Is my motherboard dead ? Please HELP!!

jonnyb1985 · 17 Jul 2013 at 11:43

Hi forum people

-- I am going to paint the picture and would very much like any constructive feed back please.

Came home to my pc and tried to turn it on last week, bit of an odd sound came from inside and it would not boot up. Shut it down due to the noise being like nothing i have heard before and tried to power on for a second time but still i got the same noise so off it went.

I removed the side of my case and straight away there was a funny smell. After some looking about i saw a green drip fall onto the back of my supreme FX audio card, then another. With a mag light to hand i looked again and could see this green fluid dripping from my CPU Eco Cool ALC all in one cooler. This being the only device in there with liquid in, yet had no idea how it was leaking.

I then noticed that it must have been dripping for a while, because the back of my GPU ( MSI 560 TI OC card) was wet to the touch and then it had dripped down onto the power supply and began drying up leaving a white stain. Just to mention the power supply is in a cooler master cosmos case and the fan is facing down towards the vent at the bottom.

So after a few choice words i removed the CPU cooler from the case and began mopping up the liquid and left the pc to dry for 4 days with a fan blowing over the whole of the case. I then purchased a Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler from good old over clockers. Installed this and connected everything back up to my Asus Rampage Formula MOBO.

Pressed the power button on the board and it powered up, all the fans began to spin, i had the power and reset button on my case light up. The Audio card had a blue shine to it, the GPU fans were spinning yet nothing came up on my screen. A closer inspection of the board and i could see a bunch of lights lit up all over it in pairs of 3, green,amber,red. Shut down and tried again still nothing.

SO i began removing the components to see if one of them was the problem. Audio card came out first then
GPU then
One stick of my Geil DDR2 Evo one ram
The other stick of RAM and i tried booting with each stick on its own.

Still nothing on screen but power seeming to be getting to everything still. OK boot up i could not hear the "post beep" i think its called. So i ended up with just my CPU which is a Intel quad core extreme, Q9650 i think, a 3Ghz one anyway. The new cpu cooler and the hard drive, but still no beep when powered on.

I don't know if the liquid has damaged my MOBO or my CPU, but the dripping was coming from the corner of the block stuck over my CPU,the rad was fine and the pipes were intact. The inside of the pc had not been looked at or touched in least 12 months prior to the problems.

I don't have any other bits neither to change out for what i have at the moment, and finding a new rampage formula board wont happen given the age of it now.

So what do you think guys, what sounds like the problem? Is it a dead MOBO or CPU or is it something else that i am missing ?

Also has anyone had an ECO cool ALC all in one leak from the block, i thought these systems are designed not to leak, just plug and play.

RHS · 17 Jul 2013 at 12:15

That sucks man, coolers shouldn't leak!

Was there any water present or signs of water around the cpu socket? CPU's tend to be very resilient and have a very low failure rate so I doubt that is the issue, unless it was sitting in a pool of green fluid...

My guess is your motherboard has had it and I would start there in terms of buying new components if I was a betting man. If your really unlucky the GPU could be water damaged, so fingers crossed its ok.

Maybe its haswell time and use the new mobo purchase as an excuse? Of course your gonna need a new CPU and probably want to shoot for some DDR3 ram too, but you could get by on DDR2 just that you wont be utilising the system to its full capability if your on a budget.

I just retired my LGA775 Asus motherboard last week and went the Haswell route, if you decide to upgrade you should see some big gains in terms of performance.

WuMyster · 17 Jul 2013 at 12:35

Contact ECO. It does seem as though your mobo has had it.

jonnyb1985 · 17 Jul 2013 at 13:23

RHS said:
That sucks man, coolers shouldn't leak!

Was there any water present or signs of water around the cpu socket? CPU's tend to be very resilient and have a very low failure rate so I doubt that is the issue, unless it was sitting in a pool of green fluid...

My guess is your motherboard has had it and I would start there in terms of buying new components if I was a betting man. If your really unlucky the GPU could be water damaged, so fingers crossed its ok.

Maybe its haswell time and use the new mobo purchase as an excuse? Of course your gonna need a new CPU and probably want to shoot for some DDR3 ram too, but you could get by on DDR2 just that you wont be utilising the system to its full capability if your on a budget.

I just retired my LGA775 Asus motherboard last week and went the Haswell route, if you decide to upgrade you should see some big gains in terms of performance.

Thanks for the reply, my CPU didn't seem to have any green liquid in which was one good thing that i came away with, i think. I have been thinking its time for an upgrade and was looking at the haswell range on the overclockers shop.

I don't know if i should go with a new built system by them and get the 2 or 3 year cover or just buy a bundle and install that into my current cosmos case, its a great case but one help of a lump lol.

Out of interest would you go for one of the I5 or I7 CPU's? I don't want to break the bank but would like something that's going to last me 5 or 6 years like my now dead system had. Oh and do the haswell range require a certain type of PSU or is that shall we say an old wife's tale :rolleyes:

?

jonnyb1985 · 17 Jul 2013 at 13:30

WuMyster said:
Contact ECO. It does seem as though your mobo has had it.

The more i look into it and after calling overclcokers on the phone they seem to think its a dead mobo to

- I have emailed ECO about this because i would not expect an all in one system to leak. That email was sent last week and still no reply. So i wont be using there products again.

My old T-bar water setup maby but i got rid of that some time ago when i moved over to the all in one system for piece of mind, seems i was wrong though.

I am looking at a new rig all together, but i have some good, but old parts on my hands if i do decide to go down the haswell route as mentioned above. Also overclockers said that the Eco cool ALC only came with a 2 year warranty and mine was 3 year old, again another blow to the man bits.

So is it time for haswell or do i get a replacement board. If haswell is the best route, i have around £900 to play with but am not sure what to buy to get bang for my buck.

WuMyster · 17 Jul 2013 at 14:03

Id just buy the components seperately. Itll save you money.
What are you looking to do with your system? Thats to tell whether or not you should go with an i5 or i7.
Thats not acceptable. ECO should compensate you. AIO coolers are not supposed to leak so definitely keep pressuring them. Maybe even call them.
Id keep the GPU but replace the mobo, cpu and RAM. Haswell would be my recommendation. Even IB.
Tell us what youre doing with this build and we can spec you!

jonnyb1985 · 17 Jul 2013 at 14:29

WuMyster said:
Id just buy the components seperately. Itll save you money.
What are you looking to do with your system? Thats to tell whether or not you should go with an i5 or i7.
Thats not acceptable. ECO should compensate you. AIO coolers are not supposed to leak so definitely keep pressuring them. Maybe even call them.
Id keep the GPU but replace the mobo, cpu and RAM. Haswell would be my recommendation. Even IB.
Tell us what youre doing with this build and we can spec you!

I use it for gaming mostly, browsing the net and every day use. I would like it to be able to handle any of the up and coming games, so something that would last me the next 5 years.
I have some experience in building computers and upgrading them but no experience of over clocking. So a pre built system or bundle might be best.

If you can give me a few options though for £900 or less i would be very great full

i was looking at this :confused:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-159-OE&groupid=43&catid=2512&subcat=2604

WuMyster · 17 Jul 2013 at 14:56

No need to go for an i7 then. i5 will do.
That bundle is fine but take a down a notch to an i5 to save some money. If you want your rig to last for 5 years, youll need to replace your 560Ti.
Overclocking can be done easily by looking at guides on the internet. Its where most people start to be honest. If you really dont feel comfortable then go for the bundle.
The specs I would give you would be:
i5 4670K, 8GB of RAM and a well reviewed Z87 board.
I dont own any Haswell components so I cant really recommend a board but have a look around and youll find some good reviews.
Then take the rest of the money you have and look at some GPUs. Lasting 5 years is a push. Ive currently got a 7950 thatll last a good few years.

RHS · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:07

jonnyb1985 said:
Oh and do the haswell range require a certain type of PSU or is that shall we say an old wife's tale ?

Not all PSU's are compatible with Haswell, you will need to do some googling on your current PSU to see if it is haswell ready. Luckily mine was when I upgraded, I think the low power options that cause issues can be disabled in the BIOS on the motherboard but don't quote me you would need to check this yourself.

£900 is a very decent budget and you could go for a bundle option or separates totally up to your personal preference and will you have some spare change for a PSU if required.

Here's my suggestion:

1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £89.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £269.99
1 x Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI HERO Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £176.99

Total: £547.76 incl Shipping @£9.00

You can recycle your Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler just add some thermal paste and acetone from your local Pharmacy and your good to go.

In fairness this is a top spec and you could tweak the mobo and cpu to cut costs. In my view I think it would be a wiser move to invest in the latest socket to allow some future-proofing going forward so you don't pay twice.

Any decent PSU around 500w will see you fine if you need to replace your current one, in which case I would recommend Seasonic they are very reliable and have good reviews.

jonnyb1985 · 22 Jul 2013 at 13:03

RHS said:
Not all PSU's are compatible with Haswell, you will need to do some googling on your current PSU to see if it is haswell ready. Luckily mine was when I upgraded, I think the low power options that cause issues can be disabled in the BIOS on the motherboard but don't quote me you would need to check this yourself.

£900 is a very decent budget and you could go for a bundle option or separates totally up to your personal preference and will you have some spare change for a PSU if required.

Here's my suggestion:

1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £89.99
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £269.99
1 x Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI HERO Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £176.99

Total: £547.76 incl Shipping @£9.00

You can recycle your Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler just add some thermal paste and acetone from your local Pharmacy and your good to go.

In fairness this is a top spec and you could tweak the mobo and cpu to cut costs. In my view I think it would be a wiser move to invest in the latest socket to allow some future-proofing going forward so you don't pay twice.

Any decent PSU around 500w will see you fine if you need to replace your current one, in which case I would recommend Seasonic they are very reliable and have good reviews.

I have done a bit of looking about and have found the same bits and chnaged the RAM.

Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz HyperX Genesis Plug N Play Memory Kit CL9 1.5V
£55.00

Asus Maximus VI HERO Z87 Socket 1150 HDMI ATX Motherboard
£167.94

Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50GHz Socket 1150 8MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
£271.61

total £494.55 with free delivery - Will overclock my self as the MOBO seems to be great for doing this and even with the built in settings it offers is easy to do

what do you guys think to this ?

Jasseh · 22 Jul 2013 at 13:10

RHS said:
Of course your gonna need a new CPU and probably want to shoot for some DDR3 ram too, but you could get by on DDR2 just that you wont be utilising the system to its full capability if your on a budget.

Just wondering, why suggest using DDR2 with Haswell when no Haswell boards (that I know of at least) have DDR2 slots?

RHS · 23 Jul 2013 at 23:54

Your right DDR2 and DDR3 are not compatible my bad, so your DDR2 sticks are of no use to you on a Haswell board. My old LGA775 board was DDR3 hence my confusion.

jonnyb1985 · 26 Jul 2013 at 13:01

After much deliberating i have gone for the following parts:-

Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI HERO Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

Haswell I5 K series.

8GB Hyper X Beast DDR3 memory

Hopefully my Alpenföhn Civetta CPU Cooler will keep the CPU cool enough. If not is there any decent CPU coolers you guys would reccomend ?