My new motherboard fried, literally

[brokensword]

i got myself a new pc yesterday and finished assembling it today, my specs are

Phenom II X4 955
ASUS M4A87TD/USB3
Sapphire Toxic HD5850 2GB
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Gigabyte Setto 1000
OCZ GameXStream 600W


it took me a lot of time to assemble but i finally did it about 30 minutes ago, i wished myself luck and pressed the power button, the computer started with the leds on and the fans spinning (psu, cpu and 2 on the case)
after 15 seconds or so i began to smell something like burnt plastic but i didnt think much of it till my brother said he felt the same smell, so i turned of the power immediately
after that i opened the side of the case and checked my gpu and cpu heatsink to see if they were too hot or anything but that wasnt the case
i turned on the power again while looking inside the case and i saw smoke coming out of a transistor right above the gpu, and it was getting red fast, i turned of the power as soon as i could


now i know im probably taking it back to the store but i ran into a couple of issues while assembling it so i want to know if it was my fault:

after installing my cpu hsf i discovered that to attach the fan power connector it would have to go over the fan itself, so i tried to remove it to put it in the right direction, while pulling it out the cpu came out attached to it even with the cpu tightener locked (the little stick on the cpu slot). i checked to see if something was broken then put everything in place

while putting the mobo i forgot to put it on the standoff screws and screwed it directly on the case, i tried to boot with that for a while but it wouldnt boot, istead the power supply would give a blue led glow for less than a second and the fans would spin then shut down, after some time of trying everything i decide to reassemble everything, then i discovered the missing standoffs. i put them and reinstalled everyhting then booted, that's when my problem happened


im very sorry for the long post but i really hope it's not something i have done so i can return it

 

[Tsavo]

Nothing to do on the internet but troll?

 

[ahenkel]

this is a joke right?

 

[WhiteFireDragon]

so what's the point of this thread? lol it's like you're asking to be yelled at, seeing how you did many things wrong, and now wanting to return the parts you probably killed. not very ethical, but i know many people do this.

i don't know how the CPU could have popped out when all you're trying to do is take off the HSF. i don't think you even put it in the socket right, or locked it in place. and second, you absolutely need the mobo standoffs. when the back of the mobo touched your case, i'm pretty sure you shorted something out when you turned on the power.

no offense, but perhaps your should look at some tutorials on how to assemble a computer.

 

[Modelworks]

Not everyone is an expert, people have to start somewhere, though that was an expensive place to start. Back when I was learning , about 20 years ago, I installed all the ram chips on a board backwards and ruined a working $700+ system. Ram was in dip chips then and they could be inserted either way, there was nothing physical to prevent it. Just a tiny marking on the chip to indicate pin 1.


Cpu do come out of the socket sometimes if the heatsink compound has made a very good seal. It has happened to me a number of times over the years, mostly in older P4 boards. Even trying to twist the heatsink to loosen it doesn't work on some of those. Usually it results in bent pins so you have to check the cpu carefully before re-insterting. It can be hard to unbend a pin because they tend to break.

Motherboards must use standoffs and you have to make sure those standoffs line up perfectly with the board you use. Some boards have circuit traces very near the standoff locations and miss alignment can short the board.

Last tip. If you ever smell smoke from any electronic device , even if you are not sure, unplug it immediately. Don't ever try to power it on to check. I see many people do that and it results in doing more damage. Once unplugged, use your nose. Smell around the room to find the source. Once you find the source and if it is a pc you need to open it and inspect everything to find the source. Do not power it on till you do. Something had to cause the smoke.


If you do decide to return the items then I would explain the situation to the store. Some of them are very understanding and will try to help you out. One reason I like the single owner stores is because of that attention to customers. You really need to take it somewhere that they can test each component. Replacing just the board may destroy that board too if something else was harmed.