Question Have I fried my motherboard? M5A78L-M LX3

[asddq12]

I was connecting my chassis fans (which I realised I hadn't done ~1 week ago) to my motherboard, and because I wasn't concentrating and my mind was in another place I really stupidly connected the chassis fans 4 pin connector to the CLRTC pins and started my PC. The fans and gpu lit up for half a second and then stopped and my pc now won't power on.

I instantly realise what I'd done, removed the cable, put the pin cover back in the correct place and tried to restart but nothing happens, although the power light on the mother board is on when I try to power up nothing happens, no LEDs and no fans spinning. Have I completely fried my motherboard or is there any way to save it?

 

[Deleted member 362816]

Remove the Cmos battery and unplug it from the wall for a few minutes and try it again.

 

[asddq12]

Remove the Cmos battery and unplug it from the wall for a few minutes and try it again.

Still nothing, removed it for about an hour. Something that might be worth noting is that before this happened when the PSU was plugged in (not powered on) small accents on the fan and gpu would light up but not anymore, only the power LED on the motherboard.

 

[asddq12]

Quick update:

Followed the troubleshooting steps at View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/4a16co/computer_showing_no_signs_of_life/
and sure enough no luck. I think the motherboard is dead and I'll have to buy another one unfortunately. Although due to the fact that there is no visible physical damage to the board I'm still holding out hope that somehow it will start working.

 

[CountMike]

I was connecting my chassis fans (which I realised I hadn't done ~1 week ago) to my motherboard, and because I wasn't concentrating and my mind was in another place I really stupidly connected the chassis fans 4 pin connector to the CLRTC pins and started my PC. The fans and gpu lit up for half a second and then stopped and my pc now won't power on.

I instantly realise what I'd done, removed the cable, put the pin cover back in the correct place and tried to restart but nothing happens, although the power light on the mother board is on when I try to power up nothing happens, no LEDs and no fans spinning. Have I completely fried my motherboard or is there any way to save it?

Which CPU ? If it's FX 8XXX, no wonder.

 

[DSzymborski]

That's an extraordinarily anemic troubleshooting list that leaves out a tremendous amount of possibl issues.

"No POST", "system won't boot", and "no video output" troubleshooting checklist

"No POST", "system won't boot", and "no video output" troubleshooting checklist This checklist is a compilation of troubleshooting ideas from many forum members. It's very important to actually perform every step in the checklist if you want to effectively troubleshoot your problem. 1.Did you...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[asddq12]

That's an extraordinarily anemic troubleshooting list that leaves out a tremendous amount of possibl issues.

"No POST", "system won't boot", and "no video output" troubleshooting checklist

"No POST", "system won't boot", and "no video output" troubleshooting checklist This checklist is a compilation of troubleshooting ideas from many forum members. It's very important to actually perform every step in the checklist if you want to effectively troubleshoot your problem. 1.Did you...

forums.tomshardware.com

Attempted the list of instructions from this post and still nothing. I've attached an imgur gallery with some pictures of the motherboard as I add components with the result of trying to start the PC, as well as a video of an attempted boot, just in case anybody can perform some diagnostic wizardry with them.

I have a slight amount of hope from the red LED indicating PCIE has not been connected, although I'm not sure whether this can really be considered a sign of life.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/pZEoPR6

 

[CountMike]

Attempted the list of instructions from this post and still nothing. I've attached an imgur gallery with some pictures of the motherboard as I add components with the result of trying to start the PC, as well as a video of an attempted boot, just in case anybody can perform some diagnostic wizardry with them.

I have a slight amount of hope from the red LED indicating PCIE has not been connected, although I'm not sure whether this can really be considered a sign of life.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/pZEoPR6

Without compatible and known good at least CPU and it's cooler troubleshooting is pointless. BIOS and anything else is not going to work and there will be no signs of "life".
In case CPU cooler fan is not running, next thing I would try is with only 24 pin power connected (without ATX 4 pin) as if fan starts spinning that would point to VRM being defective.

 

[asddq12]

Without compatible and known good at least CPU and it's cooler troubleshooting is pointless. BIOS and anything else is not going to work and there will be no signs of "life".
In case CPU cooler fan is not running, next thing I would try is with only 24 pin power connected (without ATX 4 pin) as if fan starts spinning that would point to VRM being defective.

I think that the cooler is the AMD Wraith. It came with my FX 8350 I believe. Tried without the ATX 4 pin and still nothing.

 

[DSzymborski]

I'm increasingly concerned it is a fried motherboard.

Budget AM3+ motherboards -- including this exact motherboard -- are notorious for getting destroyed by 125W CPUs, so if yours lasted a decade, it's actually one of the more fortunate ones; we had a rash of people in 2014-2017 or so with this exact motherboard with an 8350 that sent it to the afterlife.

I'm not sure I'd invest in replacing this motherboard. $100 for a proper used 990FX motherboard, which is necessary unless you want to risk doing this all again in six months, is a lot of money to dump into a disappointing 2011 platform when $250-300 gets you into a budget Zen 3/Alder Lake CPU/MB/RAM that will absolutely murder this one.

 

[asddq12]

I'm increasingly concerned it is a fried motherboard.

Budget AM3+ motherboards -- including this exact motherboard -- are notorious for getting destroyed by 125W CPUs, so if yours lasted a decade, it's actually one of the more fortunate ones; we had a rash of people in 2014-2017 or so with this exact motherboard with an 8350 that sent it to the afterlife.

I'm not sure I'd invest in replacing this motherboard. $100 for a proper used 990FX motherboard, which is necessary unless you want to risk doing this all again in six months, is a lot of money to dump into a disappointing 2011 platform when $250-300 gets you into a budget Zen 3/Alder Lake CPU/MB/RAM that will absolutely murder this one.

Ah I see. I think I'll try and find a cheap motherboard that can return my computer to a functional state. I don't really have a huge amount of money to spend on a massively expensive motherboard and the most important thing is the PC working. Thanks for all the help.