Dead cpu or what?

[2nd1stXP]

I've been trying to get some help and have been out of luck so far. My computer wouldn't boot today. I turn it on and it smells like shorted electronics with a little puff of smoke. I think it died lastnight because it was running when I went to bed. If I take everything out the fans will spin but there is no post. If i put the cpu in (with heatsink) it cuts on and turns off with more smoke.
1. Is it likely the cpu or mobo? The cpu looks fine but my case definately smells. No burn marks. (Are there usually?)
2. How do I figure out which part it is? I have no extra parts and it just randomly died on me.
3. Does a dead cpu usually take other parts with it?

All I can figure is that it overheated and died but my temps haven't been all that high.
The board has been working flawlessly for two months now.

4.Could it be psu related? Haven't had any trouble but its by Macron Power, never heard of them.... though it looks fine inside and out....
5.Also will a board beep at you w/o a processor?
Please help. I'm kinda lost...
Thanks.

 

[CrazySaint]

Can you tell where the smoke is coming from?

 

[2nd1stXP]

Yeah it really seems to be coming from around the cpu. That is how I narrowed it down to that initially.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Symptoms as described indicate BOTH motherboard and CPU - as in SHORT CIRCUIT. Visible smoke, electronic smell ( Ozone ! )

Power supply is still providing power if you are still able to make smoke, but won't for long if you keep trying.

Possible short between layers, motherboard would have to be looked at from underside to verify. (held up to a VERY bright light & look for discoloration spot)

Troubleshooting Step # 1 - Replace CPU, but be ready to abort if ANY anomaly is noted during power-up, leave side case open for observation.
Troubleshooting step # 2 - Replace MoBo, try original CPU, again with caution. You may have to use the second CPU if the original was damaged AND the Motherboard contributed to the failure.

Good Luck, the other components should be O.K. - but check heatsink carefully.

 

[2nd1stXP]

Thanks for your suggestions! I appreciate any help I can get. I have a few more questions though...
Looking back now I don't know how it could have been temperature related...
My computer was overclocked 130 mhz but it had been stable...
I had noticed a high pitched sound in the case... I think from a fan but they all still work fine.
A PSU I think would either die or not but would probably have some sign of distress?
Any ideas as to what could have randomly caused death like this?
I don't want to put it back together and have it die again in a month.

The discoloration from a short circuit..... My mobo has some area that looks like lacquer didn't go on smooth or paint flaking off... Is that it? There is a tiny bit of it in another spot but there seems to be some of it around the back of the cpu socket.
Grrr this sucks!

 

[CaptnKirk]

A delamination of the fibreglass & resin that encloses a layer of the circuitry, would indicate a high energy electrical discharge has indeed
occured, and that is probably the 'smoke' you saw, and the odor would have been the plastic burned by the arcing.

Probably history for the motherboard, next step would be geography, or - like get rid of it, it's dead. RIP

Good excuse to upgrade.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

CaptnKirk is sounding more like Mr. Spock all the time Anyways, he is of course correct, the board is toast BTW that happened to one of my client's systems and it was the powersupply that went and it fried the board, modem, HDD, and DVD drive with it.

 

[2nd1stXP]

Ok well I guess I have to accept that my mobo is toast. If I get a replacement and try my processor..... If the processor is dead will it likely kill a good mobo? I don't want to get a replacement and kill that too.....
The other question is that if a processor goes does it usually have any visible signs of death? Thanks guys!

 

[CaptnKirk]

Well, when you take out the CPU examine the pins closely for burnt or missing contacts. If it visually looks O.K. you are probably safe to put it into a new Mobo, as once it's dead it won't function, or will perform crippled. YoDa (punisher) claimed to have seen Power Supply problems that have lead to this type of malfunction, and it contributed to associated failures in other components - hard drive, modem, DVD or CD-ROM, etc. -so be carefull.

You may want to get a refurbished mobo that will accept the components you will be transferring out. You have not listed what motherboard brand or CPU processor you were using. There may be some configuration reccomendations that could be made to minimize your cost impact, while allowing you to acheive a system upgrade in the repair of your equipment.

 

[2nd1stXP]

Ok, sorry I haven't posted any info.
I have/had:
Soyo Dragon + (266a)
XP 1600+ with a Thermalright AX-7+ enermax adjustable fan
256 Crucial DDR + 256 Micron DDR
Gainward Geforce 3 Ti 200
15gb WD hd
2 60 gb Maxtors in raid-0
Generic Hi Val DVD drive
TDI VeloCD 24/10/40 cdr

My powersupply is a 350w Macron Power unit
Think I should upgrade to an Antec 380-400w?
I've decided to try and RMA my board instead of risking another processor at first.....
If I can't get it sorted out it would be a shame to have to get a new Nforce2
Thanks again for your help guys. Anymore tips/info you can provide about how to sort this out would be useful. I appreciate your advice so far! I'm still pretty new to this and don't want to lose anything else in the process!

 

[2nd1stXP]

bump

 

[CaptnKirk]

I would like to direct you away from the SOYO, think you'd get better performance and service from either the ABIT or EPOX Mobo's, but of course it's your coin flip.
ABit and Epox have just so many more settings for overclocking than the Soyo, however Abit doesn't offer built in sound or LAN on many things.
You could pick up a REFURB and save some money if you can't RMA the Soyo+.

Your DDR is most likely the PC2100, you said Crucial and Micron, so since Crucial is Micron, the 'Micron' is probably a second party manufacturer putting Micron chipsets onto their own PC board platform, but you should be able to reach speeds around 286 (143 FSB)with the mix.

NewEgg also has those KILLER AGOIAS for $ 52.99 that everyone seems to be able to run as XP2000/XP2100.

RAIDMAX makes a pretty nice dual fan 400W power supply for $ 45 that should be trouble free and give all the performance you will ever need.

Everything else looks pretty good from your system, but I'm NOT a fan of the 'clip mount' heatsinks. A great choice for a fan would be the Y.S. Tech speed adjustable, so you can control both the airflow rate and the noise level, as if you need extra cooling you can turn up the 'Volume Knob', good source for HEATSINK & FAN from SVC which Buz2B just pointed out the other day.

Keep us up on what you are able to do, and what happens with the rebuild.