z97 PC Mate Smoking.

penskih · Jul 1, 2015

Alright guys, so heres what happened. First pc build btw
1. Install everything and plug it all in. Start it up, runs fine.
2. Turn it off to install another fan. Forgot one fan hookup, Turn off.
3 Turn it on again, fan works everything works for about 3 seconds then boom, a bunch of smoke from the motherboard. CPU fan stops for a second. Then continues before i turn it all off.
Standoffs were used. This is my build here: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/b4sZ7P

Pretty sure i did nothing wrong, although i was a little confused with plugging in connectors to the power supply.
Pic of the damage: http://imgur.com/gallery/fP2o3tW/new (bottom middle)
http://imgur.com/ZCMmVbn

Damage seems to be around the tpm module connector it that helps.
Any Advice?

so disappointing

Gam3r01 · Jul 1, 2015

Looks like that one is MSI's fault. Better start the RMA process now...
I tend to recommend users steer clear of MSI boards, they arent know to have the best QC. Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock are all fine.

Danbuscus25 · Jul 1, 2015

Dang, i feel sorry for you. I dont see anything wrong with your build, my guess is a defective motherboard or psu. Dont try to turn it on again, RMA the motherboard, and hopefully your cpu ram graphics card etc. didnt die.

Danbuscus25 · Jul 1, 2015

Gam3r01 :

Yeah, MSI has quite the record of smoking/fire on their boards.

Bill-777 · Jul 1, 2015

You said you were a little confused regarding the connections. How exactly did you have everything connected? Here's where I'm going: If you were using a fan with a split power connector and had both the motherboard fan connector and the molex connector plugged in at the same time, power from the power supply would be going into the the motherboard through the fan connector, causing the fan to work for a moment before the motherboard burned up. Split power lead fans can be connected either to the power supply or to the motherboard NOT both.

Danbuscus25 · Jul 1, 2015

^Good point, did you have it plugged into both at the same time?

penskih · Jul 1, 2015

Bill-777 :

You said you were a little confused regarding the connections. How exactly did you have everything connected? Here's where I'm going: If you were using a fan with a split power connector and had both the motherboard fan connector and the molex connector plugged in at the same time, power from the power supply would be going into the the motherboard through the fan connector, causing the fan to work for a moment before the motherboard burned up. Split power lead fans can be connected either to the power supply or to the motherboard NOT both.

penskih · Jul 1, 2015

Honestly i think i did. I had a weird connector on my fan(3 speed antec) So i had to plug into the power supply with a chord, then into my fan which had the proper connection, then into the motherboard on the same connector. It's hard to explain but that sounds like what you were saying. Wow i had no idea that was bad. I feel so dumb now. Hopefully that is what went wrong cause i couldn't figure it out. Since it may have been my fault, do you think i will have a problem with rma.

Tradesman1 · Jul 1, 2015

Give it a try

Bill-777 · Jul 1, 2015

You can try but I wouldn't be surprised if they deny it. The only way I can think of to produce that sort of damage would be to wire it into the power supply, which shouldn't be to hard for an experienced tech/engineer to figure out.

penskih · Jul 1, 2015

Thanks for all the help everyone! Submitting RMA now, hopefully i'll be able to get a refund. It not, that's $130 down the drain. Glad i could figure out what went wrong though, and definitely will be more careful next time. Though it would be easier, and i paid for it.

Bill-777 · Jul 1, 2015

Don't feel to bad...you've learned by experience. I've been there and burned stuff up, myself.

Tradesman1 · Jul 1, 2015

Drop us an update

penskih · Jul 9, 2015

Hey guys newegg just emailed me and said the contents have been verified and approved!! Refund should come in 3-5 days. Got a new motherboard last friday, and got everything running well(using it right now) Happy with all the parts i chose out so it all ended well. Thanks everyone for all the help too

couldn't have done it without you guys.

penskih · Jul 11, 2015

Tradesman1 :

penskih · Jul 11, 2015

Bill-777 :

UnderAttack · Jul 12, 2015

ya, even if not msi fault, if you call rma, most of time msi will still replace a new mb for you...
but if you dont know or not sure about the installation, you better check before you damage it..

z97 PC Mate Smoking.

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