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Edit: For now I have bought an onboard speaker, which should arrive within 2 days. Hopefully there will be some kind of error code so that I can get to the bottom of the issue. Any advice still very much appreciated
Hi. So as the title says, I believe my motherboard may be broken. I really don't have the knowledge nor experience to say it with 100% certainty, so I'll just talk you through the predicament. I'd really appreciate some advice because I'm at my wits' end by this point.
List of relevant parts: Gigabyte B660m motherboard; MSI MAG Forge 100M case; Corsair RM550x PSU
I recently acquired parts to build a computer. All seemed to be going well, until I had a lot of trouble with the screw for the M.2 cover on my motherboard being stupidly, outrageously tight. Tight enough that the screw was immediately stripped when attempting to unscrew it. I was stuck, unable to go any further with the building process (or so I thought), and I struggled to find any contact details on the website I bought the motherboard from. I thought my journey had ended right there.
Eventually, I was finally able to get the screw loose by supergluing another, larger bolt to the head. It was the perfect size to slot over the screw, and now that I had some extra purchase, I was able to use a set of pliers to loosen the screw and continue with the build. There is very little chance of the superglue having touched any other part of the motherboard - I used a very small droplet, placing it inside of the bolt hole, and the bolt fit snugly on top of the screw. At no point did the screw stick to the M.2 slot or any other part of the circuitry.
About three weeks had already passed by this point, as I could never seem to find the tools I needed. But eventually I got the screw off, got the rest of the components of the PC into place.
I turn on the PSU and press the power button. The case lights up, all four fans (2 front, 1 rear, 1 on CPU) all spin... and less than half a second later the power cuts out again with an audible "ping" from the PSU.
Okay, I think, lets do some research.
I find a video that details almost exactly the same problem as what I'm having, and it goes through the process of checking each individual component to see if it's causing the problem. I follow along. In the end, the person in this video gets to the PSU, and suggests that this is the problem. A conclusion I was about ready to come to myself, as it seemed logical that the object providing power to the motherboard would be the thing not powering it, so to speak. I go through a couple of other tutorials and guides, all of them seem to point to the same problem: the PSU. A family friend of ours, who happens to know more about computers than I ever will, also comes over and checks it out. He, too, agrees that logically the PSU is the problem. Frustrating, since this PSU is fresh out of the box, but hey. Faults happen from time to time, and by the looks of it, I am far from the first person to have issues with this particular PSU being faulty straight from the start.
So I talk to Corsair. I arrange a replacement, and after a looong time contacting them back and forth, correcting and clarifying and going into more and more detail, finally, I get a replacement PSU. It's been 2 or 3 months since the start of this whole ordeal by now.
A few hours ago, I connected the new PSU and pressed the power button. The case lights up, again. The fans spin, again. And then they all turn off half a second later. Again. The PSU doesn't "ping" now, so... kind of an improvement, I suppose?
Now well and truly feeling at the end of my tether, I went to bed to brood like an angsty teenager. About an hour ago, I finally got up and, with the passion of someone who has an entire career resting on the back of a PC that refuses to work (You know, like me), I begin to dismantle the entire thing. I take all components off of the motherboard. I dismount the motherboard from the case and lay it flat on a clean surface. I unplug each and every wire that I'd painstakingly spent a few hours of my life ensuring were in the right place, until only 3 things remain: The main 24-Pin PSU wire, the power switch and the power LEDs. I haven't removed the processor this time but best believe I tested the motherboard without it attached during the first wave of problems, and so there's little chance that it could be that. The only reason I've even kept the switch and LEDs active is so that I can get some kind of visual stimuli to indicate whether or not the PC has turned on.
I pressed the power button. Wouldn't you know it, the PC turned on!
And then it turned off again, because OF COURSE IT DID -.-
(Listen, I'm coping with the pain through humour. Please... humour me :3)
And so, that brings us to where I am now. Sitting here, staring at the most barebones setup for a PC that you'll ever see, and on the verge of a breakdown because I really, really cannot afford to replace that motherboard.
I would contact the seller and try to arrange a refund or a replacement, but the board has been tampered with now. There's a bolt superglued to it, after all, and besides that it's been months since the original purchase. I have evidence of the emails back and forth with Corsair support in the hopes of replacing the PSU, but somehow I doubt that's going to be enough. Chances are, the moment they know I involved superglue into the equation, they're not going to consider replacing it. Unless I'm somehow mistaken and the PC parts industry is much more generous than most.
So.
When I first got the PC build all sorted (If you can see my post history, it's there), the person who suggested this particular PSU mentioned that it might be a little slow for if I choose to upgrade later on, adding a GPU and such, but it should run fine with the current setup.
Being the overthinker that I am, I can't help but wonder if that could potentially be the issue.
When I was returning the PSU, I considered asking Corsair if they would be willing to instead send me the next level (650x I think?) if I paid the price difference between the two. After it had already taken so damn long to get the replacement sorted in the first place, though, I ultimately decided not to do that. Had I made the suggestion, and had they accepted it, do you think that could have made the difference between this PC working and not working? Could it be that the PSU still is the problem that's causing the PC not to function?
I'm just at a loss for what to do, now. Unless the above does count, it really does look like the motherboard is the source of my problems - unless the case is somehow causing a power short, which I struggle to believe could be it. Should I bite the bullet and look into ordering a replacement motherboard? Maybe sell the other one as spares to make up for the crater that'll put in my bank?
I would be putting myself in debt to family members, making the choice between a PC that will help me build my career and a month of actually having money - which wouldn't kill me. I can rely on people around me to survive until next payday, but it would be a pretty miserable existence. And even through all that, it might not solve the issue. Honestly, by this point, with the way my luck's been going? I don't think I'd even be surprised if I spend however much money replacing the motherboard and it still doesn't solve the issue.
But I'm rambling. As you can see I'm a mess right now, so any and all advice as to what the hell I should do now would very much be appreciated. Thank you
Hi. So as the title says, I believe my motherboard may be broken. I really don't have the knowledge nor experience to say it with 100% certainty, so I'll just talk you through the predicament. I'd really appreciate some advice because I'm at my wits' end by this point.
List of relevant parts: Gigabyte B660m motherboard; MSI MAG Forge 100M case; Corsair RM550x PSU
I recently acquired parts to build a computer. All seemed to be going well, until I had a lot of trouble with the screw for the M.2 cover on my motherboard being stupidly, outrageously tight. Tight enough that the screw was immediately stripped when attempting to unscrew it. I was stuck, unable to go any further with the building process (or so I thought), and I struggled to find any contact details on the website I bought the motherboard from. I thought my journey had ended right there.
Eventually, I was finally able to get the screw loose by supergluing another, larger bolt to the head. It was the perfect size to slot over the screw, and now that I had some extra purchase, I was able to use a set of pliers to loosen the screw and continue with the build. There is very little chance of the superglue having touched any other part of the motherboard - I used a very small droplet, placing it inside of the bolt hole, and the bolt fit snugly on top of the screw. At no point did the screw stick to the M.2 slot or any other part of the circuitry.
About three weeks had already passed by this point, as I could never seem to find the tools I needed. But eventually I got the screw off, got the rest of the components of the PC into place.
I turn on the PSU and press the power button. The case lights up, all four fans (2 front, 1 rear, 1 on CPU) all spin... and less than half a second later the power cuts out again with an audible "ping" from the PSU.
Okay, I think, lets do some research.
I find a video that details almost exactly the same problem as what I'm having, and it goes through the process of checking each individual component to see if it's causing the problem. I follow along. In the end, the person in this video gets to the PSU, and suggests that this is the problem. A conclusion I was about ready to come to myself, as it seemed logical that the object providing power to the motherboard would be the thing not powering it, so to speak. I go through a couple of other tutorials and guides, all of them seem to point to the same problem: the PSU. A family friend of ours, who happens to know more about computers than I ever will, also comes over and checks it out. He, too, agrees that logically the PSU is the problem. Frustrating, since this PSU is fresh out of the box, but hey. Faults happen from time to time, and by the looks of it, I am far from the first person to have issues with this particular PSU being faulty straight from the start.
So I talk to Corsair. I arrange a replacement, and after a looong time contacting them back and forth, correcting and clarifying and going into more and more detail, finally, I get a replacement PSU. It's been 2 or 3 months since the start of this whole ordeal by now.
A few hours ago, I connected the new PSU and pressed the power button. The case lights up, again. The fans spin, again. And then they all turn off half a second later. Again. The PSU doesn't "ping" now, so... kind of an improvement, I suppose?
Now well and truly feeling at the end of my tether, I went to bed to brood like an angsty teenager. About an hour ago, I finally got up and, with the passion of someone who has an entire career resting on the back of a PC that refuses to work (You know, like me), I begin to dismantle the entire thing. I take all components off of the motherboard. I dismount the motherboard from the case and lay it flat on a clean surface. I unplug each and every wire that I'd painstakingly spent a few hours of my life ensuring were in the right place, until only 3 things remain: The main 24-Pin PSU wire, the power switch and the power LEDs. I haven't removed the processor this time but best believe I tested the motherboard without it attached during the first wave of problems, and so there's little chance that it could be that. The only reason I've even kept the switch and LEDs active is so that I can get some kind of visual stimuli to indicate whether or not the PC has turned on.
I pressed the power button. Wouldn't you know it, the PC turned on!
And then it turned off again, because OF COURSE IT DID -.-
(Listen, I'm coping with the pain through humour. Please... humour me :3)
And so, that brings us to where I am now. Sitting here, staring at the most barebones setup for a PC that you'll ever see, and on the verge of a breakdown because I really, really cannot afford to replace that motherboard.
I would contact the seller and try to arrange a refund or a replacement, but the board has been tampered with now. There's a bolt superglued to it, after all, and besides that it's been months since the original purchase. I have evidence of the emails back and forth with Corsair support in the hopes of replacing the PSU, but somehow I doubt that's going to be enough. Chances are, the moment they know I involved superglue into the equation, they're not going to consider replacing it. Unless I'm somehow mistaken and the PC parts industry is much more generous than most.
So.
When I first got the PC build all sorted (If you can see my post history, it's there), the person who suggested this particular PSU mentioned that it might be a little slow for if I choose to upgrade later on, adding a GPU and such, but it should run fine with the current setup.
Being the overthinker that I am, I can't help but wonder if that could potentially be the issue.
When I was returning the PSU, I considered asking Corsair if they would be willing to instead send me the next level (650x I think?) if I paid the price difference between the two. After it had already taken so damn long to get the replacement sorted in the first place, though, I ultimately decided not to do that. Had I made the suggestion, and had they accepted it, do you think that could have made the difference between this PC working and not working? Could it be that the PSU still is the problem that's causing the PC not to function?
I'm just at a loss for what to do, now. Unless the above does count, it really does look like the motherboard is the source of my problems - unless the case is somehow causing a power short, which I struggle to believe could be it. Should I bite the bullet and look into ordering a replacement motherboard? Maybe sell the other one as spares to make up for the crater that'll put in my bank?
I would be putting myself in debt to family members, making the choice between a PC that will help me build my career and a month of actually having money - which wouldn't kill me. I can rely on people around me to survive until next payday, but it would be a pretty miserable existence. And even through all that, it might not solve the issue. Honestly, by this point, with the way my luck's been going? I don't think I'd even be surprised if I spend however much money replacing the motherboard and it still doesn't solve the issue.
But I'm rambling. As you can see I'm a mess right now, so any and all advice as to what the hell I should do now would very much be appreciated. Thank you
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