Mayday! Is my mobo dead?

[wevsspot]

maestr0 -

 

Re-reading this entire thread your first sentence struck me "I just bought a GTX 580 and a watercooling kit to go with it."

 

So I'll make an assumption - you installed this "new" card and w/c setup on an existing board that worked fine before you started the video card upgrade?

 

Assumption #2 - everything was working fine with your old card?

 

I think maybe I've been too hung up on the "water on the board". Is it possible that you don't have any water damage whatsoever, but maybe some other problem?

 

Maybe the new video card is a DOA - or possibly you've got some power supply issues? Are you sure that you've got all of the PCIe power plugs connected firmly to the video card (there's an 8-pin and 6-pin required on your new card).

 

If this was a video card only upgrade, what happens when you install your old video card?

[medbor]

maestr0 -

 

Re-reading this entire thread your first sentence struck me "I just bought a GTX 580 and a watercooling kit to go with it."

 

So I'll make an assumption - you installed this "new" card and w/c setup on an existing board that worked fine before you started the video card upgrade?

 

Assumption #2 - everything was working fine with your old card?

 

I think maybe I've been too hung up on the "water on the board". Is it possible that you don't have any water damage whatsoever, but maybe some other problem?

 

Maybe the new video card is a DOA - or possibly you've got some power supply issues? Are you sure that you've got all of the PCIe power plugs connected firmly to the video card (there's an 8-pin and 6-pin required on your new card).

 

If this was a video card only upgrade, what happens when you install your old video card?

+1

 

Also water on a unpowered board is not so bad, there are actually people who have submerged their whole computers in oil, and they still worked fine.

As someone said earlier, the computer cannot post wihtout: PSU, MoBo, RAM, GPU and power to all of those of course.

[maestr0]

Also water on a unpowered board is not so bad, there are actually people who have submerged their whole computers in oil, and they still worked fine.

As someone said earlier, the computer cannot post wihtout: PSU, MoBo, RAM, GPU and power to all of those of course.

That's why I can't believe the board died from water on it - I've tried looking for alternatives. I had all the proper connectors firmly attached, and (as far as I can tell) sufficient power to boot (700W). And yes, I tried reinstalling the old graphics card, but it still wouldn't post. I'll try once more today, otherwise it's RMA time.

 

EDIT: I bench tested with the motherboard, CPU, RAM, old graphics card, internal speaker, and PSU. Same error light is lit, still no post beeps from the speaker. I'm hoping it's not water on the board, but whatever the problem, I can't find it.

 

EDIT 2: I can also confirm current is passing through the CPU, as when I took it out after 2 minutes, it was very hot.

Edited April 26, 2011 by maestr0

[maestr0]

And also, just out of curiosity, following the troubleshooting on ASUS's website, I came across this passage:

1. Please clear CMOS.

2. Please take out your memory cards and video card, try to clean their golden connectors with a rubber, then reseat them back.

3. Please take the CPU cooler out, add some thermal paste to the CPU surface, then reseat the cooler back and keep the cooler tightly installed.

4. Please keep the necessary components(CPU, one memory) onboard for a test.

Finally, we would recommend you to replace a BIOS battery to have a test.

I was testing without a cooler (only for a second!), but earlier I had the waterblock on, and I don't think the thermal paste spread out very nicely. Would that have caused a problem? As far as I know, it shouldn't have - I'mjust exploring all possibilities.

And will it not boot without the onboard battery? I never thought to check if it was functioning... I thought if it died, the settings were simply lost.

Edited April 26, 2011 by maestr0

[wevsspot]

So the board worked fine before you tested without a cpu cooler (only for a second!)?

[maestr0]

So the board worked fine before you tested without a cpu cooler (only for a second!)?

No, it didn't. I was just curious if it was getting hot (and thus getting power), so I ran a test w/o a cooler and touched the CPU.

[Waco]

I doubt that a piece of hardware would work if it were to get dropped in a bowl of water and then let to dry for whatever amount of time.

No amount of water will permanently damage unpowered hardware (in the general case anyway). I've spilled more than a fair amount of water on components before with no ill effects as long as they are allowed to dry out before power is applied.

 

I'd be surprised if the board died from a few drops of water (though you did have the PSU on)...but stranger things have happened. I'd definitely recommend against running any CPU without a heatsink (even for a moment). If you want to make sure it's getting power just unplug the fan and leave the heatsink attached.

[Black64]

From reading this entire thread I think you killed it before you even dropped water on it. You said that you ran a test without a cooler before getting the card. I would say you just fried the CPU. Everything else is fine. You should know that the i7's produce massive amounts of heat. Even older CPU's will fry in seconds.

[Waco]

Even older CPU's will fry in seconds.

Even though he didn't run it like that till after he had problems I disagree.

 

I've run quite a few CPUs over the years without any cooling at all. As long as thermal throttling isn't disabled most CPUs will make it through without any issues (especially with an emergency shutdown temperature set).

 

I ran an Athlon X2 for over an hour without any heatsink at all when installing Vista once. Not only was it not damaged (and it's still working today) but it didn't even lock up! It slowed down a LOT but it kept on cranking. Same thing with a newer Phenom II X4 and a Core 2 Quad. Sure, I wouldn't say you should do it but it's not instant death unless you've disabled every safeguard built into the motherboard and CPU.

[maestr0]

I'd be surprised if the board died from a few drops of water (though you did have the PSU on)...but stranger things have happened. I'd definitely recommend against running any CPU without a heatsink (even for a moment). If you want to make sure it's getting power just unplug the fan and leave the heatsink attached.

I wasn't crazy, the PSU wasn't on until the board dried.

And I only ran the test w/o heatsink after the board presented all the symptoms - it was dead already.

[wevsspot]

Maestr0 -

 

At this point I only have one more suggestion.

 

Unplug the power supply from the a/c outlet

Move the CMOS jumper to the clear position

Remove the CMOS battery

 

Remove everything from the board and let it sit like this for 24 hours or so. Maybe your BIOS is just buggered up and giving it a chance to revive itself will do the trick. I've seen a few boards come "back to life" when employing this method - it's a last ditch though and may not be worth your time.

[maestr0]

Good news! My RMA'd mobo arrived today!

Bad news! The problem is STILL THERE!

 

So I'm left with 2 options: the CPU is actiall dead, or for some reason there's too little power getting to the CPU. I've already gotten RMA approval from Intel, but is there any other test I can perform before committing to this? And the PSU will power on another, albeit ancient, computer, so I don't think that's the problem.

 

EDIT: And, usng a voltimeter, I can confirm the CPU is getting its required voltage (another wonderful feature of this mobo)

Edited May 6, 2011 by maestr0