Maximus VI Impact Sparks from VRM daughterboard module

I have had this motherboard since an RMA in June 2015

Got out of watercooling and overclocking when I RMA'ed the board last time (can find my For sale thread). Using intel stock cooler and stock bios settings. System contains 4770k, 750ti, 8gb trident X ram, silverstone SFX 450w psu.

March 2016
System shut off when I was idling on desktop.
When I tried to turn it on, it did not budge, not even QCODE.
When I UNPLUGGED the CPU power header, it was able to get to 00 QCODE (no CPU) which is expected.
Then I plugged the CPU power in again to try to turn it on, sparks came from the VRM daughterboard. Again, this is on stock bios setting, no extra voltage or anything.

I powered off the PSU immediately and disassembled the system and took photos of the VRM area. I also inspected the cpu socket and there are NO BENT PINS.
I am not sure what the components are called between the caps (pink) and the chokes(blocky) but the first and the third set is blackened. second set is how it should look. The whole VRM contains about 8 sets of these things, this picture only shows 3.



This picture shows the thermal pads on the VRM heatsink. It has also been charred by he sparks.


I contacted ASUS two days ago (by phone) and they gave me the run around (someone will contact you within 48 hours etc etc). No one did.
I contacted them today again (by chat) today and the rep said was able to start the RMA for me but I have yet to receive any shipping instructions or label.(EDIT: got RMA form and shipping label)

Both reps also quoted that "if there is damage on the board the RMA will be refused". Reading many nightmare stories of ASUS RMA saying its customer induced damage and sending back the same board back (multiple times) isn't comforting either.

Its also funny the rep suggested that he wants to know if I can post the board after the sparks happened (im guessing it might? but I dont wanna risk my other components)

Can some one from ASUS assist?

I can tell you that there are times when a motherboard will continue to POST and function even after you've fried a significant amount of power phases. I did this once on a GIGABYTE motherboard running the original Phenom CPU. I was given the CPU for testing with no real information on what was safe for it voltage wise. The GIGABYTE motherboard emitted an audible alarm that I'd never heard before or since. It then started smoking and shitting sparks. I cut power to the system and for shits and giggles I powered it back on thinking it was completely done for. It fired back up. Unfortunately overclocking was over and done but the thing still ran at stock speeds. I think that motherboard had 16 power phases, half of which died in my overclocking attempt.

One word of advice, in the future if and when something like this happens again, do not disassemble anything and inspect the damage. Just go straight for the RMA. I've seen RMA's denied because there was evidence that the motherboard's heat sinks were removed or otherwise tampered with. It's bullshit, but that's how things go. Manufacturers want to keep their costs down so finding any legitimate or perceived legitimate reason to deny an RMA is often job one.

Still, I wouldn't do that with hardware that was actually bought and paid for with my own money. You have no real reason to power that thing on again until you get a new motherboard. Hopefully ASUS gets this addressed for you. PM Raja here on the forums and see if he can help you.

Thanks Dan_D, it just surprised me that i was on stock settings ever since I received this motherboard and somehow there is spark and smoke involved.

I have overclocked quite a few cpu's (just W/C nothing using extreme cooling) in the past and nothing like that has ever happened.

Anyways, the internet suggested that I take pictures so I have proof of the shape the board is in before I send it in. As you can never be sure what may happen once the board is out of your hands and returned back unfixed, or more broken.

That being said my previous experience RMA worked out fine but that board was mint and just kept getting 99 code. (still took pictures of everything)

If the RMA does not go through, drop me a PM. That said, when you do RMA the board, get the PSU checked properly also - make sure there are no anomalies on the rails (needs to be checked with a load bank and oscilloscope).

The power subsystem on those Impact boards is beefy as hell. I found this thread quite surprising. Hope it gets straightened out for you.

Hi Nestor,

I am going to send out the board to the RMA team in Canada early next week.

The phone rep was not very helpful and does not know what the VRM is, and promised that a technical staff will contact me to request images (but no one did, its way past 48 hours now).

So it might be helpful if you pass on the information and pictures found on the hardforum thread to the technicians in the RMA department in case the ticket description is lacking.

Would be an idea for you to contact Nestor directly with RMA details.

Thanks, we have communicated through email.