Motherboard fire from onboard chips??

Well, I'm trying to help a friend out here. The last time he turned on his computer he noticed what seemed like an electrical storm in his case and immediately turned it off and disconnected it.
I now have it and the first thing I tested was the PSU with a thermaltake Dr.Power II PSU tester. It checked out with no problem. I've read that in order to really test the PSU you need to put it under load for a half hour. Which would make the thermaltake Dr.Power II tester not a good indicator of the PSU status since it only lasted a few minutes at best. If testing the PSU should last at least 30 minutes what company makes such a tester?
If my themaltake Dr.Power II tester indicated the PSU was good, could it still be a problem and cause the fire?
I decided to try out his PSU again (since my tester indicated that it was okay) and when I stared his computer up I notice a lighted area (then small fire ) on his motherboard. I immediately turned it off and unplugged it, then blew out the fire. Then went and changed my shorts.
It seemed to come from a couple of imbedded chips in between the mother board area of the back connectors and cpu. Then I noticed the insulated wire (from the fan attached to the back of the case and is plugged into the motherboard for power) was touching the imbedded chips that caught on fire, and the wire itself was black. I didn't see any sign of a bare wire showing though and thought maybe the wire was just touching the MB in the area that stared fire. So is that just coincidence?
I'm pretty sure the MB is now bad even if it wasn't the original problem so now I have to test the cpu and video card to see if they're still good.
Any thoughts on what I might be dealing with would be appreciated.

Here's info on the computer: Gateway DX4860 Intel i5
Thanks guys

 

Can you post some pics of the damage?

The burning of the wire may have been incidental, and if any IC chips were going to fry, there's not a whole lot you could do about it. If the PSU didn't fry the tester, there's a fair shake the issue is with the board itself. And yes, I'd say the mobo is toast.

However, I can't say enough about wire maintenance...

 

Here are the pictures:

 

That's bad news.

Not only did the voltage regulators go up in smoke, those appear to be the VRs for the CPU. I'd need the schematic of the board to be sure.

This board is done in, and I would make no implicit guarantees regarding the CPU...

 

.... but you still have a chance that the CPU is good (you may test it in another computer with passmark and compare with like systems to check if can get it that far) any still have a case, and very probably a good PSU and graphics card (the latter can be tested with passmark software too) [I mention passmark because I was recently looking at their site: I am not making any recommendation]. Look on the bright side !

I defer to the mechanic's experience, of course.

Dumb_Question
6.February.2015

 

I don't have a compatible motherboard to test the cpu with and I called best buy to see what they would charge. They want $75 to test it and I told the guy, "I can buy a new MB for $70, so no thanks".
I tried out the gtx460 video card on another computer and it seems to work okay. Is the cpu the only component that's in danger of being toasted? Should I test the memory sticks too? I also don't know if I should trust the PSU. It's an Antec 650 watt 80 bronze PSU and even though it tested fine on my thermaletake Dr.Power II tester, I'm still apprehensive on using it.
Do I take a chance and tell my friend to just buy another MB and hope the cpu is okay? He did say that this computer was getting up there in age and would consider buying a newer one (then he'd just use the GTX460 card in it).
It seems senseless to have best buy test it when it's more expensive then buying a new one. Plus I'll be the one putting it all together and crossing my fingers that it all works, and hoping that it keeps on working. :confused
I'm hoping some of you geeks out there have experience in this type of dilemma and can give me some advice. Thanks

 

The PSU and RAM are unlikely to have suffered damage but one can't be certain.

Testing the RAM is, in principle pretty easy, as you probably know - there is program for doing this - memtest86 or memtest86+ You may find it awkward though, as you need a motherboard which will support the RAM in question to test it - and you've already said that you don't have one which supports the CPU. That fact does not mean the compatibility problem exists with a machine with all of the machines you have available; you will need to check some specs. If you are unable to rest it, and you buy a new m/b and the RAM is defective, well, RAM is relatively cheap, even less if you are able to buy it 2nd hand. The defective RAM still has some resale value, if only for scrap.

To thoroughly test the PSU is rather difficult if you don't have the right equipment which can be expensive or difficult to set up. But to thoroughly test it you need to carry out measurements when under load. If I were you (but I'm not) having checked it with the PSU tester (does it display voltages ?) and passed, I'd assume that it's ok and proceed with caution. You can measure, maybe with difficulty, the voltages when connected and in use with a voltmeter.

Finally I'd remind you that it is possible to buy quite cheaply working used components, that constitute a computer, RAM, m/b, PSU etc if don't want to the expense (and "guarantee" - some 2nd hand sellers offer a certain warranty) of buying new, to put together a repaired machine or do some tests.

Dumb_Question
11.February.2015

 

Considering this was an OEM Gateway board (manufacturer unknown), the chips MAY have simply fried and not allowed transient voltage to flow to the chip. I'm not one to badmouth OEM equipment, but sometimes they're just not the quality of an aftermarket product. That being said, if it was the PSU that fried the chips it could damage a new board. If the VR chips were faulty, which is more likely, a new board may solve everything.

The exact model of the board, and knowing if it has any known issues would be very important.

That being said, the bright side is you have a case and almost everything else one would need to start over.

 

The reason I can't test the cpu is that my friends computer (the one with the MB fire) is an 1155 MB. and the one I have is the 1156 (gasp). I purchased this from a guy at work who was dismayed after finding out how quickly it was abandoned by intel. I got it for half what he paid for it. A deal I couldn't pass up. I short, I told my friend he'd be better off just biting the bullet and getting another system. That he could try selling the parts off of this on ebay with the understanding there is no guarantee to recoup some of the loss.

 

I know the feeling of being socked by Intel. I owned a Socket 423 with Rambus RIMMs. They abandoned the socket after conveniently "discovering" it's electrical limitations months after the P4 release. I squeezed about six years out of that setup, went AMD and never looked back.