[SOLVED] New motherboard, same old problem?

Sequela7

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May 7, 2017
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Hey, guys. Big story time, but any help is appreciated.

So, I have a "big" problem and have been out of my PC for the past two weeks or so.

All started a few months back when sometimes when I turned on the PSU on its back, power wouldn't get delivered to the rest of the rig until a few minutes passed, and I could turn on my PC, game as usual and overclock a little sometimes (never did too much OC, though. Only three to five times on 2h gaming session on fortnite).

This problem persisted, but since I almost never had to turn the PSU off on its back, I ignored it and continued to use my PC as normal.

So, a couple of weeks back, I was using my PC doing some work when both my monitors froze and I was like: WTF? First one, then the other. I restarted it but couldn't get it to boot past BIOS, so I went into it and discovered that my SSD wasn't being recognized. I decided to turn the PC off and pull it back to clean it and clean the socket with Electrical Contact Cleaner. I waited around 15 minutes before plugging everything back and booted it up. Still, nothing past the BIOS, so when I went back into it, I heard a snap from my pc and saw smoke coming from behind the GPU. Everything turned off right away.

I checked the motherboard, GPU and M.2 SSD and saw that some of the SSD's capacitors blew up (literally) and some of it was melt with that bad smell.

Took out the SSD and installed Windows on my HD, hoping for only the SSD to be damaged, which it was. PC would turn back on normally and function as before (just not as quick because it's an HD). Decided to buy a new SSD online.

Thing is, before the SSD could even get delivered, there was a power outtage in my building one morning. I have the PC connected to a reputable brand of a Power Strip Filter here in Brazil (Clamper) since I built it back in July 2018, so I wouldn't have to worry as much when electricity went down and my PC would turn off.

On this day, electricity was out from 3pm until 9pm when the techinicians arrived and I was about to go to bed, so decided to sleep and boot the PC in the morning.

Morning came and I couldn't boot it up (same problem I had when I turned the PSU on on its back a while back - nothing would light up or spin). What worked for me a few times was changing the 6-pin GPU cables and unplugging and plugging back on the USB peripherals and DisplayPort and HDMI ports on the back of the motherboard, and the PC would turn on. On this morning, I could boot it up as usual and continued using it until lunch time, when I had to go work to the office to work from there.

When I arrived home that night, the PC was completely dead and nothing would turn on nor spin again. There weren't any power outtages when I was away and no one got next to my PC. I decided to check it in the morning hoping for the electricity to power it on (just like it was before, when I had to wait some minutes before turning it on).

The new morning came and the problem still persisted. I got very frustrated and took the PC to assistance in my city (my PC is a little more than two years old at this point, so my motherboard is no longer in warranty). The technician checked the PSU and the power being delivered from it was 100% normal. Nothing more, nothing less than the current needed, which got me thinking it was the motherboard.

He told me to buy a new one and I was almost doing it so at that point, so I called a friend that works in IT support too and he took my PC to further inspect it. That same day, he showed me a video of a capacitor in the lower part of the motherboard that had blown up. He took a while to get back to me when he could inspect the motherboards specs and solder a new capacitor into it and I really need the PC to work from home (the office's is an old i5-4590 with 4GB of RAM).

I decided to buy a new motherboard althogether, futureproofing in case I change CPUs later on. The new motherboard arrived yesterday and I built everything from the old motherboard into the new and last night I tested it for the first time (without the new SSD. I decided to try to boot the PC first before connecting the new SSD)... To have again, no power at all. Rebuilt it this morning to which nothing happened.

I really don't know what to do, since I really need to have my PC working. I checked ALL cable entries, from Power SW to 20+4 connector to CPU_fan to HDD LED and everything is connected as it should.

PSU is 100% fine as I said it before, CPU pins are all straight, RAM is fine too. I don't know what to do. If someone had something similar to this, please share your experiences because I spent 150 USD$ on a new motherboard (prices in Brazil are crazy) and things are acting like it was before.

Also worth noting that in both motherboards, when I plugged the keyboard via USB, it would light up for a second and turn back off, so power was and is being delivered through USB. Maybe I was unlucky enough to buy a bad motherboard?

Here are the specs:

CPU: Ryzen 5 1600 w/ stock cooler
Old mobo: Gigabyte AB350-M Gaming 3 Rev. 1.0
New mobo: Aorus B450 M Rev. 1.0 (1st gen ready)
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 1060 6GB Windforce OC
PSU: EVGA 550W 80+ Gold (model 100-GD-0550)
RAM: 2x4GB Crucial Ballistix Sport Red 2400MHz

I know this is very long, but I decided to put as much detail as I could.

Thanks for any reply and happy Halloween!
 
Solution
PC resolved.

Called my IT friend over and we took the PC apart.

Turns out the pins on the CPU were a little bent (and I didn't notice), so the motherboard couldn't even turn on without it. PC has been running fine now after adjusting it and fitting in the AM4 socket!

Sequela7

Reputable
May 7, 2017
12
0
4,520
How did the technician check the psu?

He used some kind of multimeter to check the current being delivered to the motherboard, connecting both the 8-Pin and 20+4-Pin to it. There were both of these sockets into the multimeter-thingy, so he could check it. Everything was being delivered as it should
 

Sequela7

Reputable
May 7, 2017
12
0
4,520
PC resolved.

Called my IT friend over and we took the PC apart.

Turns out the pins on the CPU were a little bent (and I didn't notice), so the motherboard couldn't even turn on without it. PC has been running fine now after adjusting it and fitting in the AM4 socket!
 
Solution