Well, now I have nothing to replace it with, so when I try starting it up with no memory at all the same thing still happens.

Thanks! PC133 as well? I thought it was just PC100... at least that's what Kingston and Crucial are telling me. The unofficial FAQ also says only PC100...

I just found out that the 5000e takes PC100 ... whereas in this system I found a Compaq PC66 module in it. Could that be the problem?

I checked the CPU, that's fine.

Could be, yes. Try removing the PC66 module.

Reseat the memory and the CPU (the latter requires removing the keyboard). If the system still won't boot properly, chances are it needs a new system board.

That may be an indication that the memory is the problem. The 5000/e needs LOW DENSITY PC100 or PC133 RAM.

It'll work with PC133 as long as it's low density. My 5000e runs 2X256M PC133 soDIMMs (bought a few years ago when these crashed to about $30 each; they're more expensive now).

Thanks. But how can I tell if they're low density? The stick I have just says "128MB, Sync, 66mhz, CL2", no mention of Low or High Density.

If there are eight chips on a 128M module, chances are it is low density. If there are only four, it's high density.

Given that you're trying to overclock it by 33%, I wouldn't put any faith in that memory anyway.

Yup, it's a low density PC66 chip. (8 chips total). I guess that would be the only problem? There's not too much coverage of this issue in the previous searched I've done.