Hi all
I upgraded my sister-in-laws computer system with a new Gigabyte motherboard board (GA-EP45-UD3R), new processor (Intel E7400 2.8 GHz), new power supply (seasonic M12ii 500W) and new memory (Patriot viper extreme 4GB DDR2 2x2GB PC2-6400). I replaced an older gigabyte board with the dreaded antec 380 W power supply that blew that failed due to the PS and blown capacitor (I fixed that board because of this great forum; another thread and I am still using it as my backup system). Anyway, I went with the new motherboard because it had all solid caps, 2 Oz copper, etc. I wanted to make sure it didn't fail on her anytime soon. I installed this system over a year ago, and it has been working fine until a couple of weeks ago. The system kept rebooting itself periodically. I found a virus in it, fixed that but the system would then randomly reboot by itself. I traced it down to a memory issue. I relaxed the timings manually, as it was taking the timings from the SPD, and also had to bump the voltage of the MCH by a single increment. Without the bump in MCH voltage, the system was unstable but with it, it passed a 24 hour memory, stability, etc test. So I figured this fixed the issue. I found it strange that it was working fine for over 1 year with the default settings, but now it needs a little more voltage. I assumed that something may have degraded slightly but it was ok. Anyway, the computer worked flawlessly for 3 weeks, and then all of a sudden failed to post a couple of days ago. There are no beeps, no screen, etc. The hard light, and power light are on continuously, fans spin, CPU fan spins momentarily and that's about it. I reset the BIOS, pulled all the memory out, and still no beeps which leads me to believe its either a motherboard or CPU failure. I tried another PSU with the same result, and also tested the Seasonic by checking the voltages. Any case, to make a long story short
, I was turning the power on and off several times while testing it (i.e. removing memory) when I think a MOSFET(s) blew (a little smoke and smell) under the blue heatsink at the top of the board near the 8 pin ATX connector. My questions are:
1) What caused the MOSFET to blow? Could some of the solid caps have gone bad? Could a failed CPU caused the MOSFET to blow (i.e. acting like a short?)
2) I'm planning to send the MB back to Gigabyte (3 year warranty) since the MOSFET blew but not sure if the CPU is bad as well
3) Could the CPU have been damaged (assuming it was good before the MOSFET blew)
Thanks for any help
I upgraded my sister-in-laws computer system with a new Gigabyte motherboard board (GA-EP45-UD3R), new processor (Intel E7400 2.8 GHz), new power supply (seasonic M12ii 500W) and new memory (Patriot viper extreme 4GB DDR2 2x2GB PC2-6400). I replaced an older gigabyte board with the dreaded antec 380 W power supply that blew that failed due to the PS and blown capacitor (I fixed that board because of this great forum; another thread and I am still using it as my backup system). Anyway, I went with the new motherboard because it had all solid caps, 2 Oz copper, etc. I wanted to make sure it didn't fail on her anytime soon. I installed this system over a year ago, and it has been working fine until a couple of weeks ago. The system kept rebooting itself periodically. I found a virus in it, fixed that but the system would then randomly reboot by itself. I traced it down to a memory issue. I relaxed the timings manually, as it was taking the timings from the SPD, and also had to bump the voltage of the MCH by a single increment. Without the bump in MCH voltage, the system was unstable but with it, it passed a 24 hour memory, stability, etc test. So I figured this fixed the issue. I found it strange that it was working fine for over 1 year with the default settings, but now it needs a little more voltage. I assumed that something may have degraded slightly but it was ok. Anyway, the computer worked flawlessly for 3 weeks, and then all of a sudden failed to post a couple of days ago. There are no beeps, no screen, etc. The hard light, and power light are on continuously, fans spin, CPU fan spins momentarily and that's about it. I reset the BIOS, pulled all the memory out, and still no beeps which leads me to believe its either a motherboard or CPU failure. I tried another PSU with the same result, and also tested the Seasonic by checking the voltages. Any case, to make a long story short
, I was turning the power on and off several times while testing it (i.e. removing memory) when I think a MOSFET(s) blew (a little smoke and smell) under the blue heatsink at the top of the board near the 8 pin ATX connector. My questions are:1) What caused the MOSFET to blow? Could some of the solid caps have gone bad? Could a failed CPU caused the MOSFET to blow (i.e. acting like a short?)
2) I'm planning to send the MB back to Gigabyte (3 year warranty) since the MOSFET blew but not sure if the CPU is bad as well
3) Could the CPU have been damaged (assuming it was good before the MOSFET blew)
Thanks for any help
Comment