Two days ago my power supply blew out. I ordered a new one and installed it today, but now my machine isn't polling. I've pulled the ram and still no beeps. I'm trying to isolate the problem. Everything has been working for about a year until the psu went out. Is there a way to tell whether it is the cpu or the motherboard or any easier (less expensive) solutions?

When a PSU blows, it's not uncommon for it to take out a few components along with it. In your case, it could be the board or CPU, maybe even both. Does the board show any physical signs of damage? Swollen or blown capacitors? Did you remove the CPU & examine it? If you have a PC shop nearby, maybe they can test it for you. Hopefully your bought a decent replacement PSU. Just out of curiousity, what was the make/model/wattage of the blown one? What did you buy to replace it?

The one that blew was an Antec Truepower Quatro 1000W. It was overpowered for my system, but I got a really good price when CompUSA was going out. I replaced it with an Antec 850W, which should be closer to what I need but still a bit over. I took the CPU out, and it doesn't look abnormal. There aren't any swollen capacitors, but there is a spot on the back behind the ram that looks like it's significantly corroded. I don't know if something got hot or whether dust just settled on in back there. I can take a picture and host if it that would be worth seeing. The board was under warranty, so I guess I'll send it off to Asus tomorrow. I just hope the CPU isn't shot, because it'll be 2 weeks until I have a new board to test it on. There are a couple local PC shops in town, but none that seem to know what's going on. I live in the middle of nowhere, so I'm not surrounded by great techs. I guess they'd still be able to test a processor though. I may just take my components in and mail in the motherboard.

Why would you RMA a board without knowing if it's bad or not? "There are a couple local PC shops in town, but none that seem to know what's going on" What's so hard about taking them the CPU & asking them to test it in a known-to-be-good board? Or asking them to benchtest the board with a known-to-be-good CPU?

Heh, you're probably right. I just hate getting charged to get the same diagnosis that I had before. "I think it might be the motherboard." I will take them in tomorrow and have them tested.