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2 component deaths. I need diagnostic help.

B

baoelaken

n00b
Joined
Mar 28, 2004
Messages
1
Apologies if this post isn't in the correct forum!

Hi. Two motherboards have died on me in the past two weeks. I am running out of replacements. I have thrown my hands up in defeat; I need help of experienced people.

-I received a new DVD burner. I installed the burner. The computer will not turn power up. I replaced the motherboard and everything was up and running.
-The dead motherboard shows the following characteristics: the standby LED is powered; pressing the power button will not power up any fans; I removed all components and cables (except for the power cable) and removed the board from the case, yet the motherboard will not power up; no error beeps are sounded.
-Two weeks after replacing the motherboard, the replaced motherboard dies in a different way and I witnessed the death: the screen garbled suddenly when I was doing work. I rebooted, and I was able to log in to Windows fine, when the screen garbled again. Now, the motherboard ceased to power up. Unlike the previous time, the motherboard powers up the fans/HDs/components. The motherboard has troubleshooting LEDs (TH7-II) but it offers no diagnostic help as it stays at "00".

I'll highlight some points of interest.
-In the first failure, the motherboard never powered up with the new burner installed. It died instantaneously between the time I installed the burner and when I pressed the power button.
-The second failure showed that the failure was a process, not a sudden event. The motherboard was able to function correctly and boot into Windows before failing again and permanently.

I will share my thoughts.
-My guess is that the power supply cannot handle the load caused by the new DVD burner. The powersupply sends unstable power to the motherboard, which damages it, and causes it to fail.
There are several caveats to this guess.
First, the first motherboard failed without ever powering up with the DVD burner. I find it hard to believe that the motherboard will fail instantaneously due to unstable power.
Second, the DVD burner functioned properly with the second motherboard and I was able to burn a few discs with it. If the powersupply was being overloaded, I would predict that it should fail while burning when the load is the highest.
Last, there are overload protection built into the power supply. Also, the powersupply should be able to handle the load.

The specification of my system is as follows:
P4 1.6Ghz Northwood
First motherboard: P4C800
Second motherboard: TH7-II
Antec 420W Tru-power power supply
2x WD800JB hard drives
Geforce 4 4200 video card
Audigy 2 sound card


There must be System Integrators or the like that may read this post and can identify the same experience. I am exhausted and befuddled and am eagerly anticipated any help.

Thanks.
 
I doubt the problem was that the added stress from a new peripheral was more than the PSU could handle, I find it more likely the PSU simply is junk regardless of how much or how little you plan to plug into it.

Erik
 
You mounting your mobo's the wrong way. Too much torque will crack the mobo. You may have a damaged power lead and its shorting to ground (the one thats powering the dvd for example.) Looked for damaged insulation.
 
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