Question Did my PSU Fry my MotherBoard?

[JudithWright]

Dual-CPU hobby build:


2 CPUs: Intel XEON E5-2680V2

Motherboard: Jingsha X79 S8 Dual-CPU motherboard (more info here: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804001423600.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US)


RAM: 256GB ECC RAM

SSD: Samsung 256GB m.2 NVME

GPU: Gigabyte RTX 3060 ti

PSU: 1000w Gold-Rated EVGA Supernova (purchased from eBay, never tested before)

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I purchased a motherboard for a hobby build from Aliexpress, I put everything together - and the PC will not start.

When everything is turned OFF, there is a small yellow light that is ON near the right-edge of the motherboard.


When the power button is pressed, the case fans spin a few times and several lights on the motherboard turn on.

This lasts for about a second, and then everything turns-off. This cycle repeats continuously until I flip the switch on the PSU to the OFF position.


There is also an "FF" code in the digital reader that displays on the bottom of the motherboard itself.



I am trying to figure out exactly what went wrong, and what other components are now likely to be damaged.

_____



-Given the way the PC is behaving, is this motherboard completely fried (beyond repair)?


-I never used the PSU before (and it was missing its original power cable, I used a 10A 250V power cable from another power supply).

-Could the PSU have fried the motherboard? Or is it more likely that the issue is the motherboard itself, and not the PSU?


-Most likely, what other components were damaged by all of this?



I have an ARESGAME plastic PSU Tester - but I believe all that will tell me is whether or not the PSU will power-on, not whether it is damaged (is this correct?)



Not really sure how to proceed from here...

 

[hotaru.hino]

If the motherboard was fried, it likely wouldn't even show anything like a light or a POST code.

A couple of red flags for me are buying from AliExpress and a board from a manufacturer that doesn't seem to have a front page hit on Google.

 

[JudithWright]

If the motherboard was fried, it likely wouldn't even show anything like a light or a POST code.

A couple of red flags for me are buying from AliExpress and a board from a manufacturer that doesn't seem to have a front page hit on Google.

So, you think that the motherboard was not fried?

Would that point to the PSU, in your opinion?

I am just trying to figure out what to do next, so that I can salvage as many parts as possible and complete this build.

 

[kerberos_20]

FF code means CPU isnt loading, since you say its turning off by itself shortly, than mobo doesnt know what CPU you have inserted, soo to protect itself, its turning off

 

[JudithWright]

FF code means CPU isnt loading, since you say its turning off by itself shortly, than mobo doesnt know what CPU you have inserted, soo to protect itself, its turning off

Very interesting, thank you for this response.

Right now, there are 2 CPUs installed - I don't think there are any problems with either of them.


What should I do next?

 

[kerberos_20]

Very interesting, thank you for this response.

Right now, there are 2 CPUs installed - I don't think there are any problems with either of them.


What should I do next?

use different mainboard or cpus perhaps?

 

[JudithWright]

use different mainboard or cpus perhaps?

I am worried about the possibility that there is something wrong with the PSU (purchased from eBay, doesn't have the original power cable).

Do you think the PSU is a non-issue (not causing the problems with the system)?

 

[kerberos_20]

I am worried about the possibility that there is something wrong with the PSU (purchased from eBay, doesn't have the original power cable).

Do you think the PSU is a non-issue (not causing the problems with the system)?

you could try with different psu, but wrong cables would be showing some sparks and magic smoke

you say you have psu tester, psu has self tests which tester should report if something out of range

 

[JudithWright]

you could try with different psu, but wrong cables would be showing some sparks and magic smoke

you say you have psu tester, psu has self tests which tester should report if something out of range

But the PSU tester is only a plastic model from ARESGAME - doesn't that only tell me if the PSU will turn-on?

 

[hotaru.hino]

I am worried about the possibility that there is something wrong with the PSU (purchased from eBay, doesn't have the original power cable).

Do you think the PSU is a non-issue (not causing the problems with the system)?

There's only two ways a bad PSU could destroy computer hardware: either over voltage which the PSU has protection against assuming it's a legit unit or over current, which would require the hardware to either have a short (which means something would pop) or being under so much load it overwhelms the PSU (which isn't possible in POST)

Basically I'd expect dramatic events to happen if the PSU was actually at fault here.

 

[kerberos_20]

But the PSU tester is only a plastic model from ARESGAME - doesn't that only tell me if the PSU will turn-on?

thats not psu tester