Question Broken motherboard?

[EdwardTheGamer]

Hi,
the scorching temperatures of these days started to give CPU throttling problems, even if it rarely exceeded 60 degrees (a bit hot for my FX 6300). I couldn't figure out if it was the processor itself that lowered and raised the frequency under load (from 3.5ghz down to 1.2) or was imposed by the failing motherboard (an ASRock 960GM-GS3 FX).
However I decided to replace the thermal paste, but when I went to reassemble it and turn it on it didn't start anymore. I tried to change the processor and start the PC without a CPU heatsink (just to see if there was a video signal) but within a few seconds the CPU became extremely hot, untouchable for several minutes.
I tried to unplug every type of component, leaving only the power supply, motherboard and cpu (even without it), but when I try to turn it on, the fans give a hint of movement and then stops; at this point the current flow seems interrupted and I have to disconnect and reconnect the power supply to repeat that small fans movement (a few times they almost made a turn).

What do you think it could be? Before buying a replacement part, I would like to try to understand where the problem could be and if I could solve it...
Thanks in advance.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You should retire that platform/motherboard, since it's very likely that it conked out. it could be a corrupt BIOS or it could very well be a dead motherboard. You will need spare parts to diagnose which component is faulty in order to troubleshoot. In fact you should start by listing your system's specs.

Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model.

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You should retire that platform/motherboard, since it's very likely that it conked out. it could be a corrupt BIOS or it could very well be a dead motherboard. You will need spare parts to diagnose which component is faulty in order to troubleshoot. In fact you should start by listing your system's specs.

Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model.

Hi Lutfij, it's a pleasure to meet you, I've been active on the Tom's Hardware Italy forum for many years, but for this serious problem I decided to ask you for help.

I tried to connect the power supply (a 550W Sharkoon Silentstorm IceWind 80+ bronze) to another pc and it works normally.
I completely disassembled the pc and reassembled the motherboard on an antistatic box, and I'm trying to turn it on only with PSU, motherboard and a fan (to see if something happens), do you think other components are needed or should the system fan spin anyway?

 

[Misgar]

There's a reason why people bolt large air and water coolers on to modern CPUs. They heat up very quickly as you discovered.

The nominal TDP of the FX-6300 is 95W. You wouldn't handle an old-fashioned Tungsten filament electric light bulb when it was switched on, so I'm surprised you dared to touch a bare FX-6300.

My last desktop CPU that could run for a short time without a heatsink was an 80386. Since then I've always fitted heatsinks before switching on.

Remember, static electricity resides on the outside of objects. I hope your "antistatic box"wasn't charged up. You cannot guarantee that wooden or cardboard boxes are entirely static free. Spend a few Euros/Dollars/Pounds and get an ESD mat. You're less likely to suffer unexplained failures in a year's time. Note the grounded wrist strap, connected to a mains safety earth via a high value resistor in the yellow plug.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I tried to change the processor and start the PC without a CPU heatsink (just to see if there was a video signal) but within a few seconds the CPU became extremely hot, untouchable for several minutes.

Probably killed cpu by doing that.

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

Probably killed cpu by doing that.

Shouldn't it have a protection system?
However I tried with another cpu and it's the same...

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

There's a reason why people bolt large air and water coolers on to modern CPUs. They heat up very quickly as you discovered.

The nominal TDP of the FX-6300 is 95W. You wouldn't handle an old-fashioned Tungsten filament electric light bulb when it was switched on, so I'm surprised you dared to touch a bare FX-6300.

My last desktop CPU that could run for a short time without a heatsink was an 80386. Since then I've always fitted heatsinks before switching on.

Remember, static electricity resides on the outside of objects. I hope your "antistatic box"wasn't charged up. You cannot guarantee that wooden or cardboard boxes are entirely static free. Spend a few Euros/Dollars/Pounds and get an ESD mat. You're less likely to suffer unexplained failures in a year's time. Note the grounded wrist strap, connected to a mains safety earth via a high value resistor in the yellow plug.

I used the motherboard plastic envelope... How hot do you think the processor may have gotten?
What should I do now? Isn't there a way to try to fix the motherboard? (I hope that it hasn't fried other components...)

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

I'm sure it's difficult to help me with the little information you have, so I'm attaching some photos and a video of the problem:

Spoiler: photos

Spoiler: Video

The fan makes that movement and then the motherboard seems to go in a "protection" mode, nothing moves anymore.
I have to unplug and plug the power back in to repeat this little movement (sometimes the fan spun even more).

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu5qpfJSkkA

 

[Eximo]

At this point it makes less sense to troubleshoot than to replace. There was already some sort of fault, and the CPU may also now be damaged.

The cheapest Ryzen is going to be much faster than an FX6300.

Not much separating a Ryzen 5500 and Ryzen 3600 these days, I would start here.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($28.77 @ Amazon)
Total: $214.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-07-24 16:14 EDT-0400

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

At this point it makes less sense to troubleshoot than to replace. There was already some sort of fault, and the CPU may also now be damaged.

The cheapest Ryzen is going to be much faster than an FX6300.

Not much separating a Ryzen 5500 and Ryzen 3600 these days, I would start here.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($98.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B550M Phantom Gaming 4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith Gaming 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($28.77 @ Amazon)
Total: $214.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-07-24 16:14 EDT-0400

Unfortunately in my country those prices are quite higher, if possible I would like to try to fix the problem with my PC, it was quite good for the age it had...

 

[Eximo]

Your symptoms lean towards a dead short somewhere in the system, if you have removed everything but the CPU/Motherboard/Memory and maybe a display adapter, not much else could be bad. That could be motherboard or CPU, but that can't be tested much in isolation.

You would have to track down a used AM3 board and an FX processor to even start testing. maybe a power supply as well. These could also be bad and you would be out even more money.

There are older Ryzen chips to look at. Ryzen 1600/1600AF may still be available. Ryzen 2600, 3600. You would still need DDR4 memory and an AM4 motherboard.

Older Intel platforms like 10th gen might be a good bargain at this point. An i3-10100 would be hugely faster. (Though you might find the more newer i3-12100 for a similar price at this point)

We can go back even farther and look at some DDR3 stuff. FX-6300 was pretty slow compared to things like 3rd and 4th generation Intel i5 and i7. If you can find a used office PC that may be another route to take.

Just depends what is available.

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

Your symptoms lean towards a dead short somewhere in the system, if you have removed everything but the CPU/Motherboard/Memory and maybe a display adapter, not much else could be bad. That could be motherboard or CPU, but that can't be tested much in isolation.

You would have to track down a used AM3 board and an FX processor to even start testing. maybe a power supply as well. These could also be bad and you would be out even more money.

There are older Ryzen chips to look at. Ryzen 1600/1600AF may still be available. Ryzen 2600, 3600. You would still need DDR4 memory and an AM4 motherboard.

Older Intel platforms like 10th gen might be a good bargain at this point. An i3-10100 would be hugely faster. (Though you might find the more newer i3-12100 for a similar price at this point)

We can go back even farther and look at some DDR3 stuff. FX-6300 was pretty slow compared to things like 3rd and 4th generation Intel i5 and i7. If you can find a used office PC that may be another route to take.

Just depends what is available.

I tried a different PSU and a different CPU, but no differences.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I tried a different PSU and a different CPU, but no differences.

Those actions in the video are pointless. What exactly are you trying to do there?

CPU has to be installed,​

CPU cooler has to be installed and connected to cpu fan header,​

at least a single ram module must be installed,​

BIOS battery has to be installed.​

Without doing this, do not expect your system to start.

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

Those actions in the video are pointless. What exactly are you trying to do there?

CPU has to be installed,​

CPU cooler has to be installed and connected to cpu fan header,​

at least a single ram module must be installed,​

BIOS battery has to be installed.​

Without doing this, do not expect your system to start.

I am trying to short the pins to start the computer without a case.
I tried again with cpu, cooler, ram and cmos battery (probably flat) but the result remains the same… 😞

 

[SkyNetRising]

I am trying to short the pins to start the computer without a case.
I tried again with cpu, cooler, ram and cmos battery (probably flat) but the result remains the same… 😞

Not really worth investing any money into reviving it.
Probably cpu and/or mainboard needs replacing. Then as well you could go with something better performing.
Any intel core 2nd, 3rd, 4th gen system will perform way better and you'll be able to reuse your old DDR3 ram (if it's not busted also).

TLDR - retire that old AM3 hardware.

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

Not really worth investing any money into reviving it.
Probably cpu and/or mainboard needs replacing. Then as well you could go with something better performing.
Any intel core 2nd, 3rd, 4th gen system will perform way better and you'll be able to reuse your old DDR3 ram (if it's not busted also).

TLDR - retire that old AM3 hardware.

I understand.

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

Can I try to put it in the oven?

 

[Misgar]

I've heard of people putting faulty hard disks in the freezer when trying to recover data but I've not considered baking components in the oven to get them working. Sounds doomed to failure.

 

[Eximo]

It only works under specific circumstances and is very easy to get wrong. Over time, ball grid arrays and some surface mount components under high temperature swings or physical pressure can crack. Getting them warm enough to cause re-flow can result in a intermittent or bad connection to re-connect. The downside is that this brings everything on the board near or above the melting point, and the potential for components to move around of fall off is high.

It was most notable for repairing old laptops with a particular bad batch of Nvidia graphics chipsets if memory serves. But they just chucked the whole laptop in the oven, brought it up to temperature and then let it cool down. Temporary solution for the most part.

Too difficult to do with a motherboard I would say as these days. There can be a lot of components on the back, not to mention all the prep time to strip the board down to only the electronics.

Freezer trick can temporarily revive a drive with a stuck spindle or read/write head. Shrinking the bearing surfaces can help overcome starting difficulties. Only for emergency data recovery though.

 

[EdwardTheGamer]

Update: after a close inspection I found this:

Spoiler

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.io

 

[bignastyid]

Update: after a close inspection I found this:

Spoiler

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.io

Fried VRM phase. Common issue on AM3 boards, especially the budget boards.