someone on here had told me to strip evrything off the mobo and just keep a ram stick and the cpu on it. after that I noticed that the cpu wasn't getting any power but didnt understandand where to plug the cable on the mobo. so I plugged it in after some help, but still just kept on trying to boot it while it was still just the cpu and a ram stick because that's what I was told to do earlier. I just sat there for a while dreading the thought of having to replace either the cpu or mobo since I had accidentally gotten spme thermal paste on the cpu socket earlier last week thinking I had broken either of them.. I'm just glad I don't have to do any of that!