Question I may have burned my students PC. HELP!!!

[brunomalavolta]

Hey, guys. I bag you for some help.

I recently sold a Ryzen 5500 to a student of mine. I only used the processor for a year.

When I removed-it, and cleaned the thermal paste, some of the gone to the processor's pins. Just a little. I cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol and a brand-new tooth brush, carefully. No thermal paste was visible anymore (I also used a magnifying glass to look it better.)

When this student of mine changed his Ryzen 2600 for the Ryzen 5500, it didn't work. No video signal, but the fans were working. He removed the battery to reset the bios, and it still didn't work.

So, he changed back to the 2600, and it didn't work either.

And so he heard a noise on the PSU (old one, 500W and no PLUS label).

His MOBO was also old: an a320m-s2h.

If I concludes that my processor killed his system, I will refund and reimburse him.
Please, guys, I am feeling terrible. But I also think that it could have been a MOBO support problem.
Thanks!

 

[brunomalavolta]

Hey, guys. I bag you for some help.

I recently sold a Ryzen 5500 to a student of mine. I only used the processor for a year.

When I removed-it, and cleaned the thermal paste, some of the gone to the processor's pins. Just a little. I cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol and a brand-new tooth brush, carefully. No thermal paste was visible anymore (I also used a magnifying glass to look it better.)

When this student of mine changed his Ryzen 2600 for the Ryzen 5500, it didn't work. No video signal, but the fans were working. He removed the battery to reset the bios, and it still didn't work.

So, he changed back to the 2600, and it didn't work either.

And so he heard a noise on the PSU (old one, 500W and no PLUS label).

His MOBO was also old: an a320m-s2h.

If I concludes that my processor killed his system, I will refund and reimburse him.
Please, guys, I am feeling terrible. But I also think that it could have been a MOBO support problem.
Thanks!

One more detail. The Ryzen 5500 that I was using was paired with a WC H55, and I used the thermal paste that came with it. I wonder if that was a metallic one, and it may have caused the short circuit.

 

[punkncat]

That motherboard would have needed a BIOS update to work, IF it was even available for the A320 board. This is almost assuredly on him, but in spite of that and according to the cost it might be best for relations just to refund if you feel that way about them. Should not do side business with people where you work as it can create a hostile environment. .02

 

[Ralston18]

Not necessarily then Ryzen 5500.....

With an old motherboard and an old PSU (make, model?) anything could have happened.

Plus is just an efficiency rating - not a quality rating.

Hopefully the included thermal paste would be non-metallic. Does not exclude substandard or even counterfeit thermal paste.

Overall you are doing the right thing by refunding/reimbursing him.

You really do not know what the student may have done and the student may not truly know either.

However, the noise from the PSU could likely have been some dying gasp that took out one or more of the components in the host system.

Yes you feel terrible but you can get over that by continuing to help out as best you can.

And keep in mind that such events are just another reason for ensuring that all systems are fully backed up at all times.