computer just won't work

i recently put together an athlon based computer, with and 800 mhz processor, a k7pro motherboard from micro star international, a soundblaster live soundcard, and a creative annihilator 2 video card (nvidia geforce 2). the computer was running fine, until the other day, when it decided it would reboot every 10 seconds or so, until today, when it decided to stop functioning all together. the led diagnostics on the motherboard said that either the processor or the battery was damaged, so i replaced the battery. it still doesn't work. is it possible for a cpu to just break out of nowhere? and is there anyway i can tell if it's actually the motherboard, and not anything else? as i said, it was running fine, but it doesn't work at all anymore.

1. RE: computer just won't work
lbyard Aug-17-00 04:52 PM
In response to message 0

Processors can break, especially if the CPU fan stops functioning. If the fan is working (and was working), CPU failure is extremely rare. I see about one per year. The likelyhood of a motherboard, memory, or expansion board failure is much higher. See other articles in this Forum and our Motherboard FAQs for troublshooting tips. Try reseating the CPU (see http://duxcw.com/digest/Howto/buildcom/athlon/ath_3.htm). Please come back and let us know what the problem was. Larry

2. RE: computer just won't work
terracore Aug-18-00 11:42 PM
In response to message 0

On motherboards that have the metal arm that contacts the battery (+) sometimes the heat of normal use can cause a small gap (size of human hair) just large enough to keep it from working. (especially if it was snagged by a cable or something, or during battery replacement) To see the gap you usually have to pull the MB out and hold it up to the light. If you see this gap and rebend the arm to correct it, you may still need to send the BIOS chip out for reflashing.
The fact that before it quit working it kept rebooting sounds like it was either running too hot, was overclocked, or has a wrong jumper setting. A lot of things can cause rebooting to happen. I would pull out all cards, reinsert video card only, and then try. If it boots up install one card at a time.