Dead 1366 Motherboard??? D:

[adamkollaris]

Hi all!

So recently i build a entry spec gaming system for one of my friends. I have been building Pcs for several years now so this isnt new to me, i put all the parts together. Turned the Pc on and it worked fine, we installed Windows 7, updated drivers and installed software (The Pc needed to reboot a few times during these steps).

Specs:
CPU: i7 950
Mobo: GA-EX58-UD4 rev1
Video: MSI GT640 OC
PSU: 430w CoolerMaster (Unsure of model)
RAM: Kingston DDR3 1600Mhz

We could run games fine, all temps checked out OK and no blue screens or error occurred in the BIOS or OS while using the PC.

After a few hours of playing around with the Pc we shut it down, unplugged it and left the Pc on the workbench to continue the next day. The following afternoon we plugged the Pc back in, hit the power button and nothing, no boot, no BIOS, no beep errors, no spinning fans or LED lights on the board. It was as if the Pc wasnt getting power.

I straight away checked all connections (found nothing wrong), and tried another Power Cable (240v), the Pc booted! loaded windows and worked fine, so we turned the Pc off again to test, then once again it wouldnt boot at all, no lights, beeps etc.

From here i started to think something else may be the cause, so i did the following.

- Safe to assume a PSU failure, swapped the PSU for a 550w 25a, no boot
- cleared CMOS, no boot
- Removed the Battery, IT BOOTED UP, LOADED BIOS and asked to reboot, then stopped working again
- Reset BIOS again and left battery out to make sure defaults loaded, no boot
-Tried 2 spare power switches, no boot
- Checked all wiring for earth issues or shorts, no issues
- Pulled all un needed devices off the board and tested, no boot
- Removed the RAM, tired RAM 1 stick at a time in each slot, no boot at all
- Removed CPU Cooler and CPU, cleaned thermal grease off, air blasted the socket and replaced CPU, added new compound, connected fan again. No boot
- Removed Board from Pc, Checked for burn marks or damage (found none), put the board back in and IT BOOTED, asked to reboot after getting "BIOS Default Loaded", then no boot again.

At this time i am thinking it is one of two things,

1. the PSU is underpowered for this system, the ATX Power connecter on the board is 8pin, all the PSU's i have to test are 4pin (although the Pc worked fine for hours last night on 4pin power)

2. The motherboard is toast, as to why i have no idea. it gave no errors, no heat spikes during operation last night, the capacitors are fine, the circuitry looks fine.

I am tempted to purchase a larger PSU to test, since it would be a good purchase anyway. If that doesnt work then i'd either purchase a new board (1366 boards are hard to find these days) or bake the board in the over for 5mins to see if it fixes it.

Its a very strange issue since the Pc worked fine, then suddenly stopped working. I have never seen this in all my years of Pc building.

Any help would be amazing!

 

[noxqzs]

You pretty much tried everything. If you can manage to get it to boot up again, I would go straight into BIOS and change RAM settings from AUTO to manual, and then update the BIOS to a different REV.

 

[adamkollaris]

Ill keep trying and see how i go, if i can get it to boot just once ill set the RAM to manual and flash the BIOS.

If i cant get it to boot then it would be safe to say the Motherboard is dead?

Anyone know of a good place to purchase a 1366 board? or is anyone selling one on here in PERTH WA?

 

[CgS Drone]

What set (exactly the set) of ram are you using? If you could post a link to it so we could see specs that would be nice.

1. Assuming you are using triple channel ram (not required)
2. Looking for the voltage the ram requires

Maybe you have already accounted for it I don't know so I have to ask. The i7 when run with the x58 chipset doesn't like anything over 1.65 volts on the ram since it is hard on the IMC. If you are running at 1.65 maybe loosen up the timing a bit and drop the voltage down and see if it clears up. Intel claimed anything over the 1.65 volts on the ram could do perm. damage to the CPU.

What configuration is the ram setup? (3x?)(2x?)(4x?)

 

[adamkollaris]

3x RAM, tri channel. Ill have a look at get back to you with the specs.

HOWEVER, i can adjust any voltages or any settings since i can access the BIOS

I have managed to get the motherboard to come to life, it now powers on, shows no errors on the LED panel and all the fans run at normal speed, but it still wont post, give an error code etc.

I checked out the Motherboards CPU socket with a magnifying glass as one pin caught my eye. It looks as thou one pin is slightly snapped off half way up, ive have seen bent pins before and know how to fix this, but a broken pin is another issue... while some pins arent needed for the CPU to work, this one must be needed.

I have no idea how this happened, although the board was second hand and purchased by the owner of the PC, not myself.

Looks like a new board from what it can tell

 

[noxqzs]

At least you found the problem, even though its worst case scenario. For classifieds access on these forums, you need 100 posts and valid email (non yahoo gmail etc.).

 

[adamkollaris]

That would explain why those pages show as empty to me.. One day I'll have enough posts to see the classifieds

I found a local private seller, who happened to have a 1366 mobo for sale, I'll post back once the rigs running again