Up in smoke.... Thats where my capacitors go....

[pur]

So another motherboard bites the dust....


So I wake up and turn my pc on and I hear a small pop, but since nothing is wrong with the computer (it was still working), I think nothing of it and continue to browse the web for about 10min, then I go and take a shower.

Upon coming back from the shower there is a strong acidic smell in my room. A smell of burnt electronics.
My computer is no longer on playing music like I left it. Its off. I feel terror.

So I unplug everything and pull the board out, removing all parts. I find the following:







This has happened once before with this board model, although last time it was not near as sever. Guess I'm overclocking too hard as there is no other explanation as to why it keeps happening. It was even the same caps as last time.

Rma time.

[AgentGOD]

Yikes... how much were you pushing it? I have the Deluxe version of the board (P5Q Deluxe), and now I'm a little paranoid. We even have similar specs.

Sucks that it had to die on you

[MomijiTMO]

Sorry for your loss.

Looks like your mosfets said hell no.

[radaja]

wow.that just sucks.to happen once is bad but twice.what are your voltages?and hows your cooling?
is this kind of thing caused by heat from too much voltages?im kind of scared for my board too.
please let us know all details that you can.again sorry buddy

[MacClipper]

Not the caps, looks more like bigtime mosfet meltdown. Which specific Asus mobo (the one in your sig?) and how much were you pumping into it?

[punx223]

+1 your mesets said no more... i would have to ask.... what were you pushing vcore wise.... either way that is NOT GOOD...

If tahts happened on 2 boards.. check your thermal pads make sure when mounted the mosfets are not pusing through the pad and making contact

[Shadowthor]

+1 for what vcore were you using? PSU?

[paul_]

This is the reason (or one of them) that I take off my MOSFET coolers and re-grease them with Arctic Ceramique or MX-2 before the board goes into use. I am mega paranoid about them going up in smoke :P

[Boogerlad]

That's why I don't like asus. They screwed me over more than 3 times.

[MomijiTMO]

?

Anus may be very anus like but I didn't get total contact on my DFI mobo either. Everyone has this issue.

[Leeghoofd]

Isues maybe due to ya phase change mount ?

[jcniest5]

So another motherboard bites the dust....


So I wake up and turn my pc on and I hear a small pop, but since nothing is wrong with the computer (it was still working), I think nothing of it and continue to browse the web for about 10min, then I go and take a shower.

Upon coming back from the shower there is a strong acidic smell in my room. A smell of burnt electronics.
My computer is no longer on playing music like I left it. Its off. I feel terror.

So I unplug everything and pull the board out, removing all parts. I find the following:







This has happened once before with this board model, although last time it was not near as sever. Guess I'm overclocking too hard as there is no other explanation as to why it keeps happening. It was even the same caps as last time.

Rma time.

Will Asus still honor the board? What if they say it's user's fault (High OCing resulting in too much heat)?

[fatguy1992]

Wow thats amazing

If you were running your Q6600 @ 4.3GHz (like in your sig) then i'm not really surprised it happened, the P5Q isn't a high end mobo.

[dpokrajac0]

U are really lucky, cus that looks like u had a small fire there.

[fatguy1992]

U are really lucky, cus that looks like u had a small fire there.

Lucky it didn't spread...

[punx223]

actually very small chance of major fire.... ive had this happen when testing motherboards before its actually quite quick, a flash pop flame then just kinda boils the upper layer of the board.... i would say your mosfet when mounting taht cooler may have torn a little or pushed through the pad, and caused it to ground or short....

not ot mention if teh fet cooler was touching a cap, it would have a ground point then it was just a matter of time...

A word of advice.... check clearance on all surrounding products when mounting coolers.... also take teh pad (so not use just ceramique) unless you like replacing boards.... but put ceramique directly on teh fets then place the pad directly on teh cooler the mount it on the fets.... try to mount it while lining the holes up directly is possible... and wiggling you do could cause the thermal pad to tear and give you a future shorting point

[CryptiK]

Wow, that is some serious damage there. I'm also interested to know what vcore, Vtt and vPLL you were running, and what PSU you are using.

[devsk]

I am sorry for your loss but how come you didn't think much of "the pop". Any overclocker knows what that means....

[highoctane]

Will Asus still honor the board? What if they say it's user's fault (High OCing resulting in too much heat)?

I doubt it, they'll know something is up with the greased socket.

[Glow9]

smells like an Asus

[punx223]

wow... i didnt know people still greased their sockets.... a hair dryer and a lil time might fix taht though

[Jamesrt2004]

lols my board (abit) has poped caps still runs though somehow lols =)

[BababooeyHTJ]

Dude, that is nuts. Judgeing by the pad on the mosfet sink a few of the vrms weren't even making contact with the pad. I'm using the same mosfet sinks on my deluxe and was able to use the stock backplate and screws.

[LOUISSSSS]

hes not going to tell you the voltages until he tries an RMA w/ asus. if he were to post his real results here he would get pwned by asus when they see that he was lying.

[pur]

Well thats a lot of posts.

Yeah I was running 1.5v in the bios, I honestly don't remember the other settings. The board has been running 24/7 for almost a year, only a quick power cycle every few weeks. So the other settings have been long forgotten. The heatsinks on the mofsets never got more then warm when under a load.

As far as posting the "results" they are already on the forum, i believe in my phase thread so . All I was doing was using a board feature anyways. As far as greasing the socket, I'll never do that again. It was a mistake this time and there are better ways. Its pretty easy to clean off if you know how as well. I'm not looking to cheat anyone, but I feel I used the board as it was intended.

I had theorized that the cap leaked electrolyte and then it caused a short on the mofsets, resulting in some warm results. Once I took the board off the the tray I noticed that it burned off some of the powder coat on the aluminum. Yikes. It is possible that the mofsets just quit, but they were never more then warm. On the old mobo, the mofsets didnt go, a cap leaked electrolyte, but it was just below the mofsets, so no short that time, but who knows. On the bright side, everything else still works.

No, I'm not sure it will get rma'd again. If it doesn't its no big deal. I will buy another but probably not asus. The rma last time was painful. It took forever, then they sent me the wrong motherboard (an AM2 board), and then when i finally got someone on the phone I was told to take pictures to prove they sent me the wrong one and email them. Only the rep i sent the pictures to got off work, so I had to go through the entire phone tree again, and send the pictures again. After 7 weeks, I got the correct replacement board. Unacceptable.

With all of that, anyone have suggestions for a non-asus board?

Just needs to be DDR2 and have a P45 chipset. Crossfire not needed.
Not interested in i7 at the moment. Performance is plenty high for me at 4.3ghz. A small jump with i7 is not worth the 500-700 it would cost to upgrade.