[SOLVED] (Urgent) I think I might have killed my Motherboard

[foxhound525]

Gigabyte 990FXUDA3 Rev4
FX-8370
Scythe Fuma 2
8GBx2 DDR3 Corsair low profile
2x SSDs 3x HDDs
GTX 1060 6GB

So I just got this motherboard off ebay, spent 6 hours installing everything, then 7 hours sorting the bios and drivers out the next day. Got (nearly) everything working, and started overclocking.

I got to 4.7ghz, but the problem I had was that core clocks kept dropping when under load during the intel burn test. The reason I bought this motherboard was that it was supposed to not experience VRM throttling!! Anyway I was trying to stabilise it, and I had read that I should increase north bridge voltage from 1.1v to 1.25v. After setting that and rebooting, the pc crashed. The problem is that I haven't been able to even get as far as BIOS since.

Everything powers on, case fans/cpu cooler fans spin, gfx card lights up, hard drive read light flashes regularly for a bit. But no video output whatsoever. I have tried:

Reseating RAM
Swapping RAM around, taking one out at a time
Replacing the GPU with my 560ti
Reseating ATX/ATX 12V connectors
Plugging everything except HDMI out
Resetting CMOS with the jumper
Removing the CR2032 battery overnight and running again with it back in this morning

I have no ideas left at this point. Unfortunately I don't have a beeper so I can't go by beep codes either (going to get one for the future though). Its worth noting that I used all of this hardware on my previous motherboard without problems, so I don't think anything else is dead. my 560ti also works in my other pc so thankfully I don't think it was my 1060 that died or I would have got video output when I put the 1060 in.

FML

 

[SkyNetRising]

I had read that I should increase north bridge voltage from 1.1v to 1.25v. After setting that and rebooting, the pc crashed. The problem is that I haven't been able to even get as far as BIOS since.

Wonders of overclocking. You push it too hard and it dies.

Oh well .. good riddance. In fact - it did you a favor by dying.
AMD FX system should not be overclocked nor used at all, it should be retired.

You have a good reason to upgrade to Intel or AMD Ryzen now.

 

[foxhound525]

Wonders of overclocking. You push it too hard and it dies.

Oh well .. good riddance. In fact - it did you a favor by dying.
AMD FX system should not be overclocked nor used at all, it should be retired.

You have a good reason to upgrade to Intel or AMD Ryzen now.

That's very easy to say when you're not the one who would have to splash half of their entire savings to replace the machine... But yeah I take your point. I will still try and salvage this machine though. No use in wasting good hardware if only one thing doesn't work.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

my 560ti also works in my other pc so thankfully I don't think it was my 1060 that died or I would have got video output when I put the 1060 in.

this doesn't make sense.
you mean if it had malfunctioned, you would have gotten NO video output when you tried the GTX 1060 in another system.

No use in wasting good hardware if only one thing doesn't work.

i guess that depends on what the planned usage is.
for any modern usage i wouldn't call that setup "good hardware".
more like, something that i'm stuck with and have no other choice.

personally i would take the GTX 1060 & drives out,
package the rest together and sell it as an "as is" legacy or retro bundle for ~$100.

That's very easy to say when you're not the one who would have to splash half of their entire savings to replace the machine.

doesn't necessarily mean splashing out $2000 all at once.

if your PSU has modern enough connectors and is rated efficient & reliable,
your case is worth re-using,
you have enough good storage available,
and your graphics card is viable for modern usage;

than all your looking at is motherboard, CPU, & memory.
there are many lower budget, lower tiered build options for the latest hardware.
maybe ~$400-650.

 

[foxhound525]

this doesn't make sense.
you mean if it had malfunctioned, you would have gotten NO video output when you tried the GTX 1060 in another system.

i guess that depends on what the planned usage is.
for any modern usage i wouldn't call that setup "good hardware".
more like, something that i'm stuck with and have no other choice.

personally i would take the GTX 1060 & drives out,
package the rest together and sell it as an "as is" legacy or retro bundle for ~$100.


doesn't necessarily mean splashing out $2000 all at once.

if your PSU has modern enough connectors and is rated efficient & reliable,
your case is worth re-using,
you have enough good storage available,
and your graphics card is viable for modern usage;

than all your looking at is motherboard, CPU, & memory.
there are many lower budget, lower tiered build options for the latest hardware.
maybe ~$400-650.

OK so what I mean is that if my 1060 was the cause of the lack of video output, then I would have gotten video output when I put my 560ti in. I didn't, therefore the problem was not my 1060. 1060 won't fit in my other case, but the 560ti worked before and after being connected to my dying motherboard.

And I always have a 2 player setup, my current player 2 machine is a phenom II x4 925. My FX8370 is better than that machine, therefore I have no interest in wasting perfectly fine hardware. There is literally only one thing my FX8370 can't handle well. One game. Out of my entire library. Therefore, perfectly good hardware.

I have done my research, the kind of prices you're talking about aren't possible If I still want to have 2 running machines. If I scavenge one to death then sure, but I have no interest in doing that as my old phenom II machine is going to my mum once I get a new one, and my FX is becoming player 2. I'm not one to waste perfectly fine hardware, but thanks anyway.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I have done my research, the kind of prices you're talking about aren't possible

11th Gen Intel Core i5-11600K CPU
budget LGA1200 ASUS motherboard
16GB (2x 8GB) G.Skill 3200 RAM
$480

for another $100-200 a bit of upgrading can still be done.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Gigabyte 990FXUDA3 Rev4
FX-8370
Scythe Fuma 2
8GBx2 DDR3 Corsair low profile
2x SSDs 3x HDDs
GTX 1060 6GB

So I just got this motherboard off ebay, spent 6 hours installing everything, then 7 hours sorting the bios and drivers out the next day. Got (nearly) everything working, and started overclocking.

I got to 4.7ghz, but the problem I had was that core clocks kept dropping when under load during the intel burn test. The reason I bought this motherboard was that it was supposed to not experience VRM throttling!! Anyway I was trying to stabilise it, and I had read that I should increase north bridge voltage from 1.1v to 1.25v. After setting that and rebooting, the pc crashed. The problem is that I haven't been able to even get as far as BIOS since.

Everything powers on, case fans/cpu cooler fans spin, gfx card lights up, hard drive read light flashes regularly for a bit. But no video output whatsoever. I have tried:

Reseating RAM
Swapping RAM around, taking one out at a time
Replacing the GPU with my 560ti
Reseating ATX/ATX 12V connectors
Plugging everything except HDMI out
Resetting CMOS with the jumper
Removing the CR2032 battery overnight and running again with it back in this morning

I have no ideas left at this point. Unfortunately I don't have a beeper so I can't go by beep codes either (going to get one for the future though). Its worth noting that I used all of this hardware on my previous motherboard without problems, so I don't think anything else is dead. my 560ti also works in my other pc so thankfully I don't think it was my 1060 that died or I would have got video output when I put the 1060 in.

FML

I haven't a suggestion about getting your system running again, but over-volting anything that much is dangerous and a lesson learned as you can't trust everything you read on the internet. Sorry for your loss.

It may be too late now, but the problem of your CPU throttling might be something entirely different: did you disable APM? I believe the setting in that motherboard's BIOS is called something like 'high performance mode', which should be enabled. Without that it will try to keep the CPU within it's TDP and that means dropping core clocks to do so.

My son has the same board and the 6300 I put on it would also throttle back when I got it to 4.4Ghz or so until I changed that setting. Afterwords I could push it to 4.8Ghz pretty easy, no throttling even Prime95. But temp was scary so I turned it back on to protect the CPU.

If you've still the old motherboard about all you can do is isolate what blew: put the CPU in it and test it.

 

[foxhound525]

I haven't a suggestion about getting your system running again, but over-volting anything that much is dangerous and a lesson learned as you can't trust everything you read on the internet. Sorry for your loss.

It may be too late now, but the problem of your CPU throttling might be something entirely different: did you disable APM? I believe the setting in that motherboard's BIOS is called something like 'high performance mode', which should be enabled. Without that it will try to keep the CPU within it's TDP and that means dropping core clocks to do so.

My son has the same board and the 6300 I put on it would also throttle back when I got it to 4.4Ghz or so until I changed that setting. Afterwords I could push it to 4.8Ghz pretty easy, no throttling even Prime95. But temp was scary so I turned it back on to protect the CPU.

If you've still the old motherboard about all you can do is isolate what blew: put the CPU in it and test it.

Ah you absolute hero! I saw that APM feature but I left it on it's default because I didn't know what it did, and I didn't get a chance to mess with HPC mode. I probably should have tried that before messing with voltages. I think messing with northbridge voltage is generally a terrible idea so I've learned that lesson well. Should APM be on or off for an overclock?

This is the most useful response in this thread tbh, because I'm going to pick up another board. Going for an Asus Sabertooth if I can get one. No northbridge stuff this time. It may have been an expensive mistake, but it will still be cheaper than buying a new system even with the dead board accounted for.

And yeah I'm going to rebuild on my old motherboard after work today, so I'll find out if I killed my CPU. But I'd imagine its fine, I wasn't going over its max voltage or thermals, it was just northbridge voltage where I screwed up because I thought that would stop the clock speed dropping under load.

Definitely a learning experience! Thank you for your wisdom.

Edit: I looked APM up. Found a gif of APM in action during Prime95. This is exactly what I experienced, even down to the clock speed it dropped to. Apparently this doesn't affect stability, but I'm assuming it would cause stuttering in games which is what I want to avoid, seeing as the reason I need to overclock is to get better performance in VR

 

[foxhound525]

I haven't a suggestion about getting your system running again, but over-volting anything that much is dangerous and a lesson learned as you can't trust everything you read on the internet. Sorry for your loss.

It may be too late now, but the problem of your CPU throttling might be something entirely different: did you disable APM? I believe the setting in that motherboard's BIOS is called something like 'high performance mode', which should be enabled. Without that it will try to keep the CPU within it's TDP and that means dropping core clocks to do so.

My son has the same board and the 6300 I put on it would also throttle back when I got it to 4.4Ghz or so until I changed that setting. Afterwords I could push it to 4.8Ghz pretty easy, no throttling even Prime95. But temp was scary so I turned it back on to protect the CPU.

If you've still the old motherboard about all you can do is isolate what blew: put the CPU in it and test it.

Just to update, I have since tried overclocking on a new board and managed to get a completely stable 4.7Ghz with 1.41v vcore, the highest LLC setting and APM disabled. Sadly this board also arrived with dead onboard sound... but ill be replacing it and replicating the settings. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!