What the **** Blew?

[MutatedGamer]

So I was rendering out a video while on my bed resting. I hear my PC turn off and look over and see smoke. Opened it up and turned it on and something caught fire. :|

Pics:

 

[jaquith]

MOSFETs blew the ****'ing blew up. It looks like you used too much Thermal Paste from the first image; the Silver paste is Conductive and looks like it shorted the CPU's power.

Duh, the MOBO is toast but you 'may have' also taken then CPU along for the ride.

 

[thenewnumber2]

So I was rendering out a video while on my bed resting. I hear my PC turn off and look over and see smoke. Opened it up and turned it on and something caught fire. :|

Pics: http://i.imgur.com/UIa0z.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EtTlq.jpg

You blew a voltage regulator: the mobo is very dead, maybe some of your components, too

The New Number Two

 

[jaquith]

The red arrows are pointing to what appears to be both Thermal Paste and remnants of the CPU frying {black soot}.

 

[MutatedGamer]

The red arrows are pointing to what appears to be both Thermal Paste and remnants of the CPU frying {black soot}.

http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af254/Jaquith/CPU_FIRE_TP.jpg

Well, I didn't know you're not supposed to let thermal paste touch the brackets that secure the CPU... or w/e you call them. The black soot is a shadow :|. I REALLY hope my CPU isn't dead. If that's the case, I won't be able to get a new PC till Christmas. D:

 

[jaquith]

Do you have Homeowner's insurance - tell them it was a lighting strike...a bad electrical surge...the dog peed on the PC and poof!

You ONLY want a very thin layer on top of the CPU ONLY - thin as in not gushing-out. if it ONLY got on the bracket then it didn't cause the problem. From the photo it looks to be spread all over the place.

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g

Otherwise a R-E-A-L-L-Y bad PSU with no 'fault protection', Stand-off Short + BAD PSU, or liquid Short + BAD PSU could do that sever of damage. A good PSU would have kicked-off before allowing 'crispy' deep fried. I have no doubt about a dead short; it almost looks like pure A/C went through the system.

Q - Are you in a 220v area? With the PSU set for 110v...?

Q - Your PSU wouldn't happen to be Antec???

 

[MutatedGamer]

Do you have Homeowner's insurance - tell them it was a lighting strike...a bad electrical surge...the dog peed on the PC and poof!

You ONLY want a very thin layer on top of the CPU ONLY - thin as in not gushing-out. if it ONLY got on the bracket then it didn't cause the problem. From the photo it looks to be spread all over the place.

Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rPqCvCt0g

Otherwise a R-E-A-L-L-Y bad PSU with no 'fault protection', Stand-off Short + BAD PSU, or liquid Short + BAD PSU could do that sever of damage. A good PSU would have kicked-off before allowing 'crispy' deep fried. I have no doubt about a dead short; it almost looks like pure A/C went through the system.

Q - Are you in a 220v area? With the PSU set for 110v...?

Q - Your PSU wouldn't happen to be Antec???

The thermal paste was not gushing out everywhere, I'm not that dumb :/. I used a very very tiny amount and spread it out evenly onto the cpu using the little plastic thing that came with it.

I have a Corsair 650W psu that costed me a good around 100 bucks, I don't think it's bad.

My PSU is set to the right setting, I was using this build for a couple of months without a single problem.

The wiring in my house exlcluding one room with a big TV has cloth wiring... very old cloth wiring. This house was built sometime around 1800-1900, and my room's wiring wasn't updated since, and nobody in my family can afford to get it re-done.

Is my CPU a goner? :[ I plan on getting a new mobo and case, but that only since I can only afford that.

 

[jaquith]

Well I am astonished that a Corsair allowed this, it is NOT a 1 or 2 cycle short; its supposed to under/over and fault protect. I would contact Corsair and show them what happened.

Corsair -http://www.corsair.com/contact/default.aspx

Clearly, you had a catastrophic failure, one of the worst I've see, and by the looks of it I can only imagine someone or somehow the equivalent of pure A/C going into the MOBO.

I would be VERY surprised if your CPU survived; more like a miracle. I would be surprised if ANYTHING connected to the MOBO wasn't damaged.

----
Over Current/Voltage/Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection, and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum safety to your critical system components.
http://www.corsair.com/products/tx/default.aspx

Warranty - http://www.corsair.com/warranty/default.aspx

 

[MutatedGamer]

Well I am astonished that a Corsair allowed this, it is NOT a 1 or 2 cycle short; its supposed to under/over and fault protect. I would contact Corsair and show them what happened.

Corsair -http://www.corsair.com/contact/default.aspx

Clearly, you had a catastrophic failure, one of the worst I've see, and by the looks of it I can only imagine someone or somehow the equivalent of pure A/C going into the MOBO.

I would be VERY surprised if your CPU survived; more like a miracle. I would be surprised if ANYTHING connected to the MOBO wasn't damaged.

----
Over Current/Voltage/Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection, and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum safety to your critical system components.
http://www.corsair.com/products/tx/default.aspx

Warranty - http://www.corsair.com/warranty/default.aspx

Are you kidding me? My CPU is dead? My ram? GPU? DVD drive? I don't have the money for any new computers.

 

[jaquith]

You had a catastrophic failure, I only can guarantee the MOBO is crispy, but I too noticed the soot under the CPU socket - I'd be shocked if the CPU is intact.

You'll need to test each component. As I mentioned, start looking for the blame + warranty. I would start with Corsair and see what they say.

 

[MutatedGamer]

You had a catastrophic failure, I only can guarantee the MOBO is crispy, but I too noticed the soot under the CPU socket - I'd be shocked if the CPU is intact.

You'll need to test each component. As I mentioned, start looking for the blame + warranty. I would start with Corsair and see what they say.

I really don't have any other pc to test my parts in. Not other pc has a LGA 1156 socket, my uncle has an old AMD from dell with a dead PSU, I could test my PSU in there. But the only intel is a old Pentium something that's rusting with age and has like 1GB ram.... idk.

I can't call Corsair till tomorrow, closed a half hour ago. I'm not going email them either :/.

 

[MutatedGamer]

I THINK I FOUND A PROBLEM HELPER.

I have a Corsair Hydro cpu cooler. I think I learned my lesson with Corsair.

 

[MutatedGamer]

I love dell. The XPS pc my uncle has has a blocked off PSU by a wall or something. It's like it has its own part of the case, and no way in. :|

 

[jaquith]

The MOBO BIOS would thermally shut the PC down if it overheated, now if the H50 leaked that's another story. You need to get a filter - yuck! ...or vacuum every so often.

 

[MutatedGamer]

The MOBO BIOS would thermally shut the PC down if it overheated, now if the H50 leaked that's another story. You need to get a filter - yuck! ...or vacuum every so often.

Hmmm.... I think it would just be better to get an air cooler. Can you reccomend me one at microcenter? Here's my current shopping list
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0345258
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0293547

I was thinking I can take my PSU and CPU and mobo to Microcenter with me and they can test it (hopefully free...) and tell me what's dead.

 

[jaquith]

RAD vs FINS - Imagine cleaning all that gunk out of A-L-L the fins - Yeah buddy! I use the H50 I can clean them 5x faster and I added simple filters.

Cases are more 'personal' choices the CM HAF cases are very good; the thins to look for are PSU in bottom, top fans (2x120/RAD), bottom ventilation, and I also like side and back of CPU fan(s).

MOBO - IF you want/need 'real' CF then I would not recommend the P7H55/USB3; otherwise it's fine. Here's a good assortment of ASUS; each has Pros/Cons so look carefully {for reference I added P7H55/USB3} http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%2050001315%20600007888&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-131-400^13-131-400-TS,13-131-620^13-131-620-TS,13-131-601^13-131-601-TS,13-131-482^13-131-482-Z01,13-131-662^13-131-662-TS

 

[MutatedGamer]

RAD vs FINS - Imagine cleaning all that gunk out of A-L-L the fins - Yeah buddy! I use the H50 I can clean them 5x faster and I added simple filters.

Cases are more 'personal' choices the CM HAF cases are very good; the thins to look for are PSU in bottom, top fans (2x120/RAD), bottom ventilation, and I also like side and back of CPU fan(s).

MOBO - IF you want/need 'real' CF then I would not recommend the P7H55/USB3; otherwise it's fine. Here's a good assortment of ASUS; each has Pros/Cons so look carefully {for reference I added P7H55/USB3} http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%2050001315%20600007888&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-131-400^13-131-400-TS,13-131-620^13-131-620-TS,13-131-601^13-131-601-TS,13-131-482^13-131-482-Z01,13-131-662^13-131-662-TS

Dude, you lost me. Sorry, I''m new to this type of stuff

 

[jaquith]

Sorry, you posted a caked-up Corsair H50/H70 RAD {radiator}, and my comment was now imagine that in a regular Heat Sink with 'fins' -- an cleaning. That crud is going in either place -- there a lot of air going through either to cool off your system.

I too lived in a 100+ year old house and 'I understand' the DUST; that's why I got into the habit of using filters on my case; I just have to keep an eye on them and clean frequently.

 

[ares1214]

Its a shame a nice MSI board like that, if a Corsair PSU and MSI Motherboard lead to a catastrophic failiure like this, i guess anybody can... :/

 

[MutatedGamer]

Okay I just got back from Best Buy. The PSU is fine, sending out 12.3V. They said that motherboard is gone, so on my way home I shipped it out to MSI with my RMA papers. I can only hope now my CPU is alive, and hopefully find a good deal on newegg/microcenter tomorrow for black friday sales.

HAF 932 vs Antech 1200?

 

[jaquith]

Both are good, the Antec has better cooling (I like the 2 120's @ rear) but I prefer CM Quality and it has better side cooling for the NB/GPUs, and it's a personal 'looks' choice. Antec is ALL black which 'I' prefer, but I too know it's poorer quality. BOTH WILL GET EXTREMELY DUSTY!

Look at Corsair Graphite Series 600T {everything is filtered} http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139003

'I use' Corsair 800D.

Flip a coin.

Also, for the rebuild - I am very anal with my builds and in your situation I would look for plastic washers for both the stand-offs (you'll need to glue them on) and screws. [screw] [washer] {MOBO} [washer] [stand-off] -- never had a short yet. Also, be VERY careful with excess thermal paste; you can alway put the paste on before installing. Watch the I/O shield and 'up' the cleaning routine.

Good Luck!

 

[MutatedGamer]

Both are good, the Antec has better cooling (I like the 2 120's @ rear) but I prefer CM Quality and it has better side cooling for the NB/GPUs, and it's a personal 'looks' choice. Antec is ALL black which 'I' prefer, but I too know it's poorer quality. BOTH WILL GET EXTREMELY DUSTY!

Look at Corsair Graphite Series 600T {everything is filtered} http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139003

'I use' Corsair 800D.

Flip a coin.

Also, for the rebuild - I am very anal with my builds and in your situation I would look for plastic washers for both the stand-offs (you'll need to glue them on) and screws. [screw] [washer] {MOBO} [washer] [stand-off] -- never had a short yet. Also, be VERY careful with excess thermal paste; you can alway put the paste on before installing. Watch the I/O shield and 'up' the cleaning routine.

Good Luck!

I'm not getting another mid-size. This pc is never going to move unless going onto my desk for maintance, so I see not reason not to get a full-size. I had an old piece of junk CM mid-size tower, and I hated it. It cost me like 40 bucks, the cheapest they had at microcenter, and it was off-the-shelf sort of thing. A few months ago I ordered a NZXT M59, and I feel the same thing, even after hours of cable management, I didn't have enough room. So, I decided to cough out the extra money and get a full size.

I want something with behind-the-tray cable managment, plenty of airflow, alot of fans, and looks overall "1337". So I came down to the HAF 932 and the Antec 1200. :|

I was also looking at the 800D, but it's a little too much out of my price range. Also, I wouldn't want to give any more money to corsair. :/

 

[jaquith]

Trust me I understand all too well -- I feel that same way about Antec toasted (2) $400 GPUs on (2) identical rigs within weeks of each other even with an UPS.

Obviously, it's tough to see in a picture what's 'really' happened --- and so I'd love to hear what the Techs @ Microcenter think it is?

Just 'measure' the place for a Full Size tower - they 'is' big boys!

 

[MutatedGamer]

Trust me I understand all too well -- I feel that same way about Antec toasted (2) $400 GPUs on (2) identical rigs within weeks of each other even with an UPS.

Obviously, it's tough to see in a picture what's 'really' happened --- and so I'd love to hear what the Techs @ Microcenter think it is?

Just 'measure' the place for a Full Size tower - they 'is' big boys!

I didn't get to go to microcenter, only Best Buy before I shipped the motherboard back to MSI. As I said, nothing wrong with this PSU, I could still use it. Also, what's an UPS?

I'm probably going to get the HAF 932. Now, I just wait till my mom can get it. A few months -_-

 

[jaquith]

UPS = Uninterrupted Power Supply ; battery back-up {helps keep the power 'clean' and in case the power goes out keeps the PC running for ~20~30 minutes then shuts it down if I'm away.}

Be G-O-O-D - Love Mom!!!