My ASROCK motherboard is dead, what should I do?

eddie500

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Jan 23, 2003
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I have an ASRock Z370 Fatality Pro Gaming i7 with an 8700k processor. It is 2 years old now.

When I went to turn on my PC this morning it started for a second and then just shut off.

I thought it was my PSU as that is the oldest part of my computer but I tried another PSU and it didn't start. It seems that once I plug in the 8 pin motherboard connector the power supply will not even turn on, it will turn on if I disconnect that.

Considering my motherboard looks to be dead is my only real option to just go out there and buy another motherboard and just keep the 8700k?

It seems that ASROCK only has a 1 year warranty and I don't think it makes sense to get it repaired?

What do you suggest? Should I upgrade to another CPU or just keep the 8700k?

Thanks
 
Z390s will work with the 8700K.

However I cannot ascertain at this time that the motherboard is the faulty device, or if it is the only one that is faulty.

Given how the 8700K is still very competitive, I'd suggest you stick with the Intel platform.
 
RMA, see if ASRock will fix it and how much out of warranty work will cost. Weigh that cost against a new motherboard. I've heard good things about ASRock, but maybe you should try something else.
 
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I forgot to add that when it did not turn on that morning I did smell a faint electrical burning smell when I opened the case. I smelled directly into the psu at the time I smelled the burning smell and didnt smell it so it must have been elsewhere.
 
I forgot to add that when it did not turn on that morning I did smell a faint electrical burning smell when I opened the case. I smelled directly into the psu at the time I smelled the burning smell and didnt smell it so it must have been elsewhere.

Get a bright torch/flashlight, inspect all the large components on the board
 
If you have a short or ground, the power supply will protect itself, some motherboards will also will protect itself. What I would do or recommend:
  • It could be any component from a fan, hard drive, ssd, memory etc.
  • Take the motherboard out of the case and sit it on a safe spot, even a cardboard box
  • Remove all the cards, ssds, memory, disconnect all fans, even the CPU fan, monitor discconected
  • hook up the power supply and see if the board will light up, try to start, it should give errors due to no memory etc.
  • If it does allow initial startup, turn it off and hook up the cpu fan and put in one memory stick and try that
  • If it goes through boot cycle turn it back off and hook up the monitor
  • Startup and see if you can get into the bios
  • Start adding components back until either you run out or you find the faulty device
I had a loose video card that would short out which will cause the power supply to protect itself, this was periodic and it took me longer than it should have to find it. It can be simple or very complex but at least you know what is wrong if anything (could just be a loose connection) and then decide what you need.
 
Thanks, so I did what you said and removed all of the components. Still nothing.

I tried a different psu and it did the same thing, psu did not turn on

I decided to buy a new motherboard, a z390 aorus pro. I also picked up a new psu a corsair rm850x. Guess what, the computer just keeps rebooting itself and nothing on the display

The motherboard has diagnostic or status lights for cpu,dram, vga,boot.

The cpu light is lit red which the manual says the device is not working normally.

So all this trouble for a bad 8700k cpu which is about 2 years old and I never even overclocked it? Would this cause the issues of the psu not starting? Or did I short my cpu transfering it to the new motherboard

I will just keep the motherboard and psu at this point.

Should I just buy a 9900 cpu at this point and sell my old motherboard and cpu together.
 
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I just had an ASRock AB350M that was 2 years old give up the ghost last week or so. I started a thread somewhere here about it.
I ended up buying a ROG Strix X470 and Ryzen 2700X.

I didn't have any burning smell. One minute the board worked fine (for 2 years) and when I came back to the room....DOA.

Tried everything.......toast.
As a last resort I took it to a computer repair place nearby and let them have at it.....two days later same diagnosis.....DOA.

I think it's that 24 month self-destruct code they are putting into their new boards to force you to buy every 24 months :sick:
 
I'd suspect that one of the CPU VRMs shorted out, especially if the power supply turns on when the EPS12v connector is removed.
 
Strangely enough, my 7820X died on an ASrock taichi mobo, probably coincedence, my replacement one still runs on the same board without issues though it has been relegated to backup machine.
 
once I plug in the 8 pin motherboard connector the power supply will not even turn on, it will turn on if I disconnect that.

It's either a shorted CPU, which I really, really doubt, or the voltage regulator (VRM) for the CPU is bad. I'd bet on the latter. Fortunately the MOSFETs on that particular motherboard are in packages where the pins can be reached, meaning they can be tested with a multimeter, and removal and replacement doesn't require special soldering equipment.
 
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Fortunately the MOSFETs on that particular motherboard are in packages where the pins can be reached, meaning they can be tested with a multimeter, and removal and replacement doesn't require special soldering equipment.

At minimum you'll need a hot air station because of the huge power planes on the board. A crappy Walmart soldering iron isn't going to work.
 
I never buy Asrock because they don't survive long. My asus motherboards survive more than 10 years of continuous use but I don't OC, put a vaccum inside every 6 month. If I was gaming only I would consider Asrock. 2 years with OC is fair enough if you're gaming only. Meaning you use last Windows 10 install, don't care about reinstalling when needed. The saves are online.
 
The cpu was defective but I read that usually its the motherboard that causes this to happen. Either way Im not going to use the old motherboard because I cant understand how my cpu would just break. I never oc this cpu either.

Could have been the motherboard sending faulty voltage.
 
The cpu was defective but I read that usually its the motherboard that causes this to happen. Either way Im not going to use the old motherboard because I cant understand how my cpu would just break. I never oc this cpu either.

Could have been the motherboard sending faulty voltage.

It's really incredibly hard these days to wreck a CPU. They are generally tolerant. I wouldn't be surprised, as mentioned by another, that one or more of your mobo's vrms went bad and subsequently created voltage irregularities.

I'd also theorize that the root cause probably started in your PSU, especially since you smelled thermal electric odors from the psu. Likely a bad mosfet or IC failure.

Did you get any household electrical issues overnight (weather related)?
 
It's really incredibly hard these days to wreck a CPU. They are generally tolerant. I wouldn't be surprised, as mentioned by another, that one or more of your mobo's vrms went bad and subsequently created voltage irregularities.

I'd also theorize that the root cause probably started in your PSU, especially since you smelled thermal electric odors from the psu. Likely a bad mosfet or IC failure.

Did you get any household electrical issues overnight (weather related)?

Sounds about right. Usually when you smell that burnt electric smell you know it's over for at least one component.
 
Yep, that smell is a the worst buzz kill. Semi common with PSUs also, particularly if left to overheat or subject to surge. Important to use surge protector with an isolated ground, like an isobar.
 
Maybe an uninterruptible power supply like the Tripp Lite 1500VA might help. There's an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR).
 
I can't be certain if there was any burning smell. I looked over the motherboard and PSU very closely and see no signs of anything that burnt. It could of just been my imagination as it was faint.
 
While using a unit that has line conditioning to regulate voltage does help, it still doesn't change the fact that many PSUs are built with less internal protection in place.

Especially with the increasing popularity (and cheaper manufacturing costs) of single rail PSUs, much of the overcurrent protection that was generally found in multi-rail PSUs were removed.
 
I never buy Asrock because they don't survive long. My asus motherboards survive more than 10 years of continuous use but I don't OC, put a vaccum inside every 6 month. If I was gaming only I would consider Asrock. 2 years with OC is fair enough if you're gaming only. Meaning you use last Windows 10 install, don't care about reinstalling when needed. The saves are online.
Sure, tell that to my one dying Asus board (audio stopped working, onboard nic died, still runs though so I keep it around) with no overclocking and my 3 ASRock boards that have seen 0 issues. I don't think that Asus sucks, but from my point of view, ASRock has been every bit as reliable (more so in fact in my case).
 
One issue I had that sounded similar, my son's of sometimes wouldn't turn on/stay on, one of the fan headers was directly under the GPU which had a metal frame. It was shorting out the fan headers on the MB causing the PSU to shut down. Bent the pins so they wouldn't contact anymore, no more issues.
 
Sure, tell that to my one dying Asus board (audio stopped working, onboard nic died, still runs though so I keep it around) with no overclocking and my 3 ASRock boards that have seen 0 issues. I don't think that Asus sucks, but from my point of view, ASRock has been every bit as reliable (more so in fact in my case).
For how many years and how many hors per day of use. I also had isues with some Asus motherboards, but that kind of not was their issue. On Asrock I had them suddently dead. I don't know where the problem is with them.
However I'm finding that the machincal parts on Asus are becoming very cheap.
 
For how many years and how many hors per day of use. I also had isues with some Asus motherboards, but that kind of not was their issue. On Asrock I had them suddently dead. I don't know where the problem is with them.
However I'm finding that the machincal parts on Asus are becoming very cheap.
Odd, I haven't had any issues with my ASRock boards... After having msi, Asus, gigabyte, biostar and I'm sure others, ASRock has been at the top of my list lately due to lack of issues in general. Guess everyone had their own experiences though, was just sharing mine (though it seems I may just be lucky?)
 
For how many years and how many hors per day of use. I also had isues with some Asus motherboards, but that kind of not was their issue. On Asrock I had them suddently dead. I don't know where the problem is with them.
However I'm finding that the machincal parts on Asus are becoming very cheap.
My Asus board was probably 2 hours per day for 5 years? My ASRock closer to 12 per day over 4 years with much heavier usage. The Asus I do some coding and some compiling with a couple of non AAA games once in a while (smallish apps so only like 30 second compiles a few times for testing) the ASRock does mostly gaming and streaming, so is being stressed a lot more.
 
From what I can determine based on amazon reviews. It seems most motherboards have similar percentage of 1 star reviews. Usually all failures for 1 star.

Probably most companies use the same manufacturing process and components are similar enough that most boards have the same failure percentage rate.
 
This is certainly the case. The vast majority of most motherboard brands are manufactured by Foxconn and all from the same facility. I have used many mobo brands in the last 20+ years - Abit, Asus, DFI, Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock and EVGA - most have been trouble-free, a few have had varying failures. I have found that I spend more time judging my mobo purchases based on the quality of their BIOS and what cooling methods each model incorporates.

ASRock bios, imo, have been more robust in the past...but they seem to do a better job cooling their vrms that others.
 
From what I can determine based on amazon reviews. It seems most motherboards have similar percentage of 1 star reviews. Usually all failures for 1 star.

Probably most companies use the same manufacturing process and components are similar enough that most boards have the same failure percentage rate.

Probably true. Most people switch brands when they have one failure, whether or not it was due to user error. I've owned many different brands and now I only won't buy asus because of their terrible support. If they clean up their act I wouldn't have a problem buying from them again.
 
At minimum you'll need a hot air station because of the huge power planes on the board. A crappy Walmart soldering iron isn't going to work.
And, ironically, a cheap iron is more likely to cause heat damage, despite its lower power output, because it won't melt the solder as quickly. And then there's Chip Quik low-temperature solder, "only" $1 an inch.
 
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