Mobo Dead?

UBERtank · February 18, 2020

Hey all,

I built my first PC about a year ago and everything went fine and was pretty easy overall. Just a couple weeks ago I installed a new hard dive to expand my storage. After the install, my computer turned on for literally a second and then turned off (a strong burning smell was coming from the mobo area, but I didn't see any smoke or obvious damage). Since then I've trimmed down to only the essential components (CPU, GPU, MOBO, PSU, boot drive) and this still leads to nothing when I try to power on (I literally mean nothing, no sounds lights or anything happening when I hit either the mobo power on button or connect the two power pins). I've tested my psu on another computer and it works fine.

Based on this am I right to assume the problem lies with my mobo? Is it possible that I created static which blew something? This is my first time troubleshooting a system like this and I just want to make sure I'm on the right track.

Here are my Specs:

Mobo: MSI Gaming Plus x470

CPU: Ryzen 7 2700

GPU: Vega 64 (Stock)

PSU: EVGA Supernova G3 750W

Boot Drive: ADATA NVME 480Gb

I hope I don't sound like an annoying n00b lol...

Archer20 · February 18, 2020

This question is going to sound rather rudimentary but, did you switch off/unplug the PSU from the wall when you replaced the drive?

UBERtank · February 18, 2020

50 minutes ago, Archer20 said:

This question is going to sound rather rudimentary but, did you switch off/unplug the PSU from the wall when you replaced the drive?

I believe I unplugged it (it was a week ago), but I definitely turned off the switch at the back.

Archer20 · February 18, 2020

11 minutes ago, UBERtank said:

I believe I unplugged it (it was a week ago), but I definitely turned off the switch at the back.

If you smelled something burning, the first thing I would do is, in the direction of the smell, shine a light and check for burned circuitry on the board. Have you investigated that? That would 100% confirm board.

UBERtank · February 18, 2020

5 minutes ago, Archer20 said:

If you smelled something burning, the first thing I would do is, in the direction of the smell, shine a light and check for burned circuitry on the board. Have you investigated that? That would 100% confirm board.

So I did check and I couldn't see anything at all (then again my PCB is black so it would be hard to see anyway).The burning smell definitely appeared to be coming from the top area of the motherboard near the CPU. I have another Mobo coming in the mail so I guess we'll find out if that's the fix. I just wanted to know if the nothing at all happening (knowing the PSU is fine) is an indication that it is the Motherboard.

Really appreciate your help, its actually given me some peace of mind haha

Archer20 · February 18, 2020

2 minutes ago, UBERtank said:

So I did check and I couldn't see anything at all (then again my PCB is black so it would be hard to see anyway).The burning smell definitely appeared to be coming from the top area of the motherboard near the CPU. I have another Mobo coming in the mail so I guess we'll find out if that's the fix. I just wanted to know if the nothing at all happening (knowing the PSU is fine) is an indication that it is the Motherboard.

Really appreciate your help, its actually given me some peace of mind haha

That would be the northbridge, which is where the VRMs are. If a VRM is toast, that would certainly cause issues. Sounds to me like it is indeed MOBO.. Your welcome!