Motherboard beatdown.

[Panda Man]

I was helping a friend in Troy today get his comp up and running. He did allright, its his first build and he freaked out basically. He only made a few mistakes, such as he had the RAM in the wrong slots for dual channel and such. Anyways, he was having boot issues so I went over to help diagnose and repair.

When I turned it on, the fans span up and it died in about a half second. So I thought to myself (its shorting out, it must be making contact with the case). Then suddenly about 3 seconds after cutting off, it came back on, and shutdown 45 seconds later. So I was like WTFBBQ. After removing the motherboard, I eliminated the short and it was functioning properly, except it would still shutdown after 45 seconds. Puzzled, I kept turning it back on and kept trying to access the BIOS to check the settings. After 4 attempts, I noticed it kept shutting down faster and faster. I then asked him if he had any troubles with the HFS, and he said that he did have trouble getting the last lock in position. So I decided I better check either way to make sure the HSF is making contact. He left the plastic part on the HSF . After removing it and applying a little AS5, the comp booted up and didn't shutdown. So I reconstructed the build, and he thanked me (and wouldn't let me decline $20), and after repeatedly telling him payment wasn't necessary, I began to leave. 10 minutes later he called me back the PC not powering up at all. I went back thinking it shorted out again, and re-deconstructed it. This time no matter what the PC wouldn't power on, and I shorted out the PSU to make sure it worked properly - as it did. I deemed the mobo dead and recommend that he RMA the mobo and case, as there is a short in the case somehwere ( it did short a few times after rebuilding, I managed to get it fixed but I kept happening, I should have just taken the mobo out and never put it back in, the shorting killed it I think), but I could never find the culprit.

So anyways, what do you guys think caused the build to power on, off, then back on? (We know it shut down :P ), and do you guys also think the shorting killed the motherboard, or do you think something else, such as it being defective from the beginning.

The build is an E6300, 2x512MB PC800, BFG 7600GT, and some MSI i965 motherboard.

[gvblake22]

Were you missing a power connector somewhere maybe? Possibly the 4-pin 12v CPU power cable? Or maybe one of the power connectors just wasn't plugged in all the way? Also check simple things like the power cord to the PSU and make sure the on/off switch on the case is functioning properly.

[Panda Man]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

Were you missing a power connector somewhere maybe? Possibly the 4-pin 12v CPU power cable? Or maybe one of the power connectors just wasn't plugged in all the way? Also check simple things like the power cord to the PSU and make sure the on/off switch on the case is functioning properly.

I reassembled it 6 times outside the case, always checking everything to ensure everything was hooked up like it should be. Only once did I actually forget to plug in a molex for the motherboard. The motherboard is dead.

Oh, let me add that he used a magnetic tipped secrewdriver after I told him not to. At least he listened to me about working a hard, wooden surface and not on his bed like he was going to.

[gvblake22]

I've rebuilt my computer on my bed many times without incident!!

[Panda Man]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

I've rebuilt my computer on my bed many times without incident!!

with bread crumbs and crap? I just didn't want him to mess up on his first build and step away from comp building

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Panda Man

with bread crumbs and crap? I just didn't want him to mess up on his first build and step away from comp building

LOL
I don't eat bread crumbs in my bed, nor do crap in it either!
I hear ya though, better safe than sorry

[Panda Man]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

LOL
I don't eat bread crumbs in my bed, nor do crap in it either!
I hear ya though, better safe than sorry

More like better safe than dead in his case

[Quakindude]

After shorting something out bad enough to fry the mobo, anything that provides or receives power is now suspect. I would, at a minimum, replace the mobo, PSU and maybe the CPU. Do you have a puter you can test out the CPU in? At any rate, prior to building again, while waiting on new parts to come in, he needs to check every single inch of wiring in the case by hand for burned spots. Every single connector needs to be inspected for burned/arcing spots.

And using a magnetic screw driver inside a computer case is nothing to worry about. It isn't strong enough to damage anything. I use one every time I work on my computers. Back in the day of 3.5 and 5.25" disks, the magnetic screw driver could screw up those disks.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

And using a magnetic screw driver inside a computer case is nothing to worry about. It isn't strong enough to damage anything.

This is true, but it's better to be safe than sorry. The one time you say that in front of a friend while using a magnetic screwdriver on your rig will be the time it screws something up.

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

When you say short... do you mean like there was an extra standoff for the motherboard to mount on? Maybe he fried the mobo himself?