Motherboard blow up?

[phr0m]

I had just replaced my asus a8v with an abit av8 and had everything up and running. I woke up this today and turned my computer off (had been running prime for 9 hours) and went and scooped snow off my sidewalk. An hour latter i went back upstairs and turned my computer on and POP right as i hit the power button....... I'm not sure what if anything blew up and i also didnt see any smoke, I did switch my motherboard and put the asus one back in after the abit one just beeped adn had the display numbers 9.C. and 9.F. displayed (which have no meaning according to the manual..) so i put that asus one back in and yet agian no power when i hit the power button (the button does glow green when i have power on, but nothing else happens) ..... So what could be the problem?
specs:
asus a8v/ abit av8 3000+ winchester
x800 pro vivo with full 16 pipes
sound blaster audigy 2zs
wd 74gb raptor
ocz powerstream psu
4 sticks of kingston hyperX

 

[phr0m]

Bump...... come on i need some help with this one........ i think it might be a fried cpu........ if the motherboard green led light is still glowing that does mean it is still recieving power and my power supply isnt bad right?

 

[Sniper82]

Is there any burnt marks anywhere? Did you see or smell any smoke? If you heard a pop sound something in that system should have a burnt mark. If you havent yet look everything over on the mobo,CPU,memory,video,ect(everything).

I know next to nothing about power supplies but is it possible something in the power supply could have blown but still allow it to throw some juice out through the other rails? Power supply experts?

Do you have another power supply to test?

 

[jmg888]

I agree, it sounds like the power supply. This exact thing happened to me about 2 years ago and it was the power supply. Once I replaced it everything was fine.

 

[phr0m]

yeah i do have another psu but i dont no if it is the psu...... one of my friends cpu fried and he said he heard a loud crack kinda like static shock but louder. I'm just gona send the cpu back and get a 32000+ a64 see if that fixes it. When i took out the processor it didnt look like it had any burn marks or anything and no i didnt smell anysmoke after the shock happened.... hope its not the psu just got it a week ago and its actualy a nice one.....

 

[Creig]

yeah i do have another psu but i dont no if it is the psu

I'm just gona send the cpu back and get a 32000+ a64 see if that fixes it.

So you have a spare power supply to test with, yet you're going to RMA the CPU? Even though the two people who posted suggestions said it's most likely the power supply?

Why did you even bother asking for advice then?

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: phr0m
yeah i do have another psu but i dont no if it is the psu...... one of my friends cpu fried and he said he heard a loud crack kinda like static shock but louder. I'm just gona send the cpu back and get a 32000+ a64 see if that fixes it. When i took out the processor it didnt look like it had any burn marks or anything and no i didnt smell anysmoke after the shock happened.... hope its not the psu just got it a week ago and its actualy a nice one.....

I do NOT believe that it is your CPU... Most times when a CPU goes, you will not hear it (your friend sounds like the rare exception). The things you hear when they go are power supplies, and board components (capacitors, etc "blowing").

If you saw a flash, but don't see any visible damage, replace the PSU first (since you will have trouble looking inside of it at it's boards to see if it blew something). If something in the PSU did blow, it could make the power supply only provide power to part of it's rails, so the mobo may turn on, but the CPU etc. may not be getting enough (or any) power. Definitely swap power supplies before you RMA -- especially since your original board also will not boot.

If the power supply is not the culprit, take ALL of your add-in cards (especially sound card) except for the video card out of thier slots, and see if your system boots -- I have had a soundblaster blow a cap, and then the system would not boot with this card in -- that was a BITCH to troubleshoot let me tell you.

The next possibility is the motherboard blew a capacitor -- This is less likely, since the system still did not boot when you swapped boards. This has been an issue with some new boards (there were rumors of a stolen formula for caps circulated among several mfg's but the formula was not complete, causing premature cap failure). To check for this, inspect the boards capacitors (the little round things mounted on it) for bulging, leaning or leaking ones). Any of the above would potentially be fatal to the board.

Failing this, take ALL of your add-in cards (especially sound card) except for the video card out of thier slots, and see if your system boots -- I have had a soundblaster blow a cap, and then the system would not boot with this card in -- that was a BITCH to troubleshoot let me tell you.

The final suspect part would be the CPU -- I would not assume this was dead (unless you were running it at a MAJOR overclock). Also, if you heard the CPU pop, then there would be some physical damage to inspect -- a CPU does not have any sound generating ability of it's own, so only something arcing, shattering, etc would give a pop noise, and you would be able to see the damage.

Good luck, and let us know what the culprit turns out to be.

 

[phr0m]

i'll look at the sound card, i havent sent the cpu back yet, but i did order my other cpu (10x multi good for overclocking) adn i'll also try a different psu (damn ocz if it was that psu) and i will report what hapens

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: phr0m
i'll look at the sound card, i havent sent the cpu back yet, but i did order my other cpu (10x multi good for overclocking) adn i'll also try a different psu (damn ocz if it was that psu) and i will report what hapens

Don't just visually examine it -- my SB Audigy (the one that died) looked FINE.... I just cannot post any machine with it in! SO just try to boot (or at least post) one of the boards with your soundcard removed -- if the problem is still there, then keep looking.

 

[phr0m]

yeah what i ment by look at the card was to test it and check if it would post with it in with my other psu. ended up that ys my psu did die. So should isend this psu back and try for the same kind or just get a different one (forton or enermax?) i have an ocz 420 watt rigth now

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: phr0m
yeah what i ment by look at the card was to test it and check if it would post with it in with my other psu. ended up that ys my psu did die. So should isend this psu back and try for the same kind or just get a different one (forton or enermax?) i have an ocz 420 watt rigth now

I have heard good things about the OCZ PSU's, and I know from experience that they make great RAM, but it is up to you... If you are willing to give the same company another chance, I would go for it -- they definitely do not have a reputation of blowing out early and ofter. Otherwise, I would maybe go for another brand of PSU (make sure it has one of the new 20 pin connectors built in -- adapting it down to a standard ATX connector does not compromise anything, but adapting a regular power supply up to 20 pin for a new mobo in the future may compromise your stability). I unfortunately do not know which brands of PSU are decent. I have had good luck with enermax in the past, and I have heard to avoid the new shiny looking X-connect PSU's like the plague. Thats about all I know about them.

 

[phr0m]

thx for the quick reply and yeah the ocz guys already said they would get me a new psu so i think i will stick with them and also thanks for telling me and keep telling me to test my psu

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: phr0m
thx for the quick reply and yeah the ocz guys already said they would get me a new psu so i think i will stick with them and also thanks for telling me and keep telling me to test my psu

No problem. Sometimes it really is the simplest things that do go wrong (thank god!) and it should be easier to deal with a dead PSU than a dead processor or motherboard. Are you going to keep the new CPU you ordered, or cancel it? You could always stick it in your new mobo, and put your old CPU in your old mobo, and have 2 computers (or sell the old one). That is what I did with my 745 A64 -- I kept it, and am using that system to act as our TV computer (play DVD's, etc).

 

[hondAS2ooo170]

i have had this happin to me and i knew its the psu
in u case its the psu
and when it pops u dont c any smoke
this means that ur not running enought current to ur computer parts

 

[phr0m]

yeah i think i will keep both cpu's and mobos and maybe sell them letter. The 3200+ will probably be here tomorrow and the ocz team is really easy to get a hold of from there forum. I hope it doesnt take to long for them to send me a new one right now using one of my friends enermax 430 watt with the bottom blower thing. Its alright but it only has 15 amps on its 12v rail...........

 

[pac1085]

I've had this happen to me once before, on an ECS board. I plugged the front panel USB connectors in wrong and there was a pop, flash and burnt motherboard. It still worked thought

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: phr0m
yeah i think i will keep both cpu's and mobos and maybe sell them letter. The 3200+ will probably be here tomorrow and the ocz team is really easy to get a hold of from there forum. I hope it doesnt take to long for them to send me a new one right now using one of my friends enermax 430 watt with the bottom blower thing. Its alright but it only has 15 amps on its 12v rail...........

Now this is my turn to be ignorant, but how do you find out what your PSU puts out on each rail... Do you go online and look up the specs based on the model number, or is there some utility that can tell you what it is actually putting out (in case the maker lied, or yours is running out of spec?) Also, what is considered necessary for these new Nforce 4 boards as far as voltage supplies is concerned?

 

[phr0m]

well i was just looking at the side were it shows the ratings for that psu. I'm not sure if there is a utillity to dl but i know that asus and abit (probably more) have utilitys that show the voltage being put out on the different rails. I would say for the new nforce 4 boards you need a psu that supports BTX this is very important because the nf4 mobos use 24-pin atx connectors and one with probably 26 amp rating for the 12v rail (just to be safe) the ocz 520 watt has a 33a rating for their 12v rail so that psu is made for overclocking (but watch out could blow like mine )

 

[MajorPayne]

Originally posted by: phr0m
well i was just looking at the side were it shows the ratings for that psu. I'm not sure if there is a utillity to dl but i know that asus and abit (probably more) have utilitys that show the voltage being put out on the different rails. I would say for the new nforce 4 boards you need a psu that supports BTX this is very important because the nf4 mobos use 24-pin atx connectors and one with probably 26 amp rating for the 12v rail (just to be safe) the ocz 520 watt has a 33a rating for their 12v rail so that psu is made for overclocking (but watch out could blow like mine )

Well, I DO have a PSU with the 24-pin connector built in (I almost tossed it because on my previous board I had to adapt it to a 20-pin slot, and the adapter annoyed me -- good thing I kept it I guess!). I also know that it is rated at 500 watts, and has never given me any problems (that I know of). I will have to check it out tonight just out of curiosity to see if it is a cheapo, or a decent one. It sounds really dumb, but I do not even remember what brand it is (I pray it is not powmax!!).