Motherboard Possibly Ruined?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by ChrisYoung, Nov 10, 2009.

  1. ChrisYoung

    ChrisYoung Private E-2

    Ok so I was dealing with a faulty HDD issue and I got a little physical with my computer. I punched it in its side while it was on, the next thing I know the computer is still running but nothing is on the screen. I thought at first that I might have burned out the video card when I punched it, so I took the vid card out and plugged the monitor into the on-board video and still nothing.. this leads me to believe that the motherboard is no good. I took the motherboard out of the case and examined the underside of it... there seems to be some track marks trailing around on the board surface. Now I'm no motherboard manufacturer but this does not quite look normal. Although they don't look like your typical burns (big black, brown, and obvious) from a motherboard catching on fire when you look very close you can see a trail of tiny white dots coursing through out the board surface. Is it possible that this is the result of me banging my computer around while it was on resulting in a kind of shock? And if so does this mean that the other components will be burned out as well including the CPU?
     
  2. Senlis

    Senlis Staff Sergeant

    1) I wouldn't think shock damage is likely to break a motherboard, but it is possible
    2) I think it is far more likely you shook something loose. Re-seat the processor and RAM to see if that fixes it. Re-seating the processor will require a fresh application of thermal grease; ask if you don't know how to do that.
    3) While a motherboard breaking can fry other components, it is not likely. The only way to know for sure is to test the new components in a known-working motherboard.
     
  3. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    Also, as far as your onboard video: some motherboards must be forced to use the onboard software, especially after using a video card...you might try entering your BIOS and enabling onboard video, as a troubleshooting procedure...
     

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