[SOLVED] Is my motherboard killing my PSUs?

[Joakin]

Hello. I apologize for the long text but I really need some advice

I just bought a PC from a guy from my city who was selling it online (he builds PCs and has a good rep among many facebook groups) a couple months ago, since the beginning he told me that the PC had a new PSU (Corsair CX750m Bronze) he bought days before and it rebooted once when he tested it a couple days before, but it didn't have any problems ever since, However he told me that if I had any problems with it he would change the PSU with no cost, so I agreed since it was a good deal considering the prices we have nowadays.

I tested the PC with GTA V and it rebooted after 10 minutes, I contacted him and he gave me a new PSU (Aerocool Cylon 700w Bronze) which I installed myself and started working completely fine, no reboots even after hours of gameplay on GTA V.

The problems began when I downloaded COD Modern Warfare. The second day I played for like 2 hours with my friends, I was using medium graphics with uncapped FPS, and after a while I smelled like burnt plastic coming from my PC (I have it very close to me) so I closed the game immediately and after a few seconds the PC shut down and tried to boot again but it wouldn't even get to the BIOS image, it just restarted again and again. I contacted the guy and he told me to bring the PC to him so he could test it and yes, the PSU was burned. I was always monitoring temps and usage with Afterburner and CPU was at 55-ish C° and the GPU was around 65 C°.

He installed a new PSU yesterday (Thermaltake GX2 600w Gold) and he even switched the GPU for a new one (MSI RTX 2060) which was brand new. We tested it for like 30 minutes and it was working just fine. However, today just some minutes ago I was playing Modern Warfare, this time I was using medium-high graphics with the FPS capped at 90, and after like 3 hours of gameplay the game just froze, the PC shut down and tried to boot again but would not even make it to the BIOS (same problem).

So I am starting to think that maybe my motherboard could be the culprit and is burning my PSUs? I don't really know if that's possible but I don't think the processor is causing the problem. Temps were even lower than before. (The radiator cooler fans were actually more noisy since we gave my PC back yesterday, like if they were running at full speed all the time)

These are my specs:
i7 8700
Before: used Rog Strix 1080 8GB (I used with the CX750m and the Cylon 700w)
Now: MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z (Thermaltake GX2)
8x2 GB DDR4 RAM Corsair Vengance Pro Rgb
Motherboard Asus Rog Strix z370-h gaming
Corsair H100i Pro RGB
HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB (for games only)
SSD Adata 120 GB (SO)

With the first two PSUs I was using a very old Power Sentry surge suppressor, and with the Thermaltake one I was using a 2 years old Koblenz no break 480va.

Thanks in advance for your comments

 

[SteveRX4]

I'd try it without the UPS to see if that helps.

None of those PSUs are real flash. Especially with a rtx2060 in the build.

Other than that the parts look fine.

 

[Lutfij]

Motherboards don't kill anything unless you're making the board go to some overclock that's physically demanding more from the PSU. That being said, how old are the PSU's? Also, you should've gotten a system with a B series chipset since you can't overclock the processor.

 

[Joakin]

I'd try it without the UPS to see if that helps.

None of those PSUs are real flash. Especially with a rtx2060 in the build.

Other than that the parts look fine.

I tried plugin it in directly into the the outlet and it still didn't get to the Bios.
I actually wanted to get a better PSU but couldn't find any decent one at any store, and the good ones I found were way too expensive. At least in the country I live there's a shortage of PSUs and prices have raised a lot

 

[Joakin]

Motherboards don't kill anything unless you're making the board go to some overclock that's physically demanding more from the PSU. That being said, how old are the PSU's? Also, you should've gotten a system with a B series chipset since you can't overclock the processor.

The three PSUs were brand new. I actually picked up the Thermaltake from the store.

The PC was already built, I didn't choose the parts. I just looked at the specs and though it was good build. I forgot to add that the motherboard it not brand new

There's something killing the PSUs after playing Modern warfare after a while (both incidents happened on this title, but I guess that's irrelevant). I already plugged it in a different UPS and the outlet and switched GPUs. The CPU had good temps while playing and the usage was below 50% all the time. That's why I blamed the motherboard

 

[Joakin]

I have to add that the last incident was quite different: instead of just turning off and booting again, the game just froze and made a weird noise through my headset and then it tried to reboot. This time there was no smell of burned plastic coming from the PSU or any of the components

 

[SteveRX4]

Have you tried a bios reset?

Or a bios update?

 

[Joakin]

Have you tried a bios reset?

Or a bios update?

I just tried a bios reset by removing the battery for about 3 minutes and the PC is now booting up, however i'm not getting any video signal. I tried removing the GPU and plugin in the HDMI into the motherboard and still no video signal

 

[SteveRX4]

So it's booting into windows? How do you know without any video?

Have you got another HDMI cable that you can try?

 

[Joakin]

So it's booting into windows? How do you know without any video?

Have you got another HDMI cable that you can try?

Sorry I used the wrong words. What I meant is that the PC in turning on now, the rebooting loop in gone, but im not getting any video signal and can't even see the Bios menu.

I tried with a different HDMI cable and it didn't work. I use a TVMonitor and it's detecting that the PC is plugged into the HDMI port, but it is not receiving any image from it

 

[SteveRX4]

Have you switched your monitor and tv to hdmi input?

 

[Joakin]

Have you switched your monitor and tv to hdmi input?

Yes I did. Even tried to use the HDMI port from the motherboard with and without GPU

 

[jonnyguru]

The motherboard did not kill the PSU.

There's something else wrong other than PSUs, but the guy who built it keeps thinking that PSU is the problem.

 

[SteveRX4]

It's a bit odd not getting signal out of the discrete or inbuilt graphics.
To confirm whether it IS a motherboard problem, you'd have to try another motherboard.
I gather that yours is out of warranty now?

 

[Joakin]

The motherboard did not kill the PSU.

There's something else wrong other than PSUs, but the guy who built it keeps thinking that PSU is the problem.

The Aerocool PSU was definitely burned. But this one doesn't seem to have any issues.

I changed the RAMs to different slots and the problem persists. So it must be either the RAM or the motherboard

 

[Joakin]

It's a bit odd not getting signal out of the discrete or inbuilt graphics.
To confirm whether it IS a motherboard problem, you'd have to try another motherboard.
I gather that yours is out of warranty now?

I just placed the RAMs in different slots (1 and 3 instead of 2 and 4) and the problem persists. The seller told me that we can get a new pair with the warranty since they are new, but to be honest I still think that he motherboard is the problem

I don't really know if the motherboard still has warranty, I will have to ask him

 

[boju]

I tried plugin it in directly into the the outlet and it still didn't get to the Bios.

When you get a new PSU, then plug it to the outlet. Whatever happened has happened, doesn't matter if you bypass UPS in this instance.

May not be UPS though. This burning plastic smell makes me suspicious of the wiring to the components from PSU. If cables or some of them were modular cables (pluggable cables to the PSU), whether it be, ATX 24pin, CPU 4/8pin, PCIe or Sata, replaced with the supplied PSU? PSU brands often don't share the same wiring designs so it's important to ONLY use cables the PSU comes with. Modular screams convenience but it's a lie!

 

[Joakin]

When you get a new PSU, then plug it to the outlet. Whatever happened has happened, doesn't matter if you bypass UPS in this instance.

May not be UPS though. This burning plastic smell makes me suspicious of the wiring to the components from PSU. If cables or some of them were modular cables (pluggable cables to the PSU), whether it be, ATX 24pin, CPU 4/8pin, PCIe or Sata, replaced with the supplied PSU? PSU brands often don't share the same wiring designs so it's important to ONLY use cables the PSU comes with. Modular screams convenience but it's a lie!

Yes all the cables were replaced since both PSUs were non modular.
The PC is turning on, but there's no video signal (with and without GPU, different cables HDMI and DVI, and different monitors). All the fans and lights are working fine

 

[boju]

Burning smell isn't a good sign (obviously), so it's impossible to say what component suffered with that happening.

Where did the PCIe cable come from for the graphics card?

 

[SteveRX4]

I'm now thinking that yes - it is your motherboard.

 

[Joakin]

I'm now thinking that yes - it is your motherboard.

I just realized that the DRAM led in my motherboard is on (orange color). That's the only led lightning.

Could this mean the RAM sticks are damaged?

 

[SteveRX4]

It ncould mean that soemthing is wrong with the ram.
Is the ram 100% seated and locked in?
Is the ram kit listed on the motherboard memory QVL?
Do you get the fault with just one stick of ram?
Try each stick by itself in each of the dimm slots and see if you get the error

 

[Joakin]

It ncould mean that soemthing is wrong with the ram.
Is the ram 100% seated and locked in?
Is the ram kit listed on the motherboard memory QVL?
Do you get the fault with just one stick of ram?
Try each stick by itself in each of the dimm slots and see if you get the error

Ok so this is what I did:
Took off one of the sticks and only left one in the third slot. This time the PC booted to windows and was working fine.
Next I turned it off and then took off the stick of ram and inserted the other one in the same slot. This time the PC entered into de rebooting loop it had after the crash and it didn't get past it.

So I think it is safe to say that one of the sticks of RAM is defective. Since they are new the seller will get them replaced with the warranty. If I get another problem I will just start another thread.

Thanks a lot Steve!