i took out my cpu to replace it with another spare one i had laying around just to see if it still worked. when i put the original one back in, the monitor stays in self-test mode and the message is repeated over and over through the speakers "system failed memory test". i'm stumped.

 

Reset BIOS.

 

^^^^ what he said.... find the jumper or pull the battery for a few mins

 

didn't work. i tried putting in the other cpu again and still got the same result. the mobo is an asus a7v333 if that helps.

 

ok i used to have that same board try putting the ram out and putting it back in along with the BIOS resetting

 

nothin... i should probably mention also that when i swapped CPUs originally, it went straight into the bios for me to change CPU speeds, which i did and i haven't been able to get back in since. also, i busted the little tab off of my heat sync that lets you pull it out and over accross the opposite side of the CPU. i guess it's possible that i may have jabbed the mobo in the process, but it looks fine.

 

that could be the problem then if resetting the BIOS won't work. if it is dont feel to bad, i have done the same thing. poped a diode off could of fixed it but the board was so old that i bought the same one that you have.

 

Get the most current BIOS and flash it. You should always do that before upgrading the CPU. There's a good chance the older BIOS doesn't recognize that CPU.

Sometimes, it takes a while to get the BIOS reset. Take the battery out, pull the jumper, check the other components on the board (memory, cards, etc) and make sure they're seated properly, then put the old proc back in. If you can get it to POST, go ahead and flash the new BIOS.

 

another thing to do when 'de-energizing' the system.. is unplug the psu and hit the power button a time or 2, to make sure all the capacitors are fully discharged.

it is very strange that your old cpu won't work.. possible that you damaged a memory bus when that piece snapped, but those boards can take a beating and still work. (watched a small kid at my college jumping on the motherboard, then plug it all back in and have it work)