5 beeps, then nothing

[Thomaaas]

Dear community,

After functioning really well for 2 years my computer died. I think it is related to the motherboard (asrock) or the CPU (intel i5). I was watching a movie the other day and out of nowhere i got a blue screen of death. Since then i can't boot my computer and all i hear are 5 short beeps from the motherboard. I checked on fora and it could indicate a motherboard or CPU problem
I think me applying thermal paste to the CPU 2 weeks ago caused the problem. I used way too much, half the tube. I only realise this now, but computer was running really smooth afterwards so i didn't think anything about it.
The problem is, one year ago my CPU also malfunctioned because there was dust between the fan and the CPU. Back then my computer became very slow and the fan made a hell of a noise, but the computer never crashed. The problem resolved immediately after removing the clamped up dust. Shouldn't this happen now after applying the paste because the CPU can't get rid of the heat?

My question is: where should I go from now? I removed and reapplied everything, one bar of ram at the time as well as the videocard, there are no bent pins. The CPU still becomes warm but the computer remains dead.
Did I kill the CPU with the overload of thermal paste or could it still be the motherboard? Do i buy a new CPU right away to get the computer functioning again? And shouldn't the overheated CPU just get slower in stead of dying all at once?

Best regards,

Thomas

 

[thx1138v2]

Five beeps in an AMI BIOS means a bad processor. You might try just cleaning off the thermal paste and reapplying it correctly. Look for videos on how to do that.

The purpose of the thermal paste is just to fill the microscopic irregularities in the two mating pieces of metal. There should not be any layering at all. It might be that when you put too much on it dribbled down into the outer row of pins. A lot of the pastes have silver in the paste so it could be shorting the pins out electrically. If that is the case, the processor may or may not be damaged by the short. The only way to know is to disassemble it, clean everything exceptionally well, and try it again. If that doesn't correct the problem all you've lost is some thermal paste but you'll probably need a new CPU. But make sure you get all of the paste out of and off of the socket before installing the new CPU if that is what happened.

For future reference, it would have been helpful if you had recorded the blue screen error info.

 

[Thomaaas]

Thanks! That sounds very plausible.
I saw that some of the paste had leaked. I managed to clean everything, but I might have damaged some of the CPU pins in the process.

Now the computer starts up, but I hear no beeps at all (normally, there's always one). My screen remains black and the computer noises sound different from before. Do you think this means that the CPU is broken or might it be the motherboard wires? I would hate to order one while I need the other.

Best regards,

Thomas

 

[thx1138v2]

I don't know how to check that. Sorry.

If it did, indeed, get a short across the pins that could have also damaged the mobo since the chip socket pins connected to mobo traces would have been shorted also. I guess it would depend on what those pins were connected to.

If it were me I would replace them both because installing a new CPU into a mobo that shorted also might damage the new CPU. It could go either way - putting a new CPU in the old mobo might damage the new CPU or putting the old CPU into a new mobo might damage the new mobo.