think the chip and board got fried !!! Please help !!!

[leeland]

well i got a new Xp athlon and epox board...hooked it all up and turned it on....felt like i did all right and then got a normal FF post on the board but no video

took it all apart and the chip is fried with scorch marks on it and also on the board....oh i am so pissed and a bit scared...what the hell do i do...i got it from newegg....and i have never had a problem setting up the new boxes as this is the 5th or so computer i have built....used artic silver for the thermal compound...the heatsink was on and making good contact...the fans were going....i don't know what the hell happened....it was only running for about 15 seconds before i shut it down.....the cpu has a 30 day OEM warranty....

has anyone ever had something simular like this happen....i can't believe i set it up wrong...i clean the heatsink and cpu with alcohol and wore rubber gloves when i was doing it as well with the hook up


please help !!!

leeland

 

[Ionizer86]

Check out this thread because both me and somebody else have similar symptoms (except I wasn't stupid enough to fry my CPU even though the heatsink's fan wasn't spinning 😉 )

 

[leeland]

thanks ionizer...i did read that post a little while ago...unfortunatley i am not that lucky...i am sure it is fried....just hope it isn't a pain to RMA it back to new egg....anyways.


for all who have RMA'd something back about how long does it take for the turn around to get something back ???

This is a silly question but i had a FF post on the board which i have read two conflicting reports

one says it is a normal post and the other says that it means no CPU detected ??? i am assuming that it means no CPU but was just curious...the manual doesn't seem to be that clear to me

leeland

 

[Ionizer86]

After cycling through ram codes and other codes, it will display FF on a working 8KHA+ (normal system).
If, during boot, the board only says FF without cycling through anything, the board is busted, or there is no CPU (one of those two).

BTW, if your board and cpu are fried, it's not very kosher to rma them, unless you tell them about the burn marks. I'm thankful that I seated my heatsink properly, so my CPU is still fine, even though my board wasn't powering my fan (CPUs can definitely be ok even if the fan doesn't spin if the heatsink is seated well, and the cpu is on idle).

RMAing may take up to two weeks for them to process....but rma's can be faster. Go ahead and try RMAing, but be sure to tell them about the fried components. You should be granted an RMA since you weren't ocing.

Edit: BTW, what kind a PSU were you using?

 

[leeland]

well i definatley will be telling them what all happened...the power supply i was using was a

Enermax 350W ATX 2.03 AMD

well when i placed the HS on like i said i tried to tighten it evenly...only a couple of screw turns for each and went in the 1--3--2--4 pattren...thought i was tightening as much as i could but the screws started spinning and i felt i couldn't go anymore without stripping the nuts


i will ask this...can you substitute the crappy plastic nuts that the heatsink comes with for some real metal nuts that you would get at a local hardware store ???

thanks
leeland

 

[Ionizer86]

Enermax PSUs don't go well with the 8KHA+, since the 5v line fluctuates too much. But under any condition, the PSU shouldn't have fried the mobo; instability should be the worst case scenario with an Enermax PSU powering a 8KHA+.

This is really unfortunate. I am actually glad that only my mobo needed to be RMAd 🙂

 

[leeland]

well i guess i am at a loss.. from what i looked at it is an amd reccomended PSU...if you don't mind me asking what is a good brand PSU for an Epox board...or any board in that matter



leeland

 

[Ionizer86]

On this page post #6, Mushkin tells us about quality PSUs. Generally, quality PSUs will be quiet, have high combined 3.3v and 5v wattage, and will maintain a stable 5v line (dips no lower than 4.8-4.9v or so). Some companies have multiple PSUs at each wattage, so make sure you're getting at least 170w on the 3.3v and 5v lines.

I'd say that Enlight, Sparkle, and Antec make good PSUs, but check up on a PSU before buying, including making sure that it's approved for Athlon XP (for a very high quality PSU, make sure it's good for Athlon XP 2000+). Post #7 lists 10 of the best PSUs available. Mushkin is very knowledgeable, so his guide is sure to be useful (I recommend bookmarking it).

 

[fenrir]

From what you said, it sounds like the motherboard also has scorch marks. If it does, it could have been a problem with your motherboard that caused your problems. If you can, I would try and test the CPU in another motherboard to see if it is working. I always hate hitting the power switch on a new computer build. With the new motherboards, I always jump right into the bios to check the system temps to see if there is a problem and give it five minutes to see if there may be a problem.

Matt