Need Advice - Motherboard Fried

My first post so hello :)

I was advised to come here by a friend as I have a problem with my computer and was told you might be able to help.

I have built many computers in the past without problems and last Christmas decided to build myself a new gaming PC.

The spec is..

Asus P7P55D
Intel core i5
Arctic cooling freezer 7 cpu cooler
4 GB of corsair ram
Corsair HX 620 watt power supply
Radeon 4750

It worked perfectly for around 6 months with no problems. I ran hardware monitoring software and the temperatures were all very good.

1 day the computer shut down for no reason. I tried to turn it on again when blue sparks and flames started coming off my motherboard on the left hand side of the processor around where the power capacitors are for the motherboard. Any idea what could have caused this?

I knew the motherboard was fried so took the motherboard out and got a new one under warranty.

I haven’t touched it in about 4 months since it all happened and the components have been stored in anti static bags etc. How likely are the other bits going to be ok after the electrical sparks and flames on the motherboard could it send powersurges to the other bits? I don’t really have a way to test anything and am scared if I put it back together I could damage the new motherboard. What would you recommend I do to get it working again?

Thanks

Tim

A lot depends on the PSU - you are using the Corsair which has a good reputation.

It is very hard to diagnose precise faults, from long range, but from your description I'd say one of the capacitors on the mobo failed catastrophically. The PSU shut down as it should and the computer stopped. When you powered up again, there may have been a current surge before the PSU again shutdown because of over-current.

Has that damage any other components?

Difficult to tell. Ideally you need to test the PSU in isolation, which means dummy loads etc. If you are handy with electronics, old car headlamp bulbs make quite good dummy loads (although a 60 watt will only draw 5 amps - but will be enough to check that the PSU is delivering power. (The cheap PSU testers really don't cut it IMO - they don't provide any load to the PSU so the results are unreliable - except to say if there is a voltage or not.)

If you aren't comfortable t4esting the PSU in that way, then the only alternative is to use it in place. On the balance of probabilities, it is unlikely to have failed, and if it has failed, the failure mode should be such that it won't do any damage. Over voltage ccts should protect components connected to it. Note the use of the word 'should' - only testing will verify that completely.

Hard drives can be tested with a known good PSU - or you could get an external USB caddy and see if you can read data off it on another computer. The GPU card and RAM are probably best tested by substitution in a known good computer - accepting that there is a small risk that if (particularly) GPU card) has been damaged, it could damage the substitute computer. Unlikely - but possible.

Processor - only testing in a known good system, or a system with known good components.

I may have painted a picture of gloom. That is not my intention, but there are risks in rebuilding a system where the reliability of some components are in question. The risks are small, but you should be aware of them.

If I was rebuilding (and without any test instruments) I'd power up PSDU with a couple of fans connected to see if I had an output. Assuming I did, I'd then connect the mobo (without processor, ram or anything else) and see if the mobo LED illuminates with the PSU connected and plugged.

If that was OK, I think I'd probably install the processor and see if I got any error beeps during POST. If so, Id put in a stick of RAM and repeat. Then I'd add the GPU and see if the system booted to the BIOS set up.

I'd then add the additional RAM test, and then add hard drives etc.

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like I will have to find someones computer to help me test some of the components. I know the hard drive is fine because I got some data off it after this happened. I've got a feeling it might be the PSU as my computer did used to get quite dusty and require regular cleaning but the PSU is the 1 bit i think i missed out. It is in an antec 300 case at the bottom so the fan might have been sucking in lots of dust. What do you think?

Thanks

Diofficult to be specifi9c. The Corsair PSU's have a reputation for quality, and you said the sparks came from the vicinity of the mobo, which is why I'd tend to think it was a component on the mobo that failed randomly rather than being caused by a fault in the PSU.

Again, as the Corsair is good build quality, I'd expect it to survive a catastrophic failure on the mobo through the built in protection mechanisms.

That said, I'd still be inclined to test it if I could, even if it the simplest of tests like the ones I described earlier, just to give some confidence that it is giving an output.

Welcome to HEXUS, by the way! :)

is the cpu socket a foxcon one . all so did you have a oc on the cpu..as your motherbord quite a early one as in terms of the chipset ..this is what i would do take out the cpu check for any marks on the cpu itself and inside the motherbored cpu socket ,,,if you do find a marks contact were ever you got the mobo from ..,.as it would have killed the chip as well..the good news is if its a retail intel cpu then all is good as there realy good and will replace your chip ...no so shore about your mobo thow