bad mobo can damage cpu?

[darsunt]

I've been trouble shooting a computer for awhile, which gets unstable during virus scans or on the internet. I've pretty much isolated the problem to the:

motherboard or bios
cpu
power supply

I'm thinking of putting in a new cpu to see if that would fix things, but I'm concerned that if the problem is in the mobo or the psu it could damage the new cpu. Is this likely?

 

[Yami]

Possibly, but I think you're looking in completely the wrong place; sounds like either you have something virusey or your OS is corrupted in some way.

 

[SparkMonkeyHellion]

A cheap PSU will damage many things - as it will deliver unstable voltages.

If the mobo is also unable to properly manage the voltage to the CPU it could cause damage as well.

Please provide the make and model of your CPU, MOBO and PSU

 

[darsunt]

mobo is asus p5n-e sli
cpu is intel core 2 duo e4300 allendale
psu is antec smartpower 2.0 sp-500

I think the power supply is very good, but who knows. All the cables look good, no obvious damages visible on the mobo

 

[darsunt]

Also I have 2 vista disks, one student version and one oem, and neither will install on this computer. Only my old xp disk will install. The student vista disk installed well on my 'other' repaired computer.

 

[Pinscher]

This sounds like you have some problem with your HDDs. I wouldn't be looking at your cpu or mobo.

 

[SparkMonkeyHellion]

Those Antec Smartpower PSUs had a serious problem a while ago. I don't know if it was one batch or what. This might be a good time to upgrade.

Antec Smartpower 2.0 450 watt psu and 8800GT?

Google is your best friend. Try replacing that PSU.

What error does Vista give you when trying to install?

 

[35g700]

Have you checked your motherboard over for bad caps?

 

[SparkMonkeyHellion]

Have you checked your motherboard over for bad caps?

oooh. you're talking more trouble than it's worth... you could spend hours going over it just to find nothing wrong but still have it not work.

 

[darsunt]

Yes, it might be good to try a different power supply first.

I did swap out the hard drive, the optical drive, and the memory. All work okay on my repaired computer.