asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 caught flame

Hi,

Last januari I build a new pc and with the asrock 970 pro3 r2.0 motherboard. Now this morning I started the pc and right away something was smelly..  I looked under the desk and it looked like the computer case just spawned a Red Dwarf inside it. Quickly turned the powersupply of but it was to late.

Went to the shop and got a new board (same version and all) but when i start the computer the monitors stay on black. Checked the input etc -was fine.

Switched the videocard with another one, no action on the monitor. Put the videocard in another pc and it worked as intended.

so new motherboard is fine, the videocard seems fine.. what else could produce such eerly silence?

Also, I hate to infer this, but did maybe the 4-6-8-pin power from the PSU fail?

Maybe switch PCI-E cables from the PSU,,,,, and or swap to another PCI-E socket on the PSU if it's modular and has another PCI-E "port' to try

Probably a good idea to check the RAM as well, just to be sure. Also, it might be good to list your full system specs (CPU, cooler, RAM, GPU, PSU) and whether you've overclocked your computer or not. Maybe there's something that could have contributed to the birth of that red dwarf. While it must have been quite a sight, I doubt you'd want to see it again any time soon.

Dare I ask where on the board this fiery swallowing of nearby components began?
As to the vid card, try clearing your BIOS.
Also, is it in the same slot as before? Sometimes, just sometimes .........

It was on the left side of the cpu slot, there are several of the black chips there and in between the 1st and 2nd was the place where the fire started. http://i.imgur.com/yFNrQIo.jpg

Since I didn't have the right components at home I went back to the store to let them check it. It turned out that the cpu was fried to. (as you stated Xaltar)

So motherboard is burned and under RMA to Asrock. I bought a new one in the meantime (same Asrock type etc). CPU was defect due to powersurge and I got that replaced by the local store

My setup
Cooler Master Hyper 412S - Koeler voor processor - 120
mm - Socket 1156, 1155, 1150, 2011, FM2, FM1, AM3, AM2
Toshiba DT01ACA100 - Vaste schijf - 1 TB - intern -
3.5" - SATA 6Gb/s - 7200 tpm -buffer: 32 MB  
AMD Black Edition - AMD FX 8320 - 3.5 GHz - 8-kern - 8
threads - 8 MB cache - Socket AM3+ - Box 
Kingston SSDNow V300 - Solid state drive - 120 GB -
intern - 2.5" - SATA 6Gb/s
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 - Moederbord - ATX - Socket AM3+ -
AMD 970 - USB 3.0 - Gigabit LAN - HD Audio (8-kanaals)
Be quiet! Pure Power L8-400W - Voeding ( intern ) -
ATX12V 2.3 - 80 PLUS Bronze - 400 Watt -
Asus R9270-DC2OC-2GD5 - Grafische kaart - Radeon R9 270
- 2 GB GDDR5 - PCI Express 3.0 x16 - HDMI, DVI-D,
DVI-I, DP
Kingston HyperX FURY Red Series - 2 x 8 GB -
DIMM 240-pins - DDR3 - 1333 MHz / PC3-10600 - CL9 - 1.5

I see a few issues straight away:

-You are using the wrong type of CPU cooler for this motherboard and CPU combination. It is enough to cool the CPU, but for this motherboard you also need to provide cooling for the VRMs, which is why ASRock specifies that a top-down blowing model needs to be used with this CPU. I would recommend you keep the current cooler and instead get a spot fan blowing air on the VRMs and the socket, but since the motherboard has so few fan connectors and you need to keep the case ventilated as well, you may not have this choice. If you don't provide additional cooling for the VRMs and the socket, chances are the new board might not last as long as it should.

-I think it's pretty safe to say your PSU is not enough for your system. You have a 125W TDP CPU, a 150W TDP GPU, a HDD and an SSD. Under full load your computer can require 400-500W, making your current PSU very underpowered. Not only that, but the Tom's Hardware lists the Be Quiet! Pure series as a tier 3 PSU, of which they state:

"Some Haswell compatible, some not (maybe unconfirmed). Still safe to use and stable, just lower quality components. Not really ideal in serious overclocking or super-high load situations, such as a Bitcoin mining rig or a high end gaming system."

In other words the PSU is not likely to produce very high quality power at high loads, which your system will subject it to if you try to do anything demanding with it. I think it is a very real possibility that the PSU contributed to the birth of that Red Dwarf.

So, here's my advice:

1. Get a new PSU, preferably in the 650-750W range, or even higher. And not just any PSU, a quality brand. Read reviews online and check out the Tom's Hardware PSU tier list 2.0.

2. See to it that the VRMs and socket get more cool air than what they've been getting. Either find a way to install a spot fan, or change the CPU cooler.


Edited by PetrolHead - 30 Nov 2015 at 7:40am