I am hoping someone can help me out here. I seem to be having a baffling issue. I built a really good computer and it worked great for about 7 months. The fan in the CPU cooler (heatsink) died so I RMAed a replacement (Asus Arctic Square). I installed the new cooler and fired up the computer and a flame shot out of the voltage regulator (VR). The orange against the blue LEDs looked really neat for that picosecond. Then I realized what had happened. So I called Asus and RMAed the motherboard. They sent me another one. When it got here, I installed it and fired up the computer... and a capacitor (Cap) immediately smoked on me. I contacted Asus (this was now 1˝ weeks ago) and am still waiting for them to "cross-ship" me another motherboard. But their poor customer service is neither here nor there. My question is this:
Does anyone know if there is a possible hardware issue that would cause a VR to flame-out, then a Cap to blow? I considered the possibility of a short, but I can't come to a logical conclusion as to why two different components would go at separate times from one short. It seems that if something was crossing the traces at a given spot, it would blow at the same spot. Any ideas?
| Craeft wrote: |
I am hoping someone can help me out here. I seem to be having a baffling issue. I built a really good computer and it worked great for about 7 months. The fan in the CPU cooler (heatsink) died so I RMAed a replacement (Asus Arctic Square). I installed the new cooler and fired up the computer and a flame shot out of the voltage regulator (VR). The orange against the blue LEDs looked really neat for that picosecond. Then I realized what had happened. So I called Asus and RMAed the motherboard. They sent me another one. When it got here, I installed it and fired up the computer... and a capacitor (Cap) immediately smoked on me. I contacted Asus (this was now 1˝ weeks ago) and am still waiting for them to "cross-ship" me another motherboard. But their poor customer service is neither here nor there. My question is this:
Does anyone know if there is a possible hardware issue that would cause a VR to flame-out, then a Cap to blow? I considered the possibility of a short, but I can't come to a logical conclusion as to why two different components would go at separate times from one short. It seems that if something was crossing the traces at a given spot, it would blow at the same spot. Any ideas? |
Wow your luck sounds horrible. What model Mobo was this so I will be sure to not get it.It was the Asus Crosshair. I have lived by Asus for some time and have never had a problem with them until recently. They didn't want to honor the warranty on the CPU cooler and now the motherboard issue. All in all, it was a great motherboard when it was working.
I finally got an email with a prepaid shipping label from them today. We'll see how long it takes for them to get the motherboard to me.
I got to thinking about this post and thought maybe I should put a few specs up. I don't know if it will help anyone help me or not, but it can't hurt:
Asus Crosshair MoBo
Monster™ 650W PSU
GeForce 8800GTX OC
AMD Athlon XP 64 X2
WD Caviar 1TB HDD
4GB PC26400 (GeiL™)
I'm pretty sure it was just a bad build of that board. If the next one messes up I would not order another.
| coreymanshack wrote: |
| I'm pretty sure it was just a bad build of that board. If the next one messes up I would not order another. |
That's kinda what I am thinking. But since it's RMA under warranty, it's either order another or pay a lot of money for a new one. And since I am now a victim of the U.S. economy, that might be tough.
I am considering just taking the board and components to a computer store and paying someone to build it for me. Even though I know what I am doing, I am looking at it as insurance. So that if this one blows too, Asus can't say that I am doing it wrong. | Craeft wrote: |
| coreymanshack wrote: | | I'm pretty sure it was just a bad build of that board. If the next one messes up I would not order another. |
That's kinda what I am thinking. But since it's RMA under warranty, it's either order another or pay a lot of money for a new one. And since I am now a victim of the U.S. economy, that might be tough.
I am considering just taking the board and components to a computer store and paying someone to build it for me. Even though I know what I am doing, I am looking at it as insurance. So that if this one blows too, Asus can't say that I am doing it wrong. |
Yea... "Must be installed by a professional"
That is so freakin stupid. The wires only go into certain holes, you can't mix up the connectors. | coreymanshack wrote: |
| Craeft wrote: | | coreymanshack wrote: | | I'm pretty sure it was just a bad build of that board. If the next one messes up I would not order another. |
That's kinda what I am thinking. But since it's RMA under warranty, it's either order another or pay a lot of money for a new one. And since I am now a victim of the U.S. economy, that might be tough.
I am considering just taking the board and components to a computer store and paying someone to build it for me. Even though I know what I am doing, I am looking at it as insurance. So that if this one blows too, Asus can't say that I am doing it wrong. |
Yea... "Must be installed by a professional"
That is so freakin stupid. The wires only go into certain holes, you can't mix up the connectors. |
Well, technically, if you drop a screw and are too dumb to retrieve it, or if there is some kind of metal shaving somewhere and either of them cross PCB traces at all, it could short it out, but still... yeah. In terms of the installation process, it's kinda hard to put something in the wrong place. | Craeft wrote: |
| coreymanshack wrote: | | Craeft wrote: | | coreymanshack wrote: | | I'm pretty sure it was just a bad build of that board. If the next one messes up I would not order another. |
That's kinda what I am thinking. But since it's RMA under warranty, it's either order another or pay a lot of money for a new one. And since I am now a victim of the U.S. economy, that might be tough.
I am considering just taking the board and components to a computer store and paying someone to build it for me. Even though I know what I am doing, I am looking at it as insurance. So that if this one blows too, Asus can't say that I am doing it wrong. |
Yea... "Must be installed by a professional"
That is so freakin stupid. The wires only go into certain holes, you can't mix up the connectors. |
Well, technically, if you drop a screw and are too dumb to retrieve it, or if there is some kind of metal shaving somewhere and either of them cross PCB traces at all, it could short it out, but still... yeah. In terms of the installation process, it's kinda hard to put something in the wrong place. |
It doesnt always short it... they put some kind of insulator on the boards after they get done with the traces.If it's not the motherboard, then maybe the PSU has gone horribly wrong?
| Donutey wrote: |
| If it's not the motherboard, then maybe the PSU has gone horribly wrong? |
That's kinda what I am scared of. I just bought a new PSU not long ago because the other one was undervolting. The new one seems to have made the onboard monitors happy, but I don't have any way to meter it now. It also seems, however, that if it were the PSU, rather than it frying something here and something there, it would be somewhat consistent?
