Motherboard fried setting up Mining rig

[Manoj_daran]

Hello guys, I have 2 mobos fried in a span of 2 days when I was trying to set up a 5GPU rig.
Here is my specs

Mobo: MSI Gaming M3 and Asus Z270A Prime

RAM: Corsair 4GB

CPU: i3 6th Gen

GPU: 5 x Zotac 1060 6GB Amp Version

SSD: 128GB

PSU: Corsair RM1000X

Risers from Amazon [Ver 002 and Ver 003]

Ok, here's what I did. Connected all the necessary components and connected one GPU via riser on the 1x Slot, it gets detected and I installed the drivers. Same way, I installed 4 GPUs. When I connect the 5th one, it didnt get detected. So, I kept trying with different combination of connections on the 1x slots [MSI Mobo has 4 1x slots and 2 16x slots] no luck indeed. And at one try, mobo failed to boot and then it is fried. Intense heat can be felt just close to the 8 Pin. Along with the Mobo SSD and RAM is completely dead too [Tested on another PC]. I can see people setting up 8GPU with ease, I mean its just 5GPU, why can't my Mobo handle?

Is it the risers? Or did I miss something?

Ohh, forget to tell. I placed my motherboard on a a Wooden plank. Dont think there is any reason to short circuit due to this. My Asus Mobo on the other hand had a different problem. Before purchasing this, had a talk with the representative. He clearly mentioned, this mobo is optimized for mining purposes, so it would do more than just fine. But for me, it fried when I install the 3rd GPU. Then, its dead like the MSI.

In both the cases, a lot of people followed the exact same method as I did and they were successful, then why couldn't I ? All the components are brand new and purchased from the authorised retailers, except for the risers. So, is it really the risers causing the pain? or did I buy poor quality low version risers? And I powered the risers using a Molex to Sata cable. This way, I have powered more than 2 GPUs with one cable [Have 4 SATA outputs in 1 cable]. The other end is a six pin which goes to the PSU.

I have no idea. Now that I sent both the mobos for repair/replacement, I wanted to know what would have gone wrong so that I might get prepared once it is returned. Im open to all the suggestions and help, guys. Please help me through.

 

[romirez]

Do not power more than 2 risers by one Molex cable. There is a cap of current in the 5V line of voltages.
Imo your PSU is under suspect.

 

[Manoj_daran]

Thanks, I will try to power one riser by one cable. I may need to buy additional cables. PSU is brand new and is still working if I connect this to a another Mobo. Do you think, PSU is failing too?

 

[Bungle11]

are you trying to cryocurrency mine with 5 gpus? If so, 2 replacement mobo's have eaten into your profit

 

[Manoj_daran]

Finally problem's solved. Got a new Mobo from Asus as replacement. Then, somehow I managed to get all the 5 GPUs working. Its the risers that caused the troubles. Replaced 2 risers [Had to found which one is faulty one by one]. Then, connected a GPU directly to the Mobo. Now, my rig is up and running.