Computer Exploded, game over.....

S

Shogo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 1, 2004
Messages
389
I was building a computer for my Girlfriend, amd64 3000+, msi neo FSR, 512ram, enermax 360w PSU.

I plugged everything in the case, installed heatsink, cpu, PSU, and i wanted to do a test (without video card) just to power up my computer to see if the fan will spin and to see if everything is properly connected.

IMMEDIATLY after i pressed the power button, i heard an electric discharge and saw some smoke coming out of the motherbard or cpu i dont remember i was too much frustrated.

I dont even want to try to find out whats broken, i just gave it to the computer shop where i bought the piece and told him to build the computer himself.

The mobo and psu and cpu dont have any trace of burning/smelling. so i hope they will just try to build it and see that its not working and RMA ....

and yes.. i used the little "lifter" screws to separate my mobo from the backplate of the case.

Any thoughts about what happened ? :mad:
 
you let out the magic smoke!
computers need to keep the smoke inside to run
 
I wonder about that powersupply...
Im not sure if enermax is good but if it follows the theme of powmax and raidmax and the list in the psu section, they like to make computers go poof too.

Perhaps you had a defective mobo.... either way how much was fried?
 
Sounds like there must've been a bad cicuit in the motherboard... Or static electricity occured from precipitation in the case :rolleyes:
 
enermax psu's are just fine. You may have installed a connector wrong, like the mobo connector (can you even do that?) or something. Maybe there was a screws shorting something out, I don't know. Maybe the board just blew some caps.
 
awdark said:
I wonder about that powersupply...
Im not sure if enermax is good but if it follows the theme of powmax and raidmax and the list in the psu section, they like to make computers go poof too.

Perhaps you had a defective mobo.... either way how much was fried?
Click to expand...
enermax makes good PSU's so I highly doubt it was that. It sounds more like what the other guy was saying, a defective mobo. I've heard a lot of sad stories lately about msi boards going up in smoke. in fact a few weeks ago they posted a pic on hardocp of a fried msi mobo.
 
About the motherboard connector, im 100% sure it was plugged the right way.

the only thing im not sure is the way you screw the motherboard to the case, here is a little shema:

schema.jpg


The lifters touches directly the motherboard, thats kind of strange..... there is a protection on the motherboard around the screw holes to protect electric shortage, but there is no protection under the motherboard around the screw holes, and the lifters touch it....
 
on the PSU box its clearly stated: WARNING CONNECT THE 3PIN CONNECTOR BEFORE STARTING COMPUTER.

What the fuck is the 3pin connector... anyway i plugged everything... IDE cables(HDD, CD, DVD), 4pin power cables (HDD, CD, DVD, FAN) ,

The only thing i know that was not well plugged is the front Panel 1pin for audio(microphone+headphones), it was plugged into another front panel connector when i realised today that there is a special place to connect those on the motherboard.
 
If you have any plastic spacers lying around you might want to try that...
 
i dont have any spacer provided with my motherboard... anyway all the computer is at the computer shop and i told them that i wasnt able to build the computer myself so i wanted them to build it....

cross your fingers for me plz
 
Ok then, how should i install the Lifters ????

And yes it was my first build
 
BTW ive installed the motherboard in my case exactly as my other computer.... same exact components.....
 
AkaJay said:
is that how you installed it, with the lifters as shown? if so you shorted and possibly killed the mobo.
Click to expand...

Uh, and how else would you install a motherboard? You screw the pegs into the back of the case, set the motherboard down on top of them (there should be metal rings around the screw holes on the motherboard), and screw it down snug.

Am I not seeing something on that picture? Because it looks fine to me.
 
Scero said:
Uh, and how else would you install a motherboard? You screw the pegs into the back of the case, set the motherboard down on top of them (there should be metal rings around the screw holes on the motherboard), and screw it down snug.

Am I not seeing something on that picture? Because it looks fine to me.
Click to expand...
yeah, this is how it's supposed to be done, any other way is... well... stupid and risky
 
dont most motherboards say to have something in the video card slot on first boot?
 
Shogo said:
on the PSU box its clearly stated: WARNING CONNECT THE 3PIN CONNECTOR BEFORE STARTING COMPUTER.

What the fuck is the 3pin connector... anyway i plugged everything... IDE cables(HDD, CD, DVD), 4pin power cables (HDD, CD, DVD, FAN) ,

The only thing i know that was not well plugged is the front Panel 1pin for audio(microphone+headphones), it was plugged into another front panel connector when i realised today that there is a special place to connect those on the motherboard.
Click to expand...

So you burnt out your components because you didn't take the time to listen to the warning and try to figure out what's wrong by reading the manual or looking around for the connection? And now you want to send it back to the dealer. You should suck it up and do the right thing. :rolleyes:
 
I HAVE THE COMPUTER BACK FROM THE COMPUTER SHOP, AND ITS WORKING.

AHAHHA I CANT BELIEVE IT.... YESTERDAY IT WAS SMOKING, AND TODAY IM PLAYING COUNTER-STRIKE SOURCE ON IT".....

I think they simply replaced the mobo and didnt told me because they thought that it was them that broke the motherboard......
 
i had an issue a couple of builds back where i used too many lifter-screws. WHen i would hit the powerbutton, the fan would spin for a millisecond of a milliseconds and stopped. So only use lifter-screws where there are holes, otherwise dont. I learned from that =)
 
Torque is your enemy. Tighten the screws to much and you crack the board. (Espcecialy if the lifter hieghts are uneven.
 
jacuzz1 said:
Torque is your enemy. Tighten the screws to much and you crack the board. (Espcecialy if the lifter hieghts are uneven.
Click to expand...
I have never seen this, but I could definately see it happening with uneven lifters. Motherboards are pretty bendy though :D .
 
I've had problems years ago where the computer wouldn't boot because of shorting by screws, but not any smoke or permanent problem. You have to be careful that all the lifters are being utilized by the screw holes of the motherboard. Since there are different configurations of cases and motherboards and manufacturers might have spacing that slightly differs, you may find that some of the lifters are touching the bottom of the board where it's not supposed to and shorting it. Before installing any board, make sure all holes line up, and then double check that there are no "extra" lifters being concealed by the board, in which case remove them. Otherwise, use a few nylon standoffs if needed. This was more an issue on old cases.
 
AkaJay said:
is that how you installed it, with the lifters as shown? if so you shorted and possibly killed the mobo.
Click to expand...

What??? I've built over a hundred PC's in the last ten years using the brass hex-shaped standoff screws. Never one problem... :confused:
 
I was building my Dads computer and I had the same thing happen. A puff of smoke came out from around the cpu and it smelled horrible .... anyway I removed everything and plugged it back in and it worked just fine. I think it happened to me because there may have been air bubbles in the arctic silver which superheated when the cpu heated and cause some Arctic Silver to burn off. Its been 2 years now and the comp still works .... so i dont know .... weird eh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top