What could have caused this? (PICS) MB DEATH

[AphexDreamer]

So if anyone payed attention to me in the BF3 Thread my Mother Board decided to crap out on me the day before I would get my key for the Beta...

Luckily since I had some funds saved up for the Asus Crosshair V I've gone ahead and purchased it and should be receiving it tomorrow.

Now I wasn't expecting to find out what went wrong with my MSI Board (Everything looked ok from the front) and was going to RMA it but when I took it out and looked at the back I'm not so sure if I can RMA it anymore.

The Back story is that I left my PC on and when I came home hours later I found it off and not turning on. There was this odd smell in my room but my cousin had also been painting in there so I thought it was still just the paint, probably O3 though.

So is an RMA still good? Worth me paying the shipping to try?

Cause: Was this the result of a short? But From what?

Should I get a new case? ( Was thinking about it anyways but now this pushes me toward getting a new one further more)

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I don't see how it could short, on what? it cant just short itself can it? If it was working fine earlier how can it just short itself. It's very strange but it must have been a fault with the board imo.

It certainly looks like it went kerblam good style though.

 

[AphexDreamer]

Yeah this is my first encounter of this nature. Never had this happen to me before.

I' shall do some more detective work to see if it was a bug or something.

So would this be covered in warranty for an RMA?

 

[Cold Storm]

There isn't a problem ever with the word "try"... It doesn't seem to be something that could be caused after "time". Seems to be something that happened in an instant.. I say try and see what happens.. I know others will chime in on if there was a issue.

Also, Stacker is a nice aired case.. So, I don't think that it would be a problem.. But, if anything could of "gotten" into the case, it could of done so and I'd probably think about it in getting a new one..


my 2 cents

 

[AphexDreamer]

There isn't a problem ever with the word "try"... It doesn't seem to be something that could be caused after "time". Seems to be something that happened in an instant.. I say try and see what happens.. I know others will chime in on if there was a issue.

Also, Stacker is a nice aired case.. So, I don't think that it would be a problem.. But, if anything could of "gotten" into the case, it could of done so and I'd probably think about it in getting a new one..


my 2 cents

So regarding a new case, it wouldn't be a bad idea. Thanks for the input.

 

[Cold Storm]

So regarding a new case, it wouldn't be a bad idea. Thanks for the input.

It's never bad to "try new things"... lol.. Stacker is so.. 2007.. lol

 

[AphexDreamer]

It's never bad to "try new things"... lol.. Stacker is so.. 2007.. lol

Well noted lol. I was thinking about getting the Haf X or Antec DF-85 or was it 86...

Decent upgrades?

 

[WarraWarra]

That looks like a electrical short "manufacturers defect" right next to what looks like the default motherboard heatsink ?

Liquid shorts usually does not look like this and then will short and shut down not keep on cooking.
There must be something else that failed and pushed too much power to this part without working like it should.

Maybe lightning but likely not as many other things like psu tv etc. would fry as well not just this one area of your mboard.

If MSI is intelligent they would check on this before it becomes a Toyota failing brakes disaster for MSI.

PS> it looks like it arched / micro lightning from the heatsink to the thingy that burned dew to poor grounding or a electrical leak somewhere. Still is a manufacturers defect in design and in parts.

 

[twilyth]

I've given up on MSI since the Neo LGA755 boards. I had one that cooked itself in a similar manner. Not quite as dramatic, and since I had overclocked it I didn't even try to RMA it. Don't recall the exact location of the problem. IIRC it was in the general vicinity of the cpu socket.

 

[Darkleoco]

If you are looking to upgrade your case then you can't go wrong with a HAF-X great space to run cables if they are long enough and it keeps my temperatures very constant with plenty of work room inside even with a massive cpu cooler and 2 large graphics cards

 

[AphexDreamer]

If you are looking to upgrade your case then you can't go wrong with a HAF-X great space to run cables if they are long enough and it keeps my temperatures very constant with plenty of work room inside even with a massive cpu cooler and 2 large graphics cards

I'll probably be picking up the HAF X at Frys before I get my MB from Newegg tomorrow.
I'll take a glance at a few other cases but I've mainly got my eyes on that one.

 

[Night Rider]

to me it look's like a ground short could it have got knocked over and the back plate bounced
just enough to touch the case panel..just my thought's..and after looking for some time i went with the coolmaster enforcer case i realy like it now that it's done plenty of room..just wish the front door opened the other way..i'll post pic's of it in a few day's..
still need camera..

 

[bbmarley]

Flynn lives!

 

[Cold Storm]

Well noted lol. I was thinking about getting the Haf X or Antec DF-85 or was it 86...

Decent upgrades?

Haf X is the way I'd go out of the two.

 

[AphexDreamer]

to me it look's like a ground short could it have got knocked over and the back plate bounced
just enough to touch the case panel..just my thought's..and after looking for some time i went with the coolmaster enforcer case i realy like it now that it's done plenty of room..just wish the front door opened the other way..i'll post pic's of it in a few day's..
still need camera..

Maybe... and I'm looking for a full tower actually, thanks though.

Flynn lives!

And lol.

 

[qubit]

You most certainly can RMA that board. It looks like a power plain shorted out and did this. How? Flexing caused by heat can do it, coupled by degraded insulation. The PC goes through a thermal cycle each time it goes on and then off and this degrades materials in various ways. Of course, lower quality products will suffer from this significantly more than good ones. Your mobo likely had a manufacturing fault and this was a ticking timebomb waiting to go off.

Or you could have shorted it against the case. Just don't tell MSI that.

 

[cadaveca]

RMA. MOSFET blew up. probably becuase the heatsink has a poor design that didn't cover the entire surface. This is the EXACT reason I remove a board's MOSFET heatsink and show the impressions in the the thermal pads in my reviews.


You'll also note that while early P67 and Z68 products had issues with contact to all MOSFETs, and I did mention this fact on EVERY board i got as samples that had the problem, lately, this is NOT an issue, thanks to OEMs using thicker pads, and larger contact plates.

RMA!! RMA!!

I will say, that there is quite a bit of dust buildup there, and probably...probably..that's what caused teh short that made it blow, but whateva. Just my own opinion. Still RMA and let the OEM decide who is at fault.

 

[Frick]

I will say, that there is quite a bit of dust buildup there, and probably...probably..that's what caused teh short that made it blow, but whateva. Just my own opinion. Still RMA and let the OEM decide who is at fault.

That dust caused a short? I'm not so sure. It's not that much.

 

[cadaveca]

That dust caused a short? I'm not so sure. It's not that much.

Yes/No. Depends on the type of dust.

look here:

See how far OUTWARDS that dust has built up? you cannot say that is not a lot. It is a fair amount, far more than I would let my own PC get.





I dunno. I play guitar, have quite a few Gibson guitars that cost far more than all the pc stuff I have in my house, and some that cost the same, and some that were far less. They ALL, no matter the cost, require care and maintenance to stay in good shape, and to function properly as the tools that they are. Likewise, I consider my PC a tool, and likewise, it deserves regular care as well. That there dust...man, I dunno that's OK...for the 15 seconds required to take a can of air and vacuum to clean out a case, it's totally worth it, at least once a month, no matter WHAT enviroment your home is.

 

[AphexDreamer]

Yeah I'm usually good about taking care of my Rig. I must have missed that spot

Every time I get a new part though I clean everything thoroughly and this time since I've had my case for so long I'm going to get a new home for my new Board, likely the HAF X.

I also take the time to clean my PC about once a month if not once every two months.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

So is an RMA still good? Worth me paying the shipping to try?

Cause: Was this the result of a short? But From what?

Should I get a new case? ( Was thinking about it anyways but now this pushes me toward getting a new one further more)

There is no definitive answer to your question. Paint pulled into the computer (IE volatolized hydrocarbon) could well have shorted the board. The more likely solution is that your board had a pregnant trace.


"What is a pregnant trace?" you ask. Whenever the motherboard is having the traces masking burned into it, via a light hardening epoxy, imperfections can cause traces to be thin or thick. Thin traces are generally impossible to detect, as they will not have an immediate impact on the board unless they are very thin. Over time, the heating and cooling cycles will make the traces on the board slightly more brittle. This generally has no noticeable influence, but a thin trace experiences a much higher amount of force during the heating/cooling cycle.

Eventually, the thin trace develops into a huge resistance, creating a point of intense heat dissipation until the metal (rather violently and unexpectedly) explodes. This creates singeing, bubbles in the motherboard pcb layers, and will generally screw up your day. This is what I can observe from your motherboard pictures, and the description of the odd burning smell.


The good news is that this kind of issue is covered in a manufacturers warranty. As long as you did not overvoltage the motherboard, or the VRM circuitry is entirely fried beyond discerning the root cause, you're golden. Go ahead with the RMA!



Edit: The RMA is viable no matter if there was overheating or a pregnant trace. Without knowing more about the board, and only seeing a destroyed segment, there is no reasonable way to tell exactly what caused this.

 

[twilyth]

Yes/No. Depends on the type of dust.

look here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43761&stc=1&d=1317265921


See how far OUTWARDS that dust has built up? you cannot say that is not a lot. It is a fair amount, far more than I would let my own PC get.

I'm sure you're correct but I just want to say that I have dust bunnies in my 4 rigs that are big enough to scare small children. The only thing I ever even look at is the heat sink, and even then, I usually prefer to cut back on the overclock so I don't have to worry about ambients and running right on the edge of stability.

 

[Frick]

Yes/No. Depends on the type of dust.

look here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=43761&stc=1&d=1317265921


See how far OUTWARDS that dust has built up? you cannot say that is not a lot. It is a fair amount, far more than I would let my own PC get.





I dunno. I play guitar, have quite a few Gibson guitars that cost far more than all the pc stuff I have in my house, and some that cost the same, and some that were far less. They ALL, no matter the cost, require care and maintenance to stay in good shape, and to function properly as the tools that they are. Likewise, I consider my PC a tool, and likewise, it deserves regular care as well. That there dust...man, I dunno that's OK...for the 15 seconds required to take a can of air and vacuum to clean out a case, it's totally worth it, at least once a month, no matter WHAT enviroment your home is.

It is probably worth it yeah, but I have actualy never seen dust short out something and I've fixed some BAD computers. Maybe that dust that was 50% smoke, 20% beer and 30% actual dust shorted something, but otherwise the danger is not very dangerous at all.

 

[AphexDreamer]

I did overclock and overvolt but nothing to crazy and my PC was stable...

I do live in Texas so it gets hot and I had my PC running practically 24/7 for Bitcoin generation (GPU) not CPU.

 

[Kantastic]

Where's that one undercover MSI rep that was arguing with sneekypeet in the Gigabyte-PCIE 3.0 fiasco thread? We should get him in here and answer some questions.

You're likely in for a ride with MSI and the RMA process. They're going to deny this as a manufacturing fault to every extent.