"System Failed CPU Test" is Driving me Crazy!

The computer in my signature recently stopped booting up. The Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard keeps stating "System Failed CPU Test" over and over in a snooty woman's voice. The monitor doesn't come on at all.

I took all of the components out of the computer except the Video card. I've tested the memory in a different computer and it's fine. I unhooked the hard drives and still got the same problem. So it's narrowed down to the motherboard, video card, CPU, or power supply.

I purchased a new motherboard and still had the same problem. I purchased a new CPU and still nothing. So, my question is, which do you think is more likely the culprit, the video card or the power supply? The computer turns on and all of the fans work, so it would appear that the power supply is working, but is it possible for it to work only partly and still not be supplying enough juice to the motherboard?

Or is it more likely that it's my video card. I haven't had any previous trouble with the video card.

Please let me know.

Thanks,
Webshark

First of all try clearing the CMOS in case it got scrambled. There should be a jumper on the motherboard to do that, if there isn't or you can't find it then pulling the motherboard battery out for a few minutes will achieve the same result (unplug the power lead as well).

Thanks for the suggestion SuperSparks, but that was also one of the first things I did, before completely replacing the motherboard. I think I've ruled out anything on the motherboard being the problem.

Try cleaning the video card contacts and reseating it first, or even better, try a different card if you have one. Digging around suggests that vid card problems are a likely cause of that message, somwhat bizarrely.

Well, I've tired cleaning the video card contacts and have had no success. Would you say it's most likely the video card that's the problem?

No, I wouldn't go as far as that. It could be mobo, CPU or graphics card, and I wouldn't like to say that any one is more likely than another. Unfortunately substitution is the only way of knowing for certain, as there is no easy way of testing any of those 3 components :(

Well, as I stated, I've already replaced the motherboard and CPU and neither of those fixed the problem. So, between the video card and PSU which do you think would be more likely?

Antec 480w PS
I would say check the PS first.

Video card failures you normally get nothing. My experience so far.

I purchased an Antec 500W Basiq power supply and got the computer working again. Although I've had a lot of problems. When the computer booted up it kept freezing and had some strange abnormalities on the screen.

I finally decided to reinstall Windows XP Pro since I figured the problems were occurring because of the slightly different motherboard (this one was an A8V Deluxe revision 2.0 wheras my original one was a revision 1. something).

As I was trying to reinstall windows I kept getting blue screens. One of them had the message:

PFN_LIST_CORRUPT etc. etc. etc....

the other said

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL etc. etc. etc...

I finally got the install to finish after screwing around with the DVD-ROM and several other things. I've updated Windows with all of the system updates and all current drivers, but the computer still seems to be acting strange. I'll still get a blue screen every now and then.

My only thought is that this 500W power supply, although still from Antec, seem quite a bit lighter than the 480W one I had originally. I'm wondering if it's not a true 500W power supply and it's not actually even giving me 480W like the old one was. I remember paying a pretty good amount for the 480W power supply and Antec touted it as a "True" 480W power supply where some of the cheaper power supplies can't actually provide the amount of power they state on their box.

Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Webshark

Different Stop Errors like that are frequently a symptom of bad RAM. You can test the memory with either (or both) of these utilities:

Memtest86

Windows Memory Diagnostic