Processor and mobo random death. Why??

Looks like the killer rig in my sig is no more...

I was just doing some web browsing when my computer randomly locked. Mouse pointer froze, num lock wouldn't work, etc... Shut it off, tried to reboot, and nothing happened.

After testing thorougly, I found that my processor and motherboard had died. Neither could post with any hardware combo. Everything else is still alive and well.

I wasn't running at settings close to what's in my sig. The processor was at 220x11=2316MHz, core voltage was just 1.7v, and temps never surpassed 35°C. All rails were perfect. It had been running at this configuration for about a year without issue, Prime95 stable for a week or so, and F@H about 6 hours a day. I checked my temps about 2 minutes before it locked, and everything was fine. The pump was running as always, fan on, etc.

Now I'm trying to figure out why the #$#@ this happened. All of my hardware was high quality, I wasn't pushing it too hard on a regular basis, and everything looked and felt great. I can't really figure out what went wrong, or what to look out for in the future to prevent this. I've had dead hardware in the past, but this is the first time its beyond explanation. Anyone have any insights?

Could there have been a small water leak? Is your computer hooked up to a good surge protector? Were you grinding metal right in front of your intake fan? Was there a tesla coil going off near your computer? That is weird man. Sucks big time. At first I thought PSU failure, but you say it still works fine. I hope you find the culprit to prevent future disasters.

ive had a voltage spike out of the wall outlet kill one board and 4 CPU's before, two of which where oc'ed two where stock 2000's. with all them everythnig was good. just bam and they where dead

Seems like a power spike is the only plausible explanation. I am using a surge protector, but I have no idea about its quality as I've never had to think about it before.

When I fist started reading your first post, I thought, hm... how can you actually tell if there's been a votage spike or power supply related problem?

The fact that you took the CPU to another working system and did the same with your mobo means they're both dead.

I assume you did the same with your RAM and power supply and found that they are alive and well, narrowing things down to the q of what killed both your mobo and CPU.

I would look forward to figuring this one out as it could happen to all of us. Just to be 100% clear, this has nothing to do with the power supply not being able to handle your above average overclock, right?

Also, surge protectors can handle only so many voltage spikes after they need to be replaced, T/F?

I just spent 50$+ on my surge. Everything on its guranteed up to 1,000$. Just have to make sure you get real high quality surge protectors. Sorry to hear about it man.

c627627 said:

I would look forward to figuring this one out as it could happen to all of us. Just to be 100% clear, this has nothing to do with the power supply not being able to handle your above average overclock, right?

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Just about out of the question. It never blew out hot air, rails never went even 2% out of spec(usually below 1%) and its still working fine. Remember, day-to-day, I don't run at such high speeds. Just at 1.7v, 2.3GHz. Nothing earth shattering anyways, but I did use to run at 2.5GHz/1.95 a couple of months ago and rails were great then too.

I tried my CPU in two different working boards, and it wouldn't boot with either. The motherboard wouldn't boot with a working processor.

The computer simply froze; it didn't shut down by itself. I don't know if that means anything.

In summary, previously working system has all its components still working except for the motherboard and CPU which went dead after the computer froze. (Name brand quality) power supply has been ruled out as the cause.

So right now I'd say it's voltage spikes research time for you.

Please post symptoms of its consequences and ways to protect yourself from it after you find out. Also please look into whether surge protectors need to be replaced from time to time and if so how can we tell if they do. Sorry about your loss, btw.

Also just to confirm, in addition to what you said, overheating is ruled out because the CPU would have burn marks on it if it overheated?

Side question, when the CPU overheats, it usually does not take the mobo with it. In the rare cases when it does, how would you tell that it did?