Please tell me I didn't just fry my board........

[Lcarvone]

Hey folks,

OK. Here is the scenario. I had the following setup running:

ECS K7S5A motherboard
Duron 1.1 gig CPU


This mobo was going to be upgraded to a Barton 2500+ but I had two hsf to choose from (lets call them A & B). So before installing the freshly received Barton I wanted to test with the existing Duron to see which hsf gave me better cooling (based on MBM 5) and that "superior" hsf would go with the Barton leaving the "lesser" hsf for the Duron. The system ran just fine with hsf(A). So I removed hsf(A), cleaned off the Duron, re-applied silicon paste (out of Arctic Silver), and mounted hsf(B). The install went fine with no need for lots of pressure, etc. The fit was snug but not too tight. I powered up the system and got the BIOS startup screen showing my vid card info and then it froze there with a blinking cursor and nothing else. I pushed the reset button and it shut off as though I had hit the power button. I tried turning off and on the power supply, changing power cables, changing to a spare power supply, etc. The best I get is an occasional spin of the CPU fan for three or four revolutions and a flash of lights from the NUM Lock/Caps Lock/Scroll Lock LEDs and thats it.

Any thoughts?

 

[vanvock]

How big is that h/s? Make sure it's not bumping into something. Was the old one hard to get off? Check that cpu is seated properly. Try other chip. Good luck.

 

[Lcarvone]

One thing to add. The "best" results listed above were with either hsf(A) or hsf(B). I do have the Barton 2500+ to try but I'm kinda gunshy.....wouldn't the cpu fan still spin though if it was a fried processor?

 

[vanvock]

Not sure about that. Are you sure you had good contact of core to h/s? Any chance you dropped something off of one of the sinks. I fried a Pentium once adding a COAST module. There was a tiny sliver I guess on the stick & when I powered up it was like your describing as I recall. Is the chip core exposed like the XP? I don't remember if they're covered like the 939's. If not ckeck for any discoloration or cracks, chipping. Make sure there's not any thermal compound anywhere but on the core.

 

[Lcarvone]

Yeah the hsf was down snug just like dozens of others I have done before. The cpu fan always spun up at power on so I don't think Cool 'n' Quiet would kick in now (if Durons have this optimization). Plus even if it wasn't snug would the Duron fry in a matter of 10 seconds before I hit reboot? (Could be?)

 

[vanvock]

I edited the C&Q, sorry I was thinking 64. Yes I think they can fry PDQ. I've never had one go like that but have read that they can in seconds.

 

[CraigRT]

I don't like being a dink, but I can't help but think the crappy ECS board probably bit the dust. I had a bad feeling about that mobo when I set one up for a friend.
What a surprise, 6-7 months later his system had totally gone down. Everything in the system was fine except for the dead K7S5A... man, I hate those boards so much.

 

[cubeless]

no throttling on that chip or the mobo... and i have 5 k7s5a's that have been running fine for years with a bunch of different cpus...

one thing on those chips is to make sure u aren't shorting any of the pins on top with thermal goop or left over pencil tweaking...

easier to say since it ain't my chip, but chances are good that u could plug in the 2500 and it would be fine... are there any signs of cooking on the chip or any components on the board? smells of burnt pcb?

is this lcarvone from ocn?

 

[Lcarvone]

Yep....this is Lcarvone from OCN How ya doing?

In regards to goop etc it is pretty darn clean and no odd smells etc (unlike the monitor that fried 5 days ago - I have had a nice streak of bad PC luck lately)

Well I completely took the board out of the case and unhooked everything then reinstalled on the off chance I had a short somewhere....no such luck. I think I am going to take the Duron and hsf to work tomorrow and look into doing a cursory "maintenance check" on a Socket A based system that runs one of the lab instruments. If the chip works there then the board will be replaced.

Speaking of replacement, any thoughts on what I should get next? I really don't want or to be more accurate can't afford to upgrade any stuff at this point so I am looking at the Barton 2500+ (266 fsb) and PC2100 RAM. If memory serves there are a number of chipsets that support 266 as the bottom end (i.e support 333 and even 400 fsb as well)

 

[vanvock]

If it comes to that check out the Abit NF7S. NewEgg's got them for 62.50 shipped.

 

[Lcarvone]

Well vanvock you may have just been correct

I took both the Duron and Barton to work and installed on a socket a machine in the lab. The Duron acted just like at home....nothing. The Barton runs just fine. So it appears I did fry the Duron with hsf(B). Overall I'd much rather have this scenario than the other though. Looks like I am in the market for a replacement Duron since this was actually a borrowed processor :frown:......