This is killing me, is my motherboard dead? Or it is something else?Plz help...

[LouisCell]

I upgraded my rig with new psu, two new GTX970, and a new SSD.

 

Everything was done smoothly, until I realized that the system didn't detect the second graphic card. In Windows Device manager, CPU-Z, and Nvidia Experience, they all show that I only have one GTX 970. In the Nvidia Control panel, there wasn't the switch for enabling the SLI (Tried with and without SLI bridge)

 

I open the case and find the fan on the second graphic card is working normally. Then I decided to take out the first graphic card and see If the second one got some issue itself.

 

Then, my computer won't start, the BIOS led and the fan on the PSU worked for half a second and the whole thing died. But the power indicator on the motherboard was always on. (Every "won't boot" from here on is exactly the same)

 

At this point, I was assuming that I had a bad PCIE slot, but I can't fit my graphic card into the third PCIE slot since there is no space. The second PCIE slot has never being used, and I got the motherboard for a year.

 

To make sure Its not because of the graphic card, I took out the second graphic card and put the first one into the second one's slot (Same slot different card), and the result is the same.

 

I though It might be bad connection issue, so I use the duster to clean up the PCIE slot (although there was no dust or anything I can see at the slot), and I pushed the card firmer into the slot.

 

This time, it worked! the computer booted up but there is no video feed, didn't even show the motherboard screen. I tried to reset and manual reboot, still the same. The computer will boot but no video feed

 

Then I decide to plug one card into the first PCIE slot and just use it for now, BUT, the computer won't boot!

 

I was thinking WTF?! This doesn't make sense...

 

I swapped another card into the slot, the result is the same.

 

Then I decide to remove the graphic card, and plug into the motherboard HDMI port to see what will happen. Then, my computer still won't boot

 

 

 

From this point, I tried to re-plug in the ram sticks, remove CMOS battery for half an hour, swap the PSU, and the result is all the same...

 

The motherboard has nothing exploded nor any strange smell, the power led on motherboard is always on when the power is connected/switched on.

 

Can I say that my motherboard is dead?? Or it could be something else?

 

 

 

I have to admit that I might have done something stupid during the process:

 

The assemble process was performed in my kitchen, but during the graphic card swap as I mentioned above, it was performed in my room on the floor carpet (I'm lazy) But I did touched the wall and the case before I do anything.

 

The motherboard has no standoff when I assembled the tower a year ago, and everything was working fine for a whole year...

 

The tower was lying on the carpet, but later I performed everything back in the kitchen and it's all the same...

 

If my motherboard is killed by my misoperation, is it possible that my graphic card was damaged too? (I treated the graphic very careful unlike how I treated my motherboard, It never touch the carpet and I always hold on the heatsink)

 

I want to slap myself real hard

 

 

So what is really the problem here (besides me, I know I'm a big problem myself...)

Thank you very much...

 

 

 

[Toddwjp]

what motherboard do you have?

[aidenrelkoff]

try a new PSU if you have one, if you only have a 250 watt or somthing, just try to use the onboard video.

[Extingquish]

remove the motherboard from the case and test both GPUs in all the PCIe slots, it sounds like you've just got a dead slot

[aidenrelkoff]

what motherboard do you have?

i wont be surprised if he says AsRock or MSI

 

MSI has a 5% chance that there motherboards will fail in the first 5 years of use....  Lol

 

EDIT: well not all of there mobos have a 5% chance. but this one does:

 

"4,94% MSI Z77A-G45"

[LouisCell]

Sorry guys, forgot to mention that my PSU is Corsiar CX750, and my motherboard is MSI Z87-GD65

[LouisCell]

i wont be surprised if he says AsRock or MSI

MSI has a 5% chance that there motherboards will fail in the first 5 years of use.... Lol

EDIT: well not all of there mobos have a 5% chance. but this one does:

"4,94% MSI Z77A-G45"

Mine is the MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming

[pawan1993]

Let's hope it's not the motherboard. Is your PSU supplying power? Check by shorting out the black and green wires on the 24 pin connector. If you see the fan on the PSU turn on or maybe if its connected to a hard drive and you hear the hard drive spinning then it should be fine. Then try unplugging everything from your motherboard except for the CPU and its fan. Short out the power pins on the motherboard with a screwdriver and see what happens. If it still turns on only for a second then try clearing the CMOS by shorting the pins relevant to clearing the CMOS. First try to get your PC to power on then try connecting to a display. If still nothing then unfortunately it probably is your motherboard. I had a similar to problem where the fans would spin for a split second and then turn off (as well as the power LED on the case). It turned out to be the motherboard. If you want to you could also try your components on a different motherboard if possible. This is to check if any other components could be the defect but I think it is the motherboard.

[LouisCell]

remove the motherboard from the case and test both GPUs in all the PCIe slots, it sounds like you've just got a dead slot

I tired to boot with no graphics card and it still won't work..

The weird point is that the slots died one by one, and in the end it won't even boot with nothing pluged in

How likely is it that my mobo or graphics card being killed by static or something?

[LouisCell]

Let's hope it's not the motherboard. Is your PSU supplying power? Check by shorting out the black and green wires on the 24 pin connector. If you see the fan on the PSU turn on or maybe if its connected to a hard drive and you hear the hard drive spinning then it should be fine. Then try unplugging everything from your motherboard except for the CPU and its fan. Short out the power pins on the motherboard with a screwdriver and see what happens. If it still turns on only for a second then try clearing the CMOS by shorting the pins relevant to clearing the CMOS. First try to get your PC to power on then try connecting to a display. If still nothing then unfortunately it probably is your motherboard. I had a similar to problem where the fans would spin for a split second and then turn off (as well as the power LED on the case). It turned out to be the motherboard. If you want to you could also try your components on a different motherboard if possible. This is to check if any other components could be the defect but I think it is the motherboard.

I don't think it is the PSU, since I tried to swap back to the psu that I just took off(Crosiar CX500) and the result is exactly the same. I was trying to plug a paper clip to link the green and the black wire next to it(am I thinking right?) but my gf won't let me cuz she insists that I will die....

As for the CMOS, I pulled the battery out for half an hour(following MSI's service rep.), and it is still the same, then the MSI rep. told me to send in the motherboard for inspection, he said at this point it will be either the motherboard or the CPU(very unliky I think)

I'm just worrying if such situation will also kill my graphics cards, for which I still believe is very fragile

[pawan1993]

I don't think it is the PSU, since I tried to swap back to the psu that I just took off(Crosiar CX500) and the result is exactly the same. I was trying to plug a paper clip to link the green and the black wire next to it(am I thinking right?) but my gf won't let me cuz she insists that I will die....

As for the CMOS, I pulled the battery out for half an hour(following MSI's service rep.), and it is still the same, then the MSI rep. told me to send in the motherboard for inspection, he said at this point it will be either the motherboard or the CPU(very unliky I think)

I'm just worrying if such situation will also kill my graphics cards, for which I still believe is very fragile

Switch off the PSU before you short circuit the two pins mate. But yeah I reckon it's the motherboard. Do you have a speaker connected to the motherboard internally for the boot status?

[LouisCell]

Switch off the PSU before you short circuit the two pins mate. But yeah I reckon it's the motherboard. Do you have a speaker connected to the motherboard internally for the boot status?

Will try that when my gf is out...

I have no speaker, but I don't think it will help, since the whole system dies in half a second. As I remember the beep occurs about 1-1.5 second after I turn it on

[LouisCell]

try a new PSU if you have one, if you only have a 250 watt or somthing, just try to use the onboard video.

The PSU I used for the upgrade is 750W, and my old one 500W, I tried to swap back to the one I just took off, the result is exactly the same.

 

I also tried to boot up the onboard video as I said in OP, with nothing on the mobo but the CPU with heatsink, 1 stick of RAM(Tried to re-plug and switch position), and hard drive. CMOS is cleared by following the instruction of MSI service rep. The result is exactly the same: system on for half a second and dies, the fan on both PSU spins.

 

MSI rep. said that I can send in the mobo for inspection, since at that point, it will either be the mobo or the CPU(???)

[Krzyimprt]

The PSU I used for the upgrade is 750W, and my old one 500W, I tried to swap back to the one I just took off, the result is exactly the same.

 

I also tried to boot up the onboard video as I said in OP, with nothing on the mobo but the CPU with heatsink, 1 stick of RAM(Tried to re-plug and switch position), and hard drive. CMOS is cleared by following the instruction of MSI service rep. The result is exactly the same: system on for half a second and dies, the fan on both PSU spins.

 

MSI rep. said that I can send in the mobo for inspection, since at that point, it will either be the mobo or the CPU(???)

Sounds like your motherboard is dead. Check the CPU socket for any bent pins, and the bottom of the motherboard for any bad solder traces/burn marks. You

'll probably have to RMA it.

[LouisCell]

Sounds like your motherboard is dead. Check the CPU socket for any bent pins, and the bottom of the motherboard for any bad solder traces/burn marks. You

'll probably have to RMA it.

Thx, i will check that once I'm back. But the CPU should be fine I guess, because I never touched it since the tower is built a year ago. I never mess up with it, no overclocking at all, and I use the stock heatsink for it...

So now I guess The mobo is damaged by my hard pushing while I was trying to figure out why second graphic card isn't dected

Is it possible that the board is shorten by contacting the case since I didn't use the mobo stand?

What about not showing the second graphics card while the fan on the card was working normally? Just because of the bad slot?

[Krzyimprt]

Thx, i will check that once I'm back. But the CPU should be fine I guess, because I never touched it since the tower is built a year ago. I never mess up with it, no overclocking at all, and I use the stock heatsink for it...

So now I guess The mobo is damaged by my hard pushing while I was trying to figure out why second graphic card isn't dected

Is it possible that the board is shorten by contacting the case since I didn't use the mobo stand?

What about not showing the second graphics card while the fan on the card was working normally? Just because of the bad slot?

uhh.... You should always use motherboard standoffs. Take the motherboard out of the case set it on a cardboard box/wood and try booting it up using the onboard GPU.

[LouisCell]

uhh.... You should always use motherboard standoffs. Take the motherboard out of the case set it on a cardboard box/wood and try booting it up using the onboard GPU.

Thank you sir! Will do!

[aidenrelkoff]

Thank you sir! Will do!

wait..... how did you mount the mobo to the case then.....

[LouisCell]

wait..... how did you mount the mobo to the case then.....

Directly on the case without the standoff...I did keep them, but I was too lazy to put them back cuz the system was running perfectly for a whole year...until this time

[Krzyimprt]

Directly on the case without the standoff...I did keep them, but I was too lazy to put them back cuz the system was running perfectly for a whole year...until this time

Lol... So I'll assume the board boots perfectly fine now?

[LouisCell]

Lol... So I'll assume the board boots perfectly fine now?

I'm visiting my gf's parents:( Will definitely try it out when I hit back.

 

Really hope the board is just shortened by contacting the case.

 

BTW, is this also causing the system not detecting the graphics card? or I might just have a bad slot...

 

THX

[Krzyimprt]

I'm visiting my gf's parents:( Will definitely try it out when I hit back.

 

Really hope the board is just shortened by contacting the case.

 

BTW, is this also causing the system not detecting the graphics card? or I might just have a bad slot...

 

THX

errr I doubt it.., I'd blow in the pci-e slot to get any the dust out. Worst case scenario is the board is really dead and you'll have to RMA it. Just about all boards come with a 3 year warranty.

[pawan1993]

Ahh standoffs. You never want to give the board the chance to short out. Try it outside the case on the original motherboard box and then if it's still not working RMA it.

[aidenrelkoff]

Directly on the case without the standoff...I did keep them, but I was too lazy to put them back cuz the system was running perfectly for a whole year...until this time

i do not understand..... how was the motherboard HELD in place? by screws? but screws into what? Theses are stand offs. encase you were confused...\

 

so what im saying is that maybe you put the screws DIrectly into the motherboard back plate, but that would need some really long screws....

 

 

[LouisCell]

i do not understand..... how was the motherboard HELD in place? by screws? but screws into what? Theses are stand offs. encase you were confused...\

 

so what im saying is that maybe you put the screws DIrectly into the motherboard back plate, but that would need some really long screws....

 

 

I know these, but I just used the regular screws, and it worked perfectly lol