Ad
News

VIDEO - Intel Shows Off Nehalem's Power With Fire And Smoke

Published on April 01, 2008

Shanghai (China) - Intel's is showcasing the power of its upcoming processors with a new 'Smoke' demo which rains fiery destruction upon a virtual shack. Read more

Microsoft Research Projects Go Google

Published on April 02, 2008

If you follow Google's public announcements closely, you will find that each of these messages carry a very subtle "do no evil" message and a certain tone that always makes you feel better about your own life. Read more

Second Hand Smoke: ATI ready for extreme makeover

Published on June 24, 2005

After less than impressive financial results and the introduction of Nvidia's 7800 chip, ATI may need much more than just a competitive product, Omid writes in his latest post. Read more

Yahoo beams social media into space

Published on October 11, 2006

Yahoo is pulling off one impressive publicity campaign centered around its social media offerings of blogging, photo uploading & sharing, and video upload with the first ever electronic anthropology archive, or Yahoo Time Capsule. Read more

Latest Reviews & Articles

Efficiency: Core 2 Nukes Atom On The Desktop

Published on November 21, 2008

Atom is geared for low-cost, low-power netbooks and nettops, while the device is a poor choice for desktop PC applications. We show you why Core 2 is better, and give some guidance on how to pick the best power supply for your low-power application. Read more

Radeon HD 4870 X2: Four Cards Compared

Published on November 19, 2008

Not only do we have four super-fast Radeon HD 4870 X2s to test, but also a list of 31 other graphics configurations including CrossFire and SLI setups. If you're in the market for AMD's fastest card available, you'll want to see this. Read more

Synology's DS408 Reviewed: Fast NAS For Pros

Published on November 18, 2008

Does a NAS device with high data transfer rate and a Web interface that is easy to configure actually exist? Synology shows how it should be done. But the enclosure is not without its faults, either. Read more

The Hardware Behind Overdrive

Published on November 18, 2008

Our worldwide overclocking championship has begun and we wanted to introduce you to the everyday components our teams will be tweaking to supersonic speeds in a bid for a shot at $5,000. Read more

  Tom's Hardware Forums » Overclocking » Motherboards » Smoke: not good. Ideas?
 

Smoke: not good. Ideas?




Word :   Username :  
 
Bottom
Author
 Thread : Smoke: not good. Ideas?
 
Profile: stranger
More Information

Well, its my first build, and, being the clumsy person i am, i managed to fail the vaunted Smoke Test. Due to slow reflexes, one of those little black square thingys on my MSI P6N SLI-FI actually caught fire breifly. This was on first powering-up. Why did this happen?
Note: I did not use any case standoffs. The case i have is a really cheap rosewill from newegg.

My only plan is to rma it to newegg.
Also i am worried about my ram (patriot 2x 1gb pc6400). The chip that fried is right next to the ram slots.

Is this possibly due to short with case's tray?
The tray is unmarked, and the back of the motherboard only has slight discoloration underneath this circuit. The top of it is partially vaporized, and partially ashy-white. Any ideas?[/img]

Related Product

Register or log in to remove.

Profile: addict
More Information

You didn't use any standoffs? 8O :lol: :lol: :lol:
Your "cheap" case should have come with standoffs, always use standoffs.
Your Mobo is fried, hopefully the rest of the componets are ok.
You need to get a new Mobo, install it using standoffs, and test the rest of your componets. If you are lucky the rest of your hardware will be ok, but I kinda' doubt it.
Chalk it up as a hard lesson learned and move on, everyone has to start somewhere. :wink:

Profile: stranger
More Information

that what these brass thingies are for?
/slaps forehead

they should tell me these things

ty

hope rams not fried too. Thoughts?

Profile: Honorary Poster
More Information

This is a wind up... Right?

Profile: Ancient Poster
More Information

roflmao ok MSI = shite for one, and two, your ram might be ok, it might not be ok - depends if the lines got shorted and zapped the ram too :oops:

Profile: nimble knuckle
More Information

Quote :

Is this possibly due to short with case's tray?



That would be the likely culprit, to answer your question directly. It is a common beginner's error and often results in a fatal shorting of the board.

I did this too, though it was back in 95 on my first full system build. I had actually done a lot of upgrading and repairing and what have you, even to the point of switching out MOBO's in a case, but I had never installed a MOBO in a new case and I just didn't think about the standoffs.

Profile: member
More Information

i did thi s stpid thing a while back, i had put togetther a pentium 3 when it came out and now i thought i could do it again with pentium 4..but forgot about standofs... my motherboard fried but other components(cpu,ram & video) were ok

*Smacks turpit with a +15 ban stick*
Profile: Forum Veteran
More Information

Yea... the er standoffs are there too hold the mobo away from the case so it doesnt short out.

Profile: enthusiast
More Information

I know a guy that installed a new Intel CPU who gently placed the chip in the socket, but had a hard time closing the little lever to secure the chip in place. After a great struggle, he got the lever in place and then installed the stock HSF. The computer wouldn't boot, so he brought the system back to the vendor complaining the whole thing was defective. Upon quick inspection, the technician noted the plastic protective cover on the CPU was still attached crammed inside the socket. Warranty voided.

Profile: member
More Information

:D :D 8O :twisted:Hmmm,while I find this amusing,it also angers me.Did you learn anything from this,(hopefully)or you plan to rma frequently to N.E and drive up prices?!

Profile: addict
More Information

As everyone else said, the board is fried for certain. Now as for the ram/cpu, it just depends on which solder points got shorted, no-one can say for sure. One thing to make sure of on future builds is that the standoffs are also placed in the right spot, I've seen many boards fried from them being in the wrong spot and shorting the board, so when you install the board count how many standoffs are on the case, and count how many screws you screw in to be sure they all go in. I know that sounds like a common sense thing but you'd be surprised at what I've seen working in a computer repair shop 8O

PCD
Profile: member
More Information

You are pissing us, aren't you?

Profile: member
More Information

standoff's

1, Makes sure all atandoff's are the same, (you might to use ones that are different if there are not enough

2, plastics standoff you can plastic standoffs (that provide a mechanical connetion but not electrical so that the board dont flex when you plug stuff in (i have one near my PATA ports.

3, make sure a standoff is removed if there is no hole for it on the board.

Profile: enthusiast
More Information

Quote :

that what ... brass thingies are for?
/slaps forehead

they should tell me these things

ty

hope rams not fried too. Thoughts?



Have you considered cooking as a hobby? or maybe an acquarium (poor fish...)?

Profile: enthusiast
More Information

Quit picking on the poor guy. *hugs* OP. We've all done stupid things when first starting out :)

Profile: enthusiast
More Information

Now Babaghan... I was only being nice. And my heart was truly in the right place. I was just suggesting that a much less expensive way to consume his obviously long days is available.

I'll fix it!!!

So OP, I am sorry if you may have misunderstood my intent; the c