Need Answers/Help Regarding My GPU that caught fire.

[MV Galagala]

I got a Sapphire R9 280x 3gb 384bit GPU and it caught fire... Scenario: Scenario: I bought brandnew parts of a gaming rig, except for the GPU (4 months old now) then i tried it out.
At 2AM, I Installed all the parts, installed OS then installed drivers and then watched movies until 5AM and left it On until i woke up 11 or 12PM. When I woke up I decided to reformat my PC because of driver issues regarding hdmi sound output and I wanted another partition.. Then reinstalled OS, reinstalled drivers and after 30-40 mins from reformatting the PC and I was only at the desktop installing some programs(7zip,poweriso,etc) my rig suddenly turned off with a spark coming from the case. I just ignored it and turned it on again, but to my surprise, the PC after 1-2 seconds of the HDD LED, it shut OFF and I saw a fire on my GPU just near the pins, and it looked like a matchstick.. The fire lasted for 1-3 seconds max... I immediately unplugged the pc and got my gpu then checked if it's properly inserted, also the pins.. Then I cleaned it to make sure there's no dust, and plugged it back again. Same thing happned, there was a fire like a matchstick.
I decided to go to a licensed computer technician at 5pm, they tried the pc on the other PSU and put the GPU on the other pci slot and put the mobo on a flat wooden surface.. but Boom! just the same. it lit fire and smelled burnt plastic inside their shop. After all of that, the technicians still did not know the main cause of it :/ Does anyone know? I'll attach Pics, and here's my Specs btw:
AMD FX6300 (brandnew) 8gb(2x4gb) 1866mhz Gskill ripjaws (brandnew) Gigabyte 970 DS3P (brandnew) Sapphire Dual X r9 280x 3gb 384 bit (4months old and had no problem at all) Corsair VS650 (brandnew)
Thank you so much if you could enlighten me with the cause
of this problem..


PS: The GPU was already RMAed and received the replacement last week but i haven't used it until now. so scared to try.. Is it mobo? pcie slot? psu? or the gpu itself? if you know something tell me

Here are the pictures of the gpu:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=182929&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1404066306
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=182945&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1404066306
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=182953&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1404066306

It is right here:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=182937&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1404066306

 

[MV Galagala]

Guys, I just noticed these things in my MOBO.
btw. before i built this rig. the standoff screws were nowhere to be found that's why i directly used the HDD screws to fit the motherboard directly to the case.. and i just noticed that the metal/steel something at the back of pcie slot is exposed and on the other side there's a rubber.
And also at the back of DIMM slots, the two metals/steel-like wires are touched to each other.

Is this a problem? or Is it alright/normal?
Not an actual pic(camera is low batt) but just a reference pic of the back of mobo:
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=185042&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1405011636

 

[Shadowblade2652]

you did what?
You fit the motherboard DIRECTLY to the case?

well that's your problem. Something must be shorting out, where the motherboard is touching the case in a place other than the places where standoffs should be.

 

[MV Galagala]

how can i check if the mobo has a short circuit? or the pcie slot?
my mobo works if the gpu(the burned r9 280x) is not inserted. the fans run and the leds lights up also but it doesn't have onboard graphics so it shuts down after a few beeps..

 

[Shadowblade2652]

It could be not booting, which could be a problem. Check the motherboard manual to see what the beeps mean (the POST beeps). If it's posting correctly, you should hear just one beep.

 

[MV Galagala]

Well.. the mobo runs without the gpu. the lights/leds and fans all run and light but turns off after a few seconds because it has no onboard graphics. And also, there are no burnt marks anywhere in the mobo. Can i still use the mobo normally? or do i have to replace it ? i don't know how to check if it is shorted out.

 

[Shadowblade2652]

Well.. the mobo runs without the gpu. the lights/leds and fans all run and light but turns off after a few seconds because it has no onboard graphics. And also, there are no burnt marks anywhere in the mobo. Can i still use the mobo normally? or do i have to replace it ? i don't know how to check if it is shorted out.

if you've got a friend who has a cpu that runs on the same socket with an iGPU, then ask them to try it. See if it works. If it doesn't, then it could potentially be the motherboard.

 

[fabian369]

hey, EXACT same thing happened to me, i have the same card, r9 280x and the same power supply, corsair vs 650.

 

[Shadowblade2652]

corsair vs is the worst of all the corsair series power supplies.

 

[MV Galagala]

hey, EXACT same thing happened to me, i have the same card, r9 280x and the same power supply, corsair vs 650.

What exactly happened to yours? And how did you solve it? :/

 

[MV Galagala]

corsair vs is the worst of all the corsair series power supplies.

it's the worst but i don't think it is that bad.. because before i bought the psu i researched on the web and found out many people that has the same build as mine. vs650 on fx6300 and r9 280x and heard nothing wrong from them.

 

[MV Galagala]

Well.. the mobo runs without the gpu. the lights/leds and fans all run and light but turns off after a few seconds because it has no onboard graphics. And also, there are no burnt marks anywhere in the mobo. Can i still use the mobo normally? or do i have to replace it ? i don't know how to check if it is shorted out.

if you've got a friend who has a cpu that runs on the same socket with an iGPU, then ask them to try it. See if it works. If it doesn't, then it could potentially be the motherboard.

sir what do you mean?
their GPU? or CPU?