Resolved Motherboard issues

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of building a media center to be in the lounge at my uni house next year, but, the **** thing just won't stay on.

I initially tested the motherboard outside the case, and it worked fine. Popped it in the case, it conks itself out after about 30 - 60 seconds. I've checked the standoffs and they're all in the correct positions, double checked, triple checked. Have since tried it outside the case and it stays on with no issues.

Also, no display. The heatsink wasn't initially connected entirely (not completely secure), and I got a display. Secured the heatsink, no display. Very strange and it's got me stumped.

Anyone got any ideas? It isn't a new board, a good 5 years old but as far as I can tell it does still work given that it stays on when running outside a case. I'm not overly bothered about the display port as I can just pop a graphics in there and run the display from that when I can get hold of one.

Thanks
Chris

 

[It isn't a new board, a good 5 years old]

I've just had recent experience with a 3 year old board. It had been scratched on the circuit (underside) when my son had installed it in his case.
He gave it to me (he had upgraded) and when I installed it, initially it wouldn't POST.
I persevered and finally it POSTED, but only functioned for about 10 minutes, then shut down. It would sometimes restart, and eventually I pulled the motherboard and gave it a good scrutiny with a magnifying glass.

That's when I found the scratched circuit.

As Pete suggested, it may be distorting when tightening the mounting screws.
From my experience - toss it - and invest in a new one. Neil.

 

If the board is under warranty, send it for replacement.

 

Who will warranty a MOBO for 5 years? Just curious.

 

It "sounds" to me like the board is being torqued or twisted when secured by the mounting screws. That suggests to me the board is not sitting flat on the standoffs, or you have an extra stand-off or some other foreign object under the board.

It is important to note cases are designed to support 1000s of different motherboards so cases typically have several more standoff mounting points than the motherboard has mounting holes. The ATX Form Factor standard only dictates where mounting holes can be on cases and motherboards. It does not dictate where they will be.

So you must verify you only have a standoff where there is a corresponding motherboard mounting hole.

Also, not all standoffs are the same. As seen here, they come in various lengths (and shapes). So if you have mixed standoffs from more than one case, you may have standoffs of slightly (maybe just 1mm) different lengths and that definitely will not allow the motherboard to lay perfectly flat, but will cause it to twist, perhaps exacerbating a microfracture in a trace run or other contact connection.

Finally, if you have a flimsy case, it may no longer be "true" - that is, the bends and angles may not be precisely 90° bends. The case may be warped, causing the motherboard to warp or twisted when secured to the case.

 

Hi guys, sorry for the lack of a reply, been quite busy lately.

The fan runs fine. Last turn on it ran for about 5 minutes before eventually turning off. I thought maybe one of the motherboard stand offs was bending it a bit (felt a bit weird screwing it in just now) so I took that out and still nothing.

The only stand offs that I have in are the ones that correspond to the motherboard positions.

I think it's had it. I'll take it round my cousins to try a different heatsink when I get a chance, just to rule that out, if not then I'll look for a cheap one that can run as a media center.

Thanks guys.

 

I don't recommend that. You should ensure your current heatsink is securely mounted and the fan spins, but heatsinks don't go bad. If the problem was the CPU's HSF assembly, your system would fail when run outside the case too, and yours did not. If you did not apply a proper layer of TIM (thermal interface material), or ensure the OEM TIM pad was in place before mounting, then you might need to address that. Otherwise, I recommend you leave the CPU and its cooler alone.

And certainly, it would be ill-advised to run a cheap aftermarket cooler in any situation as the OEM supplied coolers by AMD and Intel are excellent coolers (in spite of what some may tell you), more than capable of keeping the CPU properly cooled, even with mild to moderate overclocking (assuming a proper flow of cool air provided by the case fans, of course). They are required to be good as the OEM coolers are the ONLY coolers with warranties that cover the CPU too! And for a full 3 years. Most aftermarket coolers are warrantied for just 1 year, or even less, and never provide warranty protection for the CPU.

If your motherboard/CPU run fine out of the case, the problem is not with the motherboard, CPU, or its cooler.

PS - Why is this thread marked "Resolved "?