I understand what you are saying and thank you for your concern. I'm still going to try plugging my speakers into the new computer and try turning it on to see if it makes any beeps. I'll do that now actually and will report back if anything happens. I do need to get my RMA and refund tonight if it's possible so that I can ship it back tomorrow and hunt for another motherboard.
I understand that a $50 motherboard isn't going to be the best quality but I just need it to be a cheapish cost until I have enough money to upgrade.
A person said that the RAM I have isn't compatible with the motherboard but I just looked it up and it should be compatible. But on the box of the motherboard it says only 1600 RAM.
I tried with my speakers plugged in but there was no beeps. How can you tell if the cpu is damaged? I looked at it and there wasn't anything wrong looking with it.
Go to the seller list and get the one from amazon. That will pretty much guarantee that the product is new. Returns are also stupid easy with amazon. They even pay for return shipping. It's a little bit more than $50, but a reputable seller is good.
A slightly higher quality board can be had if you do some mail in rebate work.
I highly doubt you got two bad motherboards in succession. I'm starting to think it may be a CPU problem. Maybe try to unplug your cooler, and re-seat the CPU. Apply fresh thermal paste and make sure the 4 pin power is correctly plugged in. At this point, it's getting really hard to isolate the problem.
After reading through this and you other thread sounds very much like a bad cable from your psu - like the 4/8pin eps cable as mentioned above. If you can try another psu perhaps?
You wont get any beeps because your system cant even post yet. The chance that you'll get 2 bad motherboards is unlikely.
There is also the remote chance that you have a dud cpu, (very very rare). Bad ram is also an avenue - borrow a stick of a mate and test that (1333, 1600 & above wont matter the board will sort out the speed automatically for post).
I do also hope you took care in not bending any socket pins whilst installing the cpu... Twice... That would suck. Although they probably wouldve knocked back you rma if it were the case.
I will try that. I didn't think it could be the cpu and I did install it correctly both times but maybe I messed up. If I do this and it doesn't work I'm going to get a refund for the motherboard and get a different one, would you also suggest to get the cpu replaced?
A person on the other forum told me that the RAM I have isn't on the compatible list. While I looked at the specs on-line at Newegg it says that 1333 RAM is compatible, on the motherboard box it only says 1600.
I'm going to try reseating the cpu and while I'm at it I'll switch the RAMs slot. Can you tell if the cpu is broken or doesn't work by looking at it? I'm still going to reseat it.
It's fine as long as it is DDR3, which it is. The only way to visually confirm is by looking at the pins on the socket and check that they aren't broken, or shorted out. I haven't ever removed a cpu after it has been seated on this socket so I must warn you. Be very careful and gentle
It wasn't too hard to take it out of the first motherboard but I will still be careful. I assume I have to remove the thermal paste before apply the fresh thermal paste?
Those should work just fine too. It's only a matter of removing the old thermal paste, which may have hardened. Just make sure the surface is decently clean.
Alright one last question before I do this. Should I take the mobo off of the stand alone screws? I should be able to get it without doing that but I don't want to take the 24 pin out because of how hard it is to take it off and put it back on.
I'd suggest getting some alcohol from a store nearby. try to get 90% and above if you can (this will have less water in it). Alcohol is great because it's a strong enough solvent to get through thermal paste and evaporates much faster than water. dampening a soft cloth with some and wiping your cpu won't be harmful since it will evaporate so quickly.
also, an i3 will be fine for a post without a heat sink on it. after taking the thermal paste off and resetting it, don't worry about putting the heatsink back on. just dont leave your computer on for long. check for a post then turn it off. Also, when resetting your cpu: typically they can pretty much fall right into the socket. you need to apply no force to get the cpu in. pulling down the lever(s) may take some force but thats it. if you had to force your cpu in, it's a sign a pin might be bent
You mean the stand off screws on your case? You don't need to do that, once you take out the cooler, you will have ample space to work with. That said, make sure the PSU is unplugged from the wall.
Actually it's best to work with the psu plugged in, but the switch off. (If living in north america) The psu, and thus the pc, will be grounded through the structure if your psu is still plugged in. In north america, the bottom 3rd prong plugging into the socket ground, going to the structures ground, and is active whether the pc is on or off