Main rig went kaboom :-(

[EpilepticCricket]

So my entire main rig blew up this morning. I went to boot it up when I heard a loud pop! and almost immediately smelled and saw a whiff of smoke stream up from the back of the PSU. The damn thing popped god knows how many capacitors and fried pretty much everything in the tower. Mobo, CPU, and GPU are all definitely dead.

Thankfully, all of my peripherals seem to be ok and I think my disk drives are salvageable (no idea yet if the SSD made it), however now I'm down to my only backup machine (core i5-4430, GTX 660-TI, 8gb ram) that I was setting up to be a streaming box for twitch.

I don't have the budget right now to build a proper gaming tower again. Hell, I've only really got maybe $300 that I could reasonably invest into a machine at the moment, but could potentially come up with a bit more than that over the next few weeks.

My question is really this: Should I invest a little bit of money into the current machine I'm on to get it to the point where it can game and stream simultaneously (I'm aware of how taxing this can be on the system and that it's definitely outside of my immediate budget) or should I sit tight on what I've got until I can invest a proper amount into a new gaming machine? I'd rather not wait the several months that would take, but after finally having a proper gaming rig I'm not eager to go back to a budget build.

Thoughts? I'll be over here drafting a funeral program.

Spoiler: Me today...

 

[SPRNinja]

im suprised the psu took out all the components, it should have been fused... check the warranty on the PSU to see what they say about covering damage caused by componernt failure

 

[Snowianth]

i would try new PSU before say everything else is dead inside.

 

[thanatos73]

Right, also, if the MB is dead, that doesn't mean the processor is, I've salvaged many from bad MB.

 

[ThomSirveaux]

Good chance CPU is fried, as well: when a capacitor blows, the di-electric material will usually short the capacitance plates. This may shunt voltage directly into the CPU. Depending on what failed initially (possibly the voltage regulator), it could be upwards of 12V with more than a few mA to cause damage to circuits.

Best way would be to buy a CPU from Fry's along with your preferred motherboard, test the old chip first, and if that works, return the CPU. Otherwise, you'll have a new CPU on hand.

Source: Once worked for a small data recovery company that used 7 computers as a linux cluster. All 7 motherboards had capacitor issues in the VRM, and only 4 of them were recoverable. The other three's failures were too great for just a capacitor fix.

 

[EpilepticCricket]

On mobile atm, but I can say I've already tried a different cpu. Burnt one was an i7 socket 1150, backup system is an i5 same socket 1150. Gpu is non-responsive as well.

Not sure about warrenty coverage on the psu, but I know it's at least 3 years old. Will have to check the details on that.

 

[ThomSirveaux]

On mobile atm, but I can say I've already tried a different cpu. Burnt one was an i7 socket 1150, backup system is an i5 same socket 1150. Gpu is non-responsive as well.

Not sure about warrenty coverage on the psu, but I know it's at least 3 years old. Will have to check the details on that.

So, you tried the i7 in the i5 system, correct? I would NOT recommend plugging in a good CPU into the blown motherboard (shunt may still be present in the VRM).

 

[CitizenDad]

So my entire main rig blew up this morning. I went to boot it up when I heard a loud pop! and almost immediately smelled and saw a whiff of smoke stream up from the back of the PSU. The damn thing popped god knows how many capacitors and fried pretty much everything in the tower. Mobo, CPU, and GPU are all definitely dead.

Thankfully, all of my peripherals seem to be ok and I think my disk drives are salvageable (no idea yet if the SSD made it), however now I'm down to my only backup machine (core i5-4430, GTX 660-TI, 8gb ram) that I was setting up to be a streaming box for twitch.

I don't have the budget right now to build a proper gaming tower again. Hell, I've only really got maybe $300 that I could reasonably invest into a machine at the moment, but could potentially come up with a bit more than that over the next few weeks.

My question is really this: Should I invest a little bit of money into the current machine I'm on to get it to the point where it can game and stream simultaneously (I'm aware of how taxing this can be on the system and that it's definitely outside of my immediate budget) or should I sit tight on what I've got until I can invest a proper amount into a new gaming machine? I'd rather not wait the several months that would take, but after finally having a proper gaming rig I'm not eager to go back to a budget build.

Thoughts? I'll be over here drafting a funeral program.

Spoiler: Me today...

Where are you located Citizen?

 

[EpilepticCricket]

So, you tried the i7 in the i5 system, correct? I would NOT recommend plugging in a good CPU into the blown motherboard (shunt may still be present in the VRM).

That is correct. I learned a very long time ago not to put good parts in a bad mobo if I don't want to risk them getting eaten.

Where are you located Citizen?

In the heart of horse country. Lexington, Kentucky.

 

[AntiSqueaker]

>mfw your backup machine has the same GPU as my rig

 

[honcho12]

In the heart of horse country. Lexington, Kentucky.

I spent all october at Keeneland! Do you go to the races much?

 

[that_frog_kurtis]

I'd wait dude, shore up your funds and use your backup, it's not terrible. Once you can afford a new rig, you'll get a better one because of the time you waited.

 

[Ictoan]

My main rig Kablows.

Trade me?

Also, I am sorry for your loss. =(

 

[mromutt]

The ssd probably is still good I have never scene a psu take a drive out before (other than spin n halt) ram could possibly be usable if you are willing to test it, that is if it was good enough ram to start with. Also if you plan on streaming and gaming at the same time a lot, you may want to look into using an amd build. thats what I do and I not only can do that but render well doing it lol. I say save your money up a little while well looking into what parts you want then figure out the budget for what you need.

 

[EpilepticCricket]

I spent all october at Keeneland! Do you go to the races much?

Not the races themselves very often, but I love some Derby Day celebrations. Derby pie and another excuse to wear silly hats is great.

I'd wait dude, shore up your funds and use your backup, it's not terrible. Once you can afford a new rig, you'll get a better one because of the time you waited.

Yeah, that's really what I'm feeling like I'm going to do at this point.

The ssd probably is still good I have never scene a psu take a drive out before (other than spin n halt) ram could possibly be usable if you are willing to test it, that is if it was good enough ram to start with. Also if you plan on streaming and gaming at the same time a lot, you may want to look into using an amd build. thats what I do and I not only can do that but render well doing it lol. I say save your money up a little while well looking into what parts you want then figure out the budget for what you need.

My drives (thankfully) are all safe and I'm pretty sure the ram is too. It seems to be working fine, but I want to do some more advance diagnostics on it this weekend (and ram is cheap anyway). I've not build an AMD system in years, but I'll consider it. Intel chips have just been better for a long time now for the desktop performance that I need.

 

[GrammarGestapo]

I'm sorry for your loss, my heart cries out for that PC's HDD drives and RAM.

 

[ThomSirveaux]

I'm sorry for your loss, my heart cries out for that PC's HDD drives and RAM.

Hopefully, the sectors that contain those memories will be overwritten as soon as he builds a new rig.

 

[EpilepticCricket]

Hopefully, the sectors that contain those memories will be overwritten as soon as he builds a new rig.

Looking like that will be later rather than sooner. I'm mostly bummed that I can't play SC anymore. :(

 

[ThomSirveaux]

Looking like that will be later rather than sooner. I'm mostly bummed that I can't play SC anymore. :(

Then your memory sectors need to be re-written... with booze.

 

[Eiyron]

White Smoke Popped.

Examine the Board. Look For Charred Marks.
If Board does not have ANY charred areas on the PCB, then it might still be good.

IF YOU DO FIND MARKS throw the board away and salvage other components.
DO NOT TRY TO POWER A FRIED BOARD WITH WORKING COMPONENTS.

GL, i hope you don't fine any Charred areas. not only will that indicate that the board might still be working but will also indicate that other components such as CPU, RAM, etc are good.

Also examine the other parts, specially RAM.
It also does white smoke.