I bought an acrylic motherboard tray. Could it have somehow killed my motherboard?

[zjakkmd]

Hello all,

I recently purchased an acrylic ATX motherboard tray (link) for my relatively new
MSI X370 GAMING M7 ACK (link) motherboard. My system ran just fine for the past two weeks (I had the motherboard on its retail box), but after installing the motherboard onto the aforementioned tray, it no longer works.

Is it possible that I somehow damaged my motherboard using the acrylic tray? Could I have possibly shorted it? I'm stumped because the board seems to have simply died.

I've also determined for certain that the motherboard is indeed faulty:

• My PSU, CPU, RAM all still work (I tested them on another motherboard).
• I tried running the motherboard on the retail box again with everything but the bare minimum installed and there was no sign of life.
• I am sure that the power connector was placed correctly.
• There were no sparks or anything else that would have caused concern.
• I also briefly removed the CMOS battery.

Thank you all in advance for your help!

 

[RLGL]

Take it out of the case, put it on the tray and test. Make sure all the standoffs in the case are in the correct position to mount the board. I f one standoff is in the wrong position the board may have been shorted out

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Take it out of the case, put it on the tray and test. Make sure all the standoffs in the case are in the correct position to mount the board. I f one standoff is in the wrong position the board may have been shorted out

He did a thorough troubleshoot brudda.

It is possible, though not probable, that a static discharge killed it. Your post reads like you are experienced, thus I doubt you did something n00btastic like leave standoffs in the wrong place. Chock it up to bad timing and RMA.

 

[dlerious]

I just looked at that Moddiy site and saw this for $220 https://www.moddiy.com/products/QDIY-Professional-Modder-Acrylic-Case-(PC%2dD003N).html#
Looks exactly like the one I spent $46 on https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353002

 

[Paperdoc]

I always check my own work, and posts on forums, for possible misplacement of stand-offs. This is one case where that is NOT a factor! The whole point of that acrylic plate is that it is NOT conductive. It is the proper insulating surface for tabletop "breadboarding" work. Remember, that term comes because the original insulating surface for this work was a dry wooden board. This acryclic sheet cannot ground anything.

The only problem I can suspect from its use is, as Dapunisher suggested, the unlikely event of static electric charge trouble. It is much more likely that the mobo is faulty.

 

[Paperdoc]

I've been re-thinking my post above. That acrylic plate could not cause grounding of mobo traces to case ground. BUT a stand-off COULD conceivably short from one trace to another close by. So OP really should verify that the stand-offs are positioned so that there are NONE where there is no matching mounting hole in the mobo.

 

[aigomorla]

It is possible, though not probable, that a static discharge killed it. Your post reads like you are experienced, thus I doubt you did something n00btastic like leave standoffs in the wrong place. Chock it up to bad timing and RMA.

In my 20+ yrs building experience I have yet to lose anything from Static Discharge.
Of course i dont do stupid things like build a PC after rubbing my hands though a towel, or carpet.
And i dont think someone who is confident / skilled enough to dry run their board on the box ( which is what i do) would do something stupid like that, so i am also with punisher saying i doubt u did something that n00bstatic.

You probably got unlucky, blame Murphy for this stupid law's that got you, and your board failed right after you pulled it out and mounted it on the case.

RMA to MSI, and get a replacement. The only sad thing tho i see, is you will probably get a refurb, on that new board, unless ur still within the return period for that board.

Then i would return it back to vendor and get a new one sent instead of RMA.

 

[RLGL]

I know a gentleman who runs a PC refurb operation. He has stated the static kills a percentage of the product. I also know this from experience. I had a board die from it.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I've definitely had motherboards die when swapping cases, etc. Stuff's fragile sometimes. Handling is dangerous.

Pour one out for your dearly departed motherboard. You can try to RMA it if it's still under warranty.

You should probably put it in a "real" case where it's safer.