Did I do wrong? Killed M/B

garsands

garsands

garsands

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Did I kill my M/B or was it just bad timing?

This is what I did.
I have this PSU Corsair hx1000 Review of it http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=89

I had two Video cards installed but needed to change the cables around as I was missing one cable to power one of the cards.

So looking at this image http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules/NDReviews/images/HX1000/DSCF0031.jpg

I used three of the blue sockets & one of the black ones to power the cards, but with the black one the cable I had only had Molex Connectors on it but with the cards came one of these cables http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-033-OK
so I used it. This was the first time I had used such a setup using the one black socket cable from the PSU.
When I turned the PC on there was a snap & white flash from the M/B & it's dead.

Did I do wrong using the black socket on the PSU?

Sorry for the links to the images but I can upload my own at the moment & no hot linking.

The system is over 3 years old & was used a lot OC ect
 
If you connected both black and blue connectors to the same card you may well have bridged the two 12V rails together. I'm not sure if this would have caused your problem or not.
 
Well if something does a snap and give a flash, most likely that it wasnt bad timing... In my experience if something dies of old age, it dies peacefully in sleep and not taking half of PC with it...

If you plug 230V mains directly into motherboard, you will set the PSU on fire along with all other components and maybe even the house.
 
I don't think the way you wired it up should have caused any issues, the blue pci-e connectors usually just allow for more amps to be drawn, the worst thing that should have happened is the molex not providing enough power and the card using them either wouldn't work properly (under load) or the motherboard would give a post error to say the card wasn't present.

If there was a flash and a bang then there should be signs of damage somewhere, might be worth posting images of the damaged area to give an indication about which part of the motherboard was damaged. Maybe something in the PSU blew instead of the motherboard?
 
bremen1874 said:
If you connected both black and blue connectors to the same card you may well have bridged the two 12V rails together. I'm not sure if this would have caused your problem or not.
Click to expand...

I'd go with this.

Unlike most PSUs, yours has 2 independently regulated 12v rails. I recall being told never to use the 12v output from 2 separate PSUs in a similar fasion some time ago. Some kind of short circuit or resistance issue.
 
sadbuttrue said:
I'd go with this.

Unlike most PSUs, yours has 2 independently regulated 12v rails. I recall being told never to use the 12v output from 2 separate PSUs in a similar fasion some time ago. Some kind of short circuit or resistance issue.
Click to expand...

It's sad, but true.
 
I think its more likely that you have blown your psu, do you have another one to test it? if not its going to be the cheepest component to replace first off and your probably going to need a new one anyway.
If so and your M/B has on board graphics remove both cards and see if your machine posts, if so enable on board graphics and see if it boots, then try one card at a time ect ect

If you are lucky and it is your psu make sure you get one that is X fire ready
 
I can't see any damage to the motherboard I have removed it from the case.
The PSU I have tested with a PC/STS Tester & it's showing that it's working fine.
Everything in the case smells a little of burnt electrics but with all the fans in the case & video cards I would expect this.
I def saw a flash from the motherboard as I was right next to it looking at it when I powered it on.
It's a bit bad if I have bridged the two rails together as the videos cards came with the tools to allow me to do this by giving me the cable that let me join two Molex Connectors togeather.
With no warning to tell the user not to do what I may have just done.
I just hope that both video cards are not damaged as they are both 580GTX 3GB £600 to replace.
 
When you do short circuit it's not uncommon to blow the motherboard. A high quality PSU would have protection to save itself, not necessarily anything connected to it tho.
 
The error code that the motherboard gives is 8B "1. Invoke all ISA adapter ROMs, 2. Invoke all PCI ROMs (except VGA)"
It has a red LED display showing error codes.
 
I had a dodgy molex connector that I accidentally shorted to the side of my case, all it did was blow the fuse in the kettle plug. I'm still using the same components as well.
 
OptimaLnrg said:
Are you missing some modular cables? I'm sure that pau has enough pci cables for 2 580s.
Click to expand...

Opps that did not post right, try again.....

Yes the PSU does come with enough PCi cables but I could not find them anywhere.
I have just phoned a PC shop in town & they are going to test the video cards for me for £10 so off there now.
 
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I can't quite understand why having two independent rails could cause a problem. They both be 12v, more or less. We already have the situation with PCI express cards where they get 12v from the motherboard copnnector and 12v from plug in connectors, they'd often be on different rails yet don't cause a problem.

Any idea where on the motherboard the flash was?
 
Did you double check the pins on the molec connectors? They sometimes push out the back when joined to another molex due to poor contact. Might have lost a ground maybe?

Unlucky situation. I've had a similar mishap, but I only shorted and set fire to a bitfenix LED strip.
 
A flash and a bang usually means a short circuit in my experiance and I've blown one or two, you'll need to find some way of testing each component separately to see which is damaged.

In my case the motherboard was damaged but was still useable, but the nature and degree of damage will vary.
 
All the pins on the Molex Connectors are fine & the PSU seems fine going by the test I did on it with the PC/STS Tester.

The video cards are at a shop now waiting to be tested as they are my main worry as they are the newest part of the PC & half of the cost of replacing the parts.

The falsh came from between the Audio socket that you plug the leads into from the back of the PC & the PCI slot that the main video card slots into.

Here is a image of the layout of the motherboard
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57844514/3/GA-EX58-UD5P-GA-EX58-UD5-Motherboard-Layout

looking at the image far left halfway down you see the 'AUDIO' below that there is a chip marked 'RTL8111D' I would say right about there.
 
I think its coincidence it happened when you were using an adapter, they wouldn't sell them or supply them with graphics cards if they were unsafe, there also wouldn't be much point in them having multiple molex connectors if they were not intended to have different rails connected allowing for more power.

The chip you mention is for one of the network ports, so I don't think its likely to be that, but given the area it might be one of the PCI-e ports which sparked.
 
The RTL8111D chip is for the network ports so I doubt if that's the issue. There are however a few capacitors in that area along with what looks like a mosfet/regulator of some description which could well have blown. The mosfet could be there to provide power to the PCI express lanes and the caps will probably be there to smooth power delivery, again to the PCI express lanes.

If the Mosfet has blown you should see litte plastic bubbles on the surface as it has heated and fused itself. The caps may look swollen and possibly have a hole blown in the side.
 
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