Death of my MOTHERBOARD

[edion2]

Hello,

I'm not a computer tech . . . just a user with enough computer "knowledge" to be dangerous.

My motherboard died a couple of months ago. Due to current economy, I had to wait till now to buy a replacement.

I upgraded my cpu and the motherboard 14 months ago. It worked great.
(SYSTEM: Core2Duo E8400 3.0Ghz - 4MB Ram - Nvidia GTX280 1MB video card - ASUS P5ND motherboard)

About 6 months after the upgrade I started to get the Blue-screen-of-death, occaisionally at first. About 3 month ago there was no video. I restarted my computer (hard power-down by pressing and holding the on/off button). I then re-start, and all is fine. Then it started doing this more frequently and I've had to do "hard-shut down" several times to get the video back.

I tried to update the Bios . . . I'm pretty sure I did it right. It seemed to have worked . . . for a little while. It kept getting worse trying to start may computer. I'd power on - hard shut down - retry again and again until the video shows up. I'm pretty sure my bios is corrupt. Then Trainz 2009 started crashing shortly after I start Trains in driver or surveyor.

When I finally gave up, the video now seems to work but I get a "boot fail" error message and everything freezes up. It won't even go through the "bios stuff" to start Windows. :''( It is now DEAD.

I also wanted to repair or re-install my WinXP . . . while I was able to boot up but since I downloaded Windows SP3 . . . I can't do anything, because now, whats on my computer is a "newer version" than whats on my Windows install CD. GRRrrrr . . . damned MICROSHAFT !!! But I really don't think there is anything wrong with my OS.

Prices of comparable motherboards have dropped since 14 months ago. Since I can't bring myself to buy another ASUS board, I found an XFX nForce 750i board from Tiger Direct for $69.00 (after $20 rebate). I ordered it.

After I switch out the motherboard, I probably won't try any "bios upgrade" since the worst trouble started after I did the "bios upgrade" on the ASUS. I need to leave well enough alone.

Questions :

After the new motherboard is installed and I run the initial set-up, it should start up Windows OS automatically . . . Right ??? (Thats what happened on my last MB upgrade)

Anyone have any pointers that I need to watch for when I change out my MB ??

Regarding WinXP OS :
If it turns out that there is a problem with my OS, HOW do I repair or re-install my OS when the install CD that came with the computer won't let me ??

If I'm going to have to buy another OS, I probably would go with Windows 7 instead. It seems to be better than XP. Any comments ??

I have a nice computer . . . when its working. I'd like to see it breathing again, cause I just ordered 2010 EE.

Thanks for posting any comments or advice.

 

[fran1]

You ordered the same cpu socket mobo didn't you, most important.
It should start OK because your o/s is installed on the hard drive allready.
Just make sure you note which cable is which, dont rush the job. Do not force anything in, it will fit by a gentle push.
Take care when placing the cpu, it will only go in 1 way you will see a cut out. Dont forget heat sink paste for between the cpu and the fan.
When you get running again try a re-set of the BIOS, that might help.
As you know a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
If your xp is corrupt post back there's a couple of solutions.
Did you get the mobo checked to see if it had failed?

I bought a gtx last year, my mobo went as well.

 

[edion2]

Thanks fran1,

Yes, the first thing I checked is that the socket for the CPU is the same . . . the dead board and the new one I ordered is both socket 775.

The last MB upgrade went smoothly . . . I would expect this time to be the same. I won't rush anything . . . easy and carefully does it.

When handling the CPU or memory chips, I always ground myself before handling these chips. I also ordered some thermal-gel for the contact point for the fan and the CPU.

No, I did not get my existing MB checked. My local PC repair store wanted $35 just to look at it. Since the new MB was equal to 2hr worth of "labor", I just went ahead and ordered the replacement.

So you also lost a MB after installing a GTX video card ? Very interesting . . .

For sure, If the OS starts acting funny after the new MB is in, I'll be looking for help.

Thanks

 

[SuperFudd]

Just perhaps you might have the same problem I did. My MB "died" because the +5V dropped too low to work. That was because the 3 contacts that transfer the +5V from the power supply cable could not handle the current after a few months after a new video card was installed. No, there was no option to connect an extra 5V line to the card. It might have been fine if I was using low power programs like Word but Trainz runs a PC, particularly the video card, flat out using maximum current. those MB contacts were not good enough so a small voltage drop occured across them causing them to get warm. This caused the contacts to corrode a bit causing a larger drop causing more heat untill the +5V on the MB became too low. Since this was gradual I got an occasional failure wich became more freequent after a while. Then it got to the point that It would crash while booting, eventually corrupting my OS.
The fix was a new computer (see below).
I did "fix" the old (2003) PC by soldering 5V directly to the MB and re-installing XP from a friend's DVD. This was good enough to transfer files but I would not trust it, besides the new Dell is SOOO much nicer. :udrool:

 

[edion2]

SuperFudd,

Wow, thats very interesting. You are describing something very similar to how mine died.

Nice new PC !! Lucky you

Well, since I can't afford a new PC . . . I will at least get a can of good contact cleaner . . . its a little less than a new PC :hehe: I'll clean all connectors from the power supply that connects to the new MB.

Since you are on Windows 7 with 6G RAM . . . and 2010EE, I assume . . .
How is Trainz behaving in Win 7 environment ?
Did you see an improvement in performance running under 64 bit ?
Would you recommend upgrading to Win 7?

Thanks

 

[Two99Point80]

Great tech tip, SuperFudd. Thanks!

 

[whitepass]

My ASUS P5ND motherboard died after 13 mouths, it would not do a post.

 

[JCitron]

ASUS for awhile had a bad capcitor issue where the caps would leak over time. This would cause similar failures to the ones that you saw. There is a place that will sell you kits to replace the caps yourself.

How to:

http://www.capacitorlab.com/replacing-motherboard-capacitors-howto/index.htm

http://www.badcaps.net/

The power supply connector can burn if there's inadequate power from the power supply. If can always go larger than the minimum spec for a power supply. This will help in the long run because you'll not only be ahead of the game when it comes to some upgrades, it'll also work more efficiently by providing very stable voltages well within the specifications for the motherboard.

John

 

[edion2]

JCitron,

Good to know. Since I bought the replacement for only $69, the time and effort to do my own capacitor replacement just doesn't seem to be worth the trouble . . . not to mention that I'm terrible with a soldering iron . . . I would never trust any computer parts that I repaired :hehe:

When I did my first upgrade, ASUS was suppose to be one of the best.

I hope my XFX 750i on its way is a good choice.

I have a 750 watt power supply. My GTX280 is the only thing that requires a good deal of power. I have 1 DVD drive and 1 SATA HD.

 

[SuperFudd]

My old (2003) main board, with the bad connector, is Asus. It was made before the capacitor problem.
To see if your MB connector has my problem, unplug the PS from the MB and inspect the contacts. If two at one end and perhaps a third are discolored, darker than the rest, you have the problem. Cleaning might help temporarily.
I cut one of the 5V wires where it enters the connector and removed the contact from the (power supply) connector. I striped and tined (aplied solder) to the end of the wire and passed it through the hole in the connector where the contact had been.
On the main board connector I cut the shell away from two sides of that corner pin and soldered the wire to it, then pluged the connector in.
This problem would have happened even with a more powerful PS.
I have TS2009. No hurry for TS2010. Nothing against it. TS2009 keeps me plenty busy.
I recomend Win7 on a new system. If your old system works fine with XP, stay with it. If you have Vista, sorry about that.
Does Win7 work better for me? I supose but the whole PC is so much better that I can't tell how much credit goes to Win7.

 

[JCitron]

My old (2003) main board, with the bad connector, is Asus. It was made before the capacitor problem.
To see if your MB connector has my problem, unplug the PS from the MB and inspect the contacts. If two at one end and perhaps a third are discolored, darker than the rest, you have the problem. Cleaning might help temporarily.
I cut one of the 5V wires where it enters the connector and removed the contact from the (power supply) connector. I striped and tined (aplied solder) to the end of the wire and passed it through the hole in the connector where the contact had been.
On the main board connector I cut the shell away from two sides of that corner pin and soldered the wire to it, then pluged the connector in.
This problem would have happened even with a more powerful PS.
I have TS2009. No hurry for TS2010. Nothing against it. TS2009 keeps me plenty busy.
I recomend Win7 on a new system. If your old system works fine with XP, stay with it. If you have Vista, sorry about that.
Does Win7 work better for me? I supose but the whole PC is so much better that I can't tell how much credit goes to Win7.

I get it. It was the board its self, and this brings back lots of ancient cobwebbed memories from nearly 30 years ago.

This problem is caused by not enough etch area where the pads are for the connector. The surface area is too thin to handle the current load, overheats, and builds up carbon. The carbon acts as a big resistor, which makes the problem worse. Eventually the connection will actually catch fire and burn the circuit board.

The other computers that used to have this problem were the Apple Quadra FX series. The retrofit for these was to build a fatter etch by putting a jumper on the +5V line from the connector pin to the first big lead on the back of the board.

John