PSU killed my motherboard i saw smoke from VRM did my CPU survive?

philhalo66 · Jan 1, 2015

I'm not sure where to put this so if it's in the wrong section forgive me. Last week my power supply fried my motherboard and i actually seen smoke coming from the VRM under the heatsink and it had that burnt electronic smell and would no longer power on even with different power supply. It was an ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0.

Everything else im able to test survived DVD drive, all 5 HDD's and all the fans and LED's survived but i don't have access to another motherboard capable of testing the CPU and PC shop downtown doesn't have anything newer than a Pentium 4 (small mom and pop shop) and he wanted 200 dollars just to look at my graphics card and CPU plus another 75 per hour so i have no way to test it without spending way more than i spent on my entire rig.

So what are the chances my processor survived?, The reason I'm asking is because i can either take my chances and buy another sabertooth from newegg (asus voided my warranty because it was a PSU failure) and another PSU or i can go intel and get a sabertooth Z97 and a pentium G3258 plus PSU until i can manage enough to get a 4670K/4690K.

DaveLT · Jan 1, 2015

Pentium 4 lol?

Otherwise time to upgrade to Intel. Actually H97 boards can OC a G3258 given the right board and right BIOS no need to buy a Z97 Sabertooth/Gryphon

Wow, ASUS voiding warranty due to PSU failure. I wonder if it's only ASUS. PSU failure is common everywhere but I've never heard of a Seasonic killing a motherboard

Erlid · Jan 1, 2015

The answer is maybe. I had a Z77 board short out and the CPU survived but the board and RAM were toasted. Did you purchase all of the components at the same time from the same vendor? What kind of power supply caused the issue? What is that power supply's warranty status?

philhalo66 · Jan 1, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveLT

Pentium 4 lol?

Otherwise time to upgrade to Intel. Actually H97 boards can OC a G3258 given the right board and right BIOS no need to buy a Z97 Sabertooth/Gryphon

Wow, ASUS voiding warranty due to PSU failure. I wonder if it's only ASUS. PSU failure is common everywhere but I've never heard of a Seasonic killing a motherboard

yeah he said he really only deals with old people and their 10-15+ year old systems the guy on the phone said since my ram wasn't on the QVL it technically voided my warranty also.

Quote:

Originally Posted by forrestmc4

The answer is maybe. I had a Z77 board short out and the CPU survived but the board and RAM were toasted. Did you purchase all of the components at the same time from the same vendor? What kind of power supply caused the issue? What is that power supply's warranty status?

i never thought of my ram i hope that survived, yes i bought them all from newegg in march accept for the PSU and the Graphics card i bought those September 2013. It was a seasonic 620W and the warranty is gone because of a scratch on the serial number sticker from my last case they said they dont cover physical damage so i threw it out last week.

Poisoner · Jan 1, 2015

I would keep calling Asus until someone says yes.

PR-Imagery · Jan 1, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poisoner

I would keep calling Asus until someone says yes.

This. Start a new RMA and leave out the psu/board blowing up part. All you know is the system won't turn on and you've tried all different hardware and found the board to the the problem

Imitationcrabme · Jan 1, 2015

I have seen one motherboard where the VRM smoked, and with a new motherboard, the CPU was also found to be bad. The CPU and VRMs are directly linked, electrically, so there is a good chance if one fails, it will take out the other. Your Ram, HDD's, Video card, etc are on different rails or regulators, so they are likely ok.

philhalo66 · Jan 1, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poisoner

I would keep calling Asus until someone says yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PR-Imagery

This. Start a new RMA and leave out the psu/board blowing up part. All you know is the system won't turn on and you've tried all different hardware and found the board to the the problem

I'll give it a shot but im not expecting much ASUS is notorious for horrible customer service.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Imitationcrabme

I have seen one motherboard where the VRM smoked, and with a new motherboard, the CPU was also found to be bad. The CPU and VRMs are directly linked, electrically, so there is a good chance if one fails, it will take out the other. Your Ram, HDD's, Video card, etc are on different rails or regulators, so they are likely ok.

Alright so chances are it's dead then?

JTHMfreak · Jan 1, 2015

I fried an MSI board from an OC, I did an RMA stating the system wouldn't turn on, got new board. Just leave the part about the PSU out

Poisoner · Jan 1, 2015

The less you tell them the better. I don't even know how your RAM not being on the QVL list would even come up. And above all, be confident like you already know the answer.

philhalo66 · Jan 1, 2015

]
Quote:

Originally Posted by Poisoner

The less you tell them the better. I don't even know how your RAM not being on the QVL list would even come up. And above all, be confident like you already know the answer.

So i got an approved RMA i'll ship it out tomorrow. They require you to give them your CPU model number the PSU you were using the RAM model number and what CPU cooler you had.

JTHMfreak · Jan 4, 2015

That seems a little much to me, I never had to do any of that with MSI

mrawesome421 · Jan 4, 2015

I am amazed you got Asus to agree to an RMA. Like, seriously shocked. Why though, if the RMA has been approved, would Asus want that info about your RAM, PSU, CPU and cooler?

If that is indeed the case, don't get too happy just yet.

There's a VERY good chance that after you send it to them, they will just send it back to you with their fair share of excuses as to why the RMA will no longer be approved. They will do whatever they can and find whatever reason that they can think of to avoid giving you a new board.

Tell them you used RAM that is on the approved list. Tell them you DID NOT overclock the CPU. Tell them the CPU cooler was the stock one. Tell them the PSU was NOT faulty and still works.

Asus makes terrific products. And most people have a good chance of getting a good product. But if you get a dud from them, you're likely stuck with it. Sad but true.

Kryton · Jan 4, 2015

If all else fails and you're stuck with it, don't toss it just yet.

If you know how to solder/desolder, replacing a VRM isn't as hard to do as you'd think.
Did that to an older DFI board and got it working again after the MOSFET literally blew itself up and had a nice little flame coming from it, like a candle. The deal here is if the board itself as in the PCB is damaged, if not then it can probrably be replaced to get it up and running again. Getting the correct VRM by what it is would be the other thing about it.
The type VRM it is would be another thing, some VRM's are harder to replace than others but if it's a typical VRM/MOSFET, not too bad to do.

If you have to be rid of it, I'd sell it to someone that can repair it so it gets some use or at least parted out.

philhalo66 · Jan 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrawesome421

I am amazed you got Asus to agree to an RMA. Like, seriously shocked. Why though, if the RMA has been approved, would Asus want that info about your RAM, PSU, CPU and cooler?

If that is indeed the case, don't get too happy just yet.

There's a VERY good chance that after you send it to them, they will just send it back to you with their fair share of excuses as to why the RMA will no longer be approved. They will do whatever they can and find whatever reason that they can think of to avoid giving you a new board.

Tell them you used RAM that is on the approved list. Tell them you DID NOT overclock the CPU. Tell them the CPU cooler was the stock one. Tell them the PSU was NOT faulty and still works.

Asus makes terrific products. And most people have a good chance of getting a good product. But if you get a dud from them, you're likely stuck with it. Sad but true.

im expecting that I've already ordered an intel setup i'm still going wait and see what they do with it i sent it to them yesterday.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kryton

If all else fails and you're stuck with it, don't toss it just yet.

If you know how to solder/desolder, replacing a VRM isn't as hard to do as you'd think.
Did that to an older DFI board and got it working again after the MOSFET literally blew itself up and had a nice little flame coming from it, like a candle. The deal here is if the board itself as in the PCB is damaged, if not then it can probrably be replaced to get it up and running again. Getting the correct VRM by what it is would be the other thing about it.
The type VRM it is would be another thing, some VRM's are harder to replace than others but if it's a typical VRM/MOSFET, not too bad to do.

If you have to be rid of it, I'd sell it to someone that can repair it so it gets some use or at least parted out.

it's not an analog MOSFET its a SMD digital MOSFET so unless i use a professional re-flow station its not possible to fix

DaveLT · Jan 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kryton

If all else fails and you're stuck with it, don't toss it just yet.

If you know how to solder/desolder, replacing a VRM isn't as hard to do as you'd think.
Did that to an older DFI board and got it working again after the MOSFET literally blew itself up and had a nice little flame coming from it, like a candle. The deal here is if the board itself as in the PCB is damaged, if not then it can probrably be replaced to get it up and running again. Getting the correct VRM by what it is would be the other thing about it.
The type VRM it is would be another thing, some VRM's are harder to replace than others but if it's a typical VRM/MOSFET, not too bad to do.

If you have to be rid of it, I'd sell it to someone that can repair it so it gets some use or at least parted out.

With antiquated VRMs (or rather mosfets) that'd be easy but trust me on this modern MOSFETs (One of them are PowerPAKs) are a PITA to desolder and solder especially when you don't have a hot air station

PSU killed my motherboard i saw smoke from VRM did my CPU survive?

philhalo66

DaveLT

Erlid

philhalo66

Poisoner

PR-Imagery

Imitationcrabme

philhalo66

JTHMfreak

Poisoner

philhalo66

JTHMfreak

mrawesome421

Kryton

philhalo66

DaveLT

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