Help! My motherboard sparked/caught fire!

coconut16

Honorable
Jan 8, 2013
1
0
10,510
Okay so I was testing my parts before I put them in the case and I've followed the instructions and tutorials to make sure I was doing it right and then bam. A spark then a tiny fire for a few seconds before it went out after I turned the power supply off. I have no idea why it did this as I'm pretty sure everything is compatible and was set up correctly. I have photos I'll upload of the area that sparked. Will my motherboard or anything else be damaged or will it be okay? I'm hoping it will work again after getting advice as I don't want to have to buy a new motherboard or anything else :( What I think the problem was is the power connector for the cpu, the 4 pin connector. Is there only one set of four pins for use for powering the cpu? Because maybe I used the wrong one from the power supply. Cos there is a couple that look exactly the same :\
Spec:
* gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H
* 8GB XMS3 RAM (x2 4GB)
* i5 3330 processor (w/ intel stock fan)
* 700W Coolermaster gx lite psu
* gigabyte gt 630 2gb
Here are some photos of the motherboard and the area which (I think) caught fire/sparked.
Overview of setup:
20130107_223157.jpg

Zoomed in on the area:
fd5fbdcb6bc130445395bc964dd63f37.jpg

(I had unplugged the power connector for the CPU before this photo was taken after everything was off)
I'm currently totally stressing out as this is a lot of money I've spent and I was so sure I did everything correctly but I'm doubting my self ;( Could I have used the wrong power pin from the psu?any help and advice is grately appreciated!
 

StolleMan

Distinguished
Dec 30, 2012
12
0
18,510
I'm not an authority on this, hopefully someone with more knowledge will be able to help you out better than I can.

I think you have a burnt a MOSFET on the memory VRM. Usually caused by over-voltage. I can't see how you could have connected the PSU incorrectly (unless you managed to jam the 6+2 pin PCIe connector into the 4 pin 12V ATX slot).

If you haven't shorted anything then you may have a faulty motherboard.

Like I said, you may want to wait for a better answer than mine before you take any action, I'm only speculating with what little knowledge I have. I'm still learning. Hopefully this is helpful.