z370 Taichi dead£
Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: Intel Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock Intel Motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=25598
Printed Date: 21 Jul 2025 at 8:16am Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: z370 Taichi dead£
Posted By: atbattson
Subject: z370 Taichi dead£
Date Posted: 10 Mar 2023 at 11:25pm
At my office we had a PC fail, twice now. The first time it appeared to be the motherboard. So I replaced it and in the end the graphics card as well. That fix worked for a week but last night the monitors when out, the computer went dead and there was an odor of melting electrical components. The smell faded pretty quick and opening the case revealed nothing obvious sadly. The PC will not power on now as normal. At this point I have hooked up another power supply and another graphics card but nothing came of those efforts. When power is plugged in the motherboard LEDs (first one red, then a ring of white) around the Z370 chip are blinking under the AsRock logo heat sink above it. Some rudimentary google searches suggest that means the motherboard is getting power but likely the CPU has died. Can anyone confirm this? I see no suggestion in the manual about these lights blinking.
------------- Ally
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Replies:
Posted By: Xaltar
Date Posted: 11 Mar 2023 at 12:24am
It sounds like you were the victim of a bad PSU. Unfortunately when it comes to power related failures there is no simple troubleshooting. The board is getting power as you noted but more specifically, the LEDs are getting power. That sadly doesn't necessarily mean the board is OK.
Try clearing CMOS and pulling the CMOS battery with the system disconnected from the wall for 10 mins or so. If a power safety system was triggered but didn't disengage that could resolve your issue.
If the power button still doesn't work, you can try shorting the power on pins on the boards front panel IO (where the power button connects). That will rule out a bad switch.
I suspect the burned smell likely originated from the PSU but you can have a sniff around the board itself, particularly near the heatsinks around the CPU socket. If you smell burning there then the board is likely burnt out. This is the VRM section of the board where power is converted for the CPU. The LEDs under the chipset don't pass through this circuitry so they can still work even if a VRM is dead.
I have rarely seen a CPU die from a blown PSU, motherboards tend to do a good job protecting the more expensive (usually) component. It's quite possible the previous board and GPU are not dead but rather the failing PSU was not providing stable enough power for them to function. Different boards have different tolerances for such things.
Good luck 
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Posted By: atbattson
Date Posted: 11 Mar 2023 at 12:55am
Awesome. Thanks for all that. The PSU in the PC is new I believe. I did try another power supply as well that I believe work with the same outcome (I am not the only person who works here so I cannot be sure sure its new new). I will try to clear the BIOS and the PSU as you say and see.
------------- Ally
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