Did my Cpu or Motherboard die???

My Problem:

A week or so ago, i turned off my computer after gaming for a couple of hours. Realizing that i had to check my mail, i tried to turn in back on, only to find that it went into a restart loop, turning on for a maximum of 5- 10 seconds, with all fans spinning.

Specs:

Intel Q9400 2.66 GHz cpu
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R P45 motherboard
640 gig Western Digital Hard Drive
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
2x2 sticks of Kingston DDR2 Ram
Asus Xonar DX 7.1 Sound Card
Windows Vista Home Edition 64 Bit

My power supply came with the case and its an Earthwatts 500W.

Things i have tried:

1.Checked my power supply in another computer. it worked fine.

2.Then i put in only 1 stick of ram. still dead. switched with another stick.

3.Disconnected my stock cpu fan, took out the cpu, looking for bent pins, etc. all was fine.

4.I took everything out of the case, cleaned everything, and put it all back together.

Does anybody have any advice or experience with something like this? Any help is greatly appreciated

Is there any way to be 100% sure?

Remove all RAM and power it up - see if it beeps at you

Test it with a known good CPU

it could also be a virus......

I dont think its a virus, cuz i had security running right up to the point where it died. Also, the "newest" working cpu is a core duo, and its sitting in a laptop, unfortunatley. I removed the ram, and there was no diffrence. :(

you were checking your e-mail then it died. hello?Dogswithguns

lol, no, sry, i tried to say that i was GOING to check my email, and when i TRIED to turn on the computer, it went into a restart loop.

I removed the ram, and there was no diffrence. :(

zakhar93

Most motherboards will beep at you if there's no RAM installed. I'd say your motherboard is dead.

Did you clear the cmos battery...?JigglyWiggly_

How would i do that? i did take it out and replace it with a diffrent one, but i dont know how to "clear" it....

And yeah, im probably gonna order a new motherboard.

[QUOTE="zakhar93"]

I removed the ram, and there was no diffrence. :(

Rusteater

Most motherboards will beep at you if there's no RAM installed. I'd say your motherboard is dead.

[QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"]Did you clear the cmos battery...?zakhar93

How would i do that? i did take it out and replace it with a diffrent one, but i dont know how to "clear" it....

And yeah, im probably gonna order a new motherboard.

when I built my computer I originally used a Logysis 430w because It came with my case. After about a week on that power supply, It died and it did a reboot loop. I flashed the CMOS and checked all my parts... I ended up replaceing the Power supply with a spare Antec from a friends build and then it worked fine.

If I buy a new motherboard from newegg i can return it, right?

when I built my computer I originally used a Logysis 430w because It came with my case. After about a week on that power supply, It died and it did a reboot loop. I flashed the CMOS and checked all my parts... I ended up replaceing the Power supply with a spare Antec from a friends build and then it worked fine.

slayerpker

Taking out the battery for an hour... did nothing. :( I guess ill buy a new motherboard. can any1 recomend something for the parts i listed in the origional post?