EggXpert

Well..first of all i was building a new pc:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 3.10 GHz skt AM3 box
Mobo:Asus M4A78T-E
RAM: Corsair 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 CL9 DHX Dual Channel Kit
HDD: Hard disk Samsung 320GB SATA-II 7200RPM 16MB NCQ SpinPoint F1 Series
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-550VX
Case: Aplus Monolize II
Case fan: AKASA AK-274CB-4BLS
Sony DVD WR

To cut it off quickly i'll say exactly how i managed shortcircuit my mobo. After installing the cpu on the mother board..then hdd,psu, case fans and dvd on  the case, i wanted to install my motherboard into the case. Sice it was my first time building a pc, i didn't knew i needed metal screw standoffs. My case didn't have a manual :| .

So, I thought this mobo doesn't need any standoffs -omg i'm so i***t (my old pc had some other kind of metal standoffs that looked like a hump and that were inserted into little holes in the case) ... i just used only 4 screws to get the mobo intact on the case...(how i***t i am !!!!). After powering it on the case fan led powered up one second and than the system turned off..no boot screen no beeps no nothing! then i smelled something weird ..i thought it was the case fan so i removed all peripherials and turnd it again with no effect...only the cpu cooler moving very slowly ...so the psu fan ..so i turned it off again ... and then checked it again and did another last try...to sum up: 3 desperate tries to resuscitate my dearest mobo..

Well this was it :(( my new pc is dead within a second

I packed the system and i m waiting for an expert to come tommorrow to measure the voltages...but meanwhile i want to know what should i expect...
After inspecting the mobo i saw a small circuit with another color than others...so i think that got fried...i know there is no hope for this mobo ..it's toasted
But i want to know at least if anything else did get fried in this process: did the cpu suffered (i believe so :( ) ? are RAM, case fans, hdd, dvd and psu alright ?
Is there anyhope so i can't get a new mobo from the guarantee certificate? ( i want to put the screw standoffs like they should be before going with the system to the dealer..i want to make it look alright and convince them the mobo had a fault :P )

Any suggests/recommends/advices are wellcome..and sice i'm an i***t everyone should know ...so u can even swear me if u think this will repair my mobo :-".. ok i'm being sarcastic ... I REALLY NEED HELP .. thanks guys

Well I'd say call NewEgg and tell them what happened. Your motherboard started smoking. Maybe they'll RMA it if it's been within 30 days of you purchasing it. Or did you not buy it from NewEgg since it didn't have a manual (it should come with one).

If it's been more than 30 days, call up the company you bought it from. They may replace it for you. You won't know if anything else fried until you try it out with a non-burnt motherboard.

will the new mobo burn if i try some damaged components on it? like cpu ram hdd?

Not too likely... not gonna say no, but have never seen that happen.

Dude you burned your mobo, buy a new one and learn from your mistakes.

Agreed.

Anytime you start channeling electricity were it doesn't belong theres a very good chance you fried more than the main board. Only way to find the bad ones is to try them one at a time. Although I would use a PSU tester to check that PSU before using it again, the PSU is the one thing that if damaged WILL take out other compontents if you reuse it.

After a short like that, I'd assume that everything is dead until proven otherwise..

Considering that on the last time, it powered up and the PSU didn't shut down the system..  I'd most likely guess that you did burn out all the circuits everywhere it shorted...  If the PSU detects a short, it will shut the system down automatically..   Since you were able to turn it on the third time, and it didn't shut off.. Most likely means it wasn't shorting out anymore because you already burnt up all the shorted out electrical paths..  What components are damaged depends on where those electrical paths are, there's no way of really knowing what is ruined, but it's likely more than just the motherboard.

 A PSU should not die from a short-circuit unless your household wiring is screwed up and you have no ground..   The automatic overvolt protection on the PSU will kick in the instant any higher voltage rail shorts with any lower voltage rail and puts more voltage on the lower voltage rail than it's supposed to have..   The overvolt protection shutoff is not a fuse and does not damage or degrade the PSU when it goes off, so you can theoretically short out your PSU all day long and it should be fine since it is designed to protect itself and your components.

IMO, the PSU is the one most likely to survive this since it is upstream of the short-circuit, but we shall see...

N00b Logic: if it doesn't work, try again 3 or 4 times, until you smell smoke.

Scooder:

Well I'd say call NewEgg and tell them what happened. Your motherboard started smoking. Maybe they'll RMA it if it's been within 30 days of you purchasing it. Or did you not buy it from NewEgg since it didn't have a manual (it should come with one).

If it's been more than 30 days, call up the company you bought it from. They may replace it for you. You won't know if anything else fried until you try it out with a non-burnt motherboard.

How can you recommend RMA'ing a motherboard that the OP smoked due to lack of knowledge. That is a very poor recommendation to make. The OP caused his problems by not installing it properly and you are telling him to lie to get it replaced. Well you just made my s*** list. Not the op but Scooder

It seems that you will have to buy a brand new motherboard and build your rig again. maybe you need do more homework before doing it. Good Luck.

sparker366:

How can you recommend RMA'ing a motherboard that the OP smoked due to lack of knowledge. That is a very poor recommendation to make. The OP caused his problems by not installing it properly and you are telling him to lie to get it replaced. Well you just made my s*** list. Not the op but Scooder

As you may have missed from my post, I said "call NewEgg and tell them what happened... Maybe they'll RMA it". I say this because NewEgg is an accommodating company, not because I want him to screw them over.

Not to be confused with lying. But thanks anyways sparker, glad you considered me.

So what's he gonna tell Newegg?

"Sorry, I didn't know or research what I was doing and burned out a component, can you guys warranty replace it for me?"

So, if I got a new radiator for my car, and drive without any coolant or water and destroy it, I can totally take it back to the radiator shop or dealership and get replacement parts. They won't laugh at me or mock me for my lack of knowledge or anything, and if someone tells me to try it anyway, nobody's gonna think they're being a bit unreasonable and try to express that, will they?

Just using some analogies, man.

But, but that radiator TOTALY PHAILED!!!!!!!!!  

 

(Alright enough poking fun at the guy)

I remember my first n00b mistake .................. thought I could add a VooDoo card to my P1 133MHz Packard bell back in the day 

Here u can see the pics before and after the event. No, i did not buy it from newegg..i bought it from an online shop in my country. Thanks for replies even if u guyz are not as optimists as i expected . Other "experts"on other forums told me the components should be fine..only the mobo is fried. Now i have to wait for the real expert to come with the verdict today or tomorrow. Wish me luck ^^

http://img220.imageshack.us/i/mbbefore.jpg/

http://img220.imageshack.us/i/mbafter.jpg/

I don't see any discoloration. but I dunno where to look.

Can you do a close up of possible damage?

If the mobo powers up outside the case you should still be good.

If not it's a deader. 

How did the battery turn black? was there an actual fire in there?

Now I kinda see it, but it could be bad reflection or lighting. Closeup please.

Ya, he should not be using flash when taking those pics..  Take it to a well lit room and turn the flash off..

Close up look.Near the integrated video...a small circuit. As for the batery is just the reflection of the light.

I got a partial verdict yesterday...the mobo is dead...The expert told me that on the other side of the board the damage was a little more obvious. now i'm waiting for the result of cpu ram psu hdd dvd...

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5802/aftercloseup.jpg.

Final verdict: mobo dead... psu dead after 3 days in a test...they rma the psu but i had to buy the mb again ....now it's all set

Thanks for the update.