Did I fry my cpu?

[ravenous]

I have a question about damaged cpu:s. My computer died on me, completely. Turned out to be the graphic card that failed so bad that there were smoke raising from it. Yes, its true. Fortunatly the computer shut it self off. I had no idea why first and tried to turn it back on but the comp was stone cold dead. I saw the graphic card when I opened the computer case.

I removed the graphic card and tried to power up. I was really happy when everything seemed to spin up just fine again, now I just had to replace the graphic card. I installed my old graphic card and powered up again. Everything seemed to work fine until the screen went black after like 20 sec or so. It doesnt shut the power off, but the comp goes black and the drive led is not flashing at all. I actually tried to disconnect everything but the motherboard (and the graphic card) and it still goes black on me.

The system seem to work normal until it dies, meaning I can get into the BIOS setup and I can see the boot process on the screen and everything. The hardware monitor in BIOS setup says the cpu temperature is 35 degrees (celcius, not farenheit but this is well within reasonable limits) so it can't really be an overheat issue. Plus I think the motherboard would beep and power off if overheating, not just go black. I tried to reset the CMOS with no luck.

My conclusion is that whatever curcuit shortage caused the graphic card to die must have damaged either the motherboard or the cpu too. And hopefully not both of them. The question is which one? I am painfully aware that all you guys can do is guess, but I have some sort of hope that someone more experienced than me can make a better guess than me too.

Is it remotly possible or even likely that the cpu is damaged? From what I heard the cpu either work or not. Meaning the screen would be all black and nothing works at all in case it's damaged. But how true is this? My system do work for 20 sec, can I then rule out a damaged cpu?

I guess I want it to be the motherboard. A new motherboard is less expensive than a new cpu. And i definitly dont want to buy both a new cpu and motherboard just to see which one made my comp work again.

 

[spinny]

Clarify something for me. You say you are able to get into the BIOS fine and mess around in there, correct?

If so, can you stay in there indefinitely, or does it still die after ~30sec?
Or does it just die while trying a regular system boot into OS?

 

[ravenous]

No, it still dies after ~20sec regardless. If I just enter the BIOS setup and let it be, it will die withing these 20 sec. If I disconnect the hard drives it will die in 20 sec at the cant-find-boot-device-screen. No matter what I do, or not do, it dies after 20 sec.

 

[croc]

No, it still dies after ~20sec regardless. If I just enter the BIOS setup and let it be, it will die withing these 20 sec. If I disconnect the hard drives it will die in 20 sec at the cant-find-boot-device-screen. No matter what I do, or not do, it dies after 20 sec.

Uh... Your GPU fried, such that it let out 'the magic smoke'? Yeah? Then you tried to boot it again, and the whole comp appeared dead? So you removed the GPU, and things 'seemed' to work... Right so far? But then you put the GPU, already known to be fried, back in... Yeah?

Maybe your memory is OK, but I don't give it much hope. If I were a repair shop, I'd start by replacing everything inside the case, then say 'here's a working computer, and here's your bill'.

OK, depending on your PSU it may not be hurt. That's if it is good quality. I'd expect that the MB's PCI-E slot is probably fried, as well as the GPU. CPU MAY be ok, maybe not, memory should be OK, but no guarantees.

Do you have a warranty? Household insurance?

 

[ravenous]

Uh... Your GPU fried, such that it let out 'the magic smoke'? Yeah? Then you tried to boot it again, and the whole comp appeared dead? So you removed the GPU, and things 'seemed' to work... Right so far? But then you put the GPU, already known to be fried, back in... Yeah?

Maybe your memory is OK, but I don't give it much hope. If I were a repair shop, I'd start by replacing everything inside the case, then say 'here's a working computer, and here's your bill'.

OK, depending on your PSU it may not be hurt. That's if it is good quality. I'd expect that the MB's PCI-E slot is probably fried, as well as the GPU. CPU MAY be ok, maybe not, memory should be OK, but no guarantees.

Do you have a warranty? Household insurance?

No no no. Read again, I did not put the fried GPU back into the computer. I put my old, previous GPU into the computer. And that GPU is not, I repeat not, the same GPU as the one being fried. Different cards. As you can also read I manage to get into the BIOS setup, hence I have a working GPU. I seriously doubt my fried GPU would give me a working screen.

I'm not sure I follow you at all here. First you doubt the memory is ok, then you claim it should be ok (no guarantees though).

What I also find interesting is your theory that the CPU may be ok...or not. That's actually my theory too. I think I'm pretty happy you're in fact not a repair shop.

The PSU is just fine. The voltage reading in the hardware monitor are all ok.

 

[neon neophyte]

my money is on the mobo. a fried cpu shouldnt give you 20 seconds of working time. nor should it make the screen go black. motherboards really are the most sensitive component.

 

[ravenous]

my money is on the mobo. a fried cpu shouldnt give you 20 seconds of working time. nor should it make the screen go black. motherboards really are the most sensitive component.

Thank you. That was what I needed to hear. I think I've read or heard just that somewhere, a cpu either work or not, it doesnt work just halfass and behave oddly if it's damaged. I just needed some sort of confirmation on that.

I think I'm off to buy a new mobo as soon as the local store opens. It would just have been incomprehensively crappy to get a new mobo just to find the comp still go black on me. I'm aware it still might for some other unknown reason, but now I dont need to worry all that much for the cpu.

 

[xtream_ocer_intel_nvidia]

I agree with NEON, yourn mobo hs probably fried on you.

 

[Reynod]

,ossed the post about dying after 20 secs ... mobo it is.

 

[spinny]

+1 for fried mobo. Not a driver issue since it crashes in BIOS too.

 

[xtc28]

Mobo fried

 

[theholylancer]

can it be cheapo psu? a dying psu can do most of what you've said here, killing other components while still kinda works

 

[ravenous]

Got back from the store. They didnt have the exact same model as my current (fried?) motherboard, I was tempted to buy another model but I really dont want to reinstall the OS because of new architecture on the mobo. I'm gonna get my model wednesday.

The PSU is a XION 630W. So at least it's not some stock model that came with the chassis or anything. I had some power issues when I upgraded the RAM some half year ago. I figured I'd buy the most badass PSU they had on the shelf at the time. If I'm really quick I can get into BIOS and watch the different voltage status for the motherboard and it looks all fine and stable. For 20 sec that is. I'm sort of leaning towards a fried mobo, which I've been doing all the time. I just wanted some input from you guys before I got carried away in the computer store.

I was really afraid I'd get responses like "No man, this sounds like a text book example of a toast CPU". I really dont want it to be the CPU. Anyway, the mobo is ordered and paid for so here goes all or nothing on wednesday. Thank you guys so much for your input on this!

 

[neon neophyte]

good luck.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Yea. It sounds like mobo. SO I agree with everyone. That was what i thought right away after you said you would get to a screen stating it couldn't find the boot device. That normally means that either HDDs are bad or the mobo s chipset went poof and I bet more on the chipset and mobo since it gets hotter than a HDD does.

 

[cybergunkoo81]

get your mobo out of the casing and check the back of it. Any damages at the back?

 

[theholylancer]

that psu sounds like a cheapo pos, spend at least 100 US dollars on a nice psu is what I would recommend if you are building from good parts.

I say that because I see NZXT cases with built in XION stuff and I KNOW that means that the brand is a nice little cheapo brand....

I always get something from corsair, OCZ, enermax, antec (older brand), or PC power and cooling and then build the system around that....

 

[jcknouse]

Not having read everything (I'm lazy and about to go to lunch), I am just gonna make a guess here at the risk of it already having been disproven:

1) HSF...if the CPU is heating up too hot, it would shut down.
2) Mobo...could have a loose sink on one of the components and that's overheating
3) PSU...those overheat too...and shutdown (and even pop and smoke lol)
4) Mobo...usually you get 1-3 seconds of run then shutdown if it makes it through initial tests. Never seen a 20-30 second operation then shutdown...but, I can't say it's not possible.

Good luck with it man...and yeah, the guys are right..get you an enermax or OCZ supply...I have a GameXstream 700 in an old box with dual 8800 GTSes and 4 HDs and 10 fans (not including the PSU fan lol)...it's a good solid PSU.

I even have the ABS Tagan 1100W PSU in my current main PC, and it powers 2 9800GTX+es and 3HDs and the 720BE and Zerotherm Nirvana 120 and 2 DVDs...etc etc etc. Guess I got lucky with that tho. Some people on NewEgg seem to claim almost immediate breakdown