

I wasn't thinking when I took it back, but the original purchase came with 4 sata cables, a couple power adapters, a rear panel cover, and a 'd bracket', etc, but I had left all the parts in and around my case when I went to return the board. When I explained, they told me not to worry about it, so I got a free bunch of goodies for my troubles.

I'm up and running now, everything seems fully operational. The little northbridge fan is infinitely more quiet on this otherwise identical board.

Thanks for the help.

So, one thing I still don't understand: I shuffle me feet across the carpet and give a little zap to a component... but it isn't dead, it has just been dealt a mortal injury that will cause death some indefinite time in the future?

Good to hear it's working, whatever the cause.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic. Shuffling feet aren't required. Touching isn't required. Visible sparks or shocks you can feel aren't required. Electricity is witchcraft. :)

Even if the damage isn't immediately fatal, ESD causes breakdowns in junctions and insulators that becomes progressive. It accelerates nasty effects like electromigration in which the tiny wires separate or touch where they shouldn't. Open or shorted circuit. Dead logic. It's a natural process but circuits hit by ESD were just pushed over spec. Now they'll get hot faster, leak earlier, and those contribute to further breakdown.

It's cheaper to be careful.