Spark

well i am building a AMD for my dad's friend

AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton ofcource
512DDR@3200
Fx5200
MSI KT4AV

well i put it all to together all nicely and stuff...

put the power cable in and then push the power button...

then...
















BOOM! i hear a noise and i see a big spark beside the PSU (yes the case was open and i was like 50cms away from it) and then after the spark the computer just turns off... and im like SHYT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

because i know what a spark could mean... (power surge) which can result in to damage parts so i took out all the main hardware... (hdd, memory, video card) and checked it on my computer and they all worked fine! :D

then i plug in my spare psu which i had lying around here and there and it won't turn on.... now i thought the MOBO was dead and it probably took the cpu with it... :(

but i could check if the motherboard or the cpu were gone because i have a P4 and that mobo and cpu were AMD :frusty:

so now im just freaking out :helpsmile: then i remember there was something in the troubleshooting section in the mobo manual so i went to the page and it said to do a couple of things; reset cmos, loosen screws so the motherboard isnt touching chasis... and i did that plugged in MY p4 psu in (dual Fan) and guess what?

IT STARTS working!!! :D

i almost had tears in my eyes :D (of happiness)

well that is what i did today... :smilie4:

also the reason the spark came out was the damn PSU i think it was a really cheap one... :01: it was 400W max. and came with the case... :01:

i hope i never see a spark in a computer again... its quite STRESSFUL... i havent had lunch and its almost 5pm :angry: and i dint have a good breakfast because i was to excited to build the computer :)

i just thought id share this with you...

what should i do next time to prevent this? :unsure:

i just installed windows and went in to system properties and the speed says AMD Athlon XP and underneath it says 1.10Ghz :blink:

its a 2500+ isnt it suppose to run at 1.8 its all stock :01:


EDIT:
NVM i checked the bios and it said FSB @ 100mhz so i increased it to 166mhz and its 1.83 now ;)

damn the cpu is running too hot...

its at 44 Degrees C idle... <_<

i put thermal paste and have 2 Case Fans

what am i doing wrong? :helpsmile:

Where do you live? A hot room will increase PC temperature. How are your fans setup? Are you using stock cooling? Did you use a minute amount of Artic Silver?

i live in canada...

its a cold day today i think its 20degrees with really cold winds... brrrrr

im using the stock heatsink/fan for cpu

one case fan at the back taking the air out

one at the front pushing the air in but the one in the front has the hdd in front of it :01:

also i didnt put too much thermal compound on it just put a little bit and spread it across...

also am i suppose to remove (scratch it out) the pad thing they have attached on to the Heatsink with the cpu? :helpsmile:

I don&#39;t think you are doing anything wrong. Give the thermal paste some time to spread and see if the temps drop. Also remember that some motherboard don&#39;t report the right temps. I have heard that some report 10 or even 15°C off.

I&#39;m curious, did you find out exactly what caused the short? Did you perhaps pinpoint where the board was touching?

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Originally posted by jaigandhi5@5 August 2004 - 15:18
also am i suppose to remove (scratch it out) the pad thing they have attached on to the Heatsink with the cpu? :helpsmile:

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Just noticed your edit.

Yes, you are supposed to remove the pad if you are using paste.

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Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@5 August 2004 - 17:53
Did you perhaps pinpoint where the board was touching?

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Where would the board touch that would hurt it?...need to know for future refrence lol

Sounds kinda like what happened to me. I tried to mod a PS/2 port for the mouse into an old mobo, and I miswired one thing, so once I turned the comp on, the ribbon cable freakin melted&#33; :lol: I ripped that crap out, then turned it on, to see it working fine (except for the burn mark on the PSU now :lol: ). But thats my non-used Mandrakelinux box now anyway :D .

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Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx+6 August 2004 - 01:08--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (bigdawgfoxx @ 6 August 2004 - 01:08)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Virtualbody1234@5 August 2004 - 17:53
Did you perhaps pinpoint where the board was touching?

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Where would the board touch that would hurt it?...need to know for future refrence lol [/b][/quote]
if you tighten the screws too much the mobo starts touching the metal chasis and the tiny thingies at the back of the mobo hit the chasis....

but i dont think that was the problem for the spark...

i think it was the PSU and it damaged the bios... so the computer wouldnt boot i just loosened the screws just to be sure and cleared the cmos..

also if i want to remove the HSF now do i have to take the mobo out again? :frusty:

because i have to remove that thermal pad thing :frusty:


btw this is my first time with an AMD :)

i returned the psu and got a new one but its exactly the same as before so im scared to put it back in :unsure:

You can just take off the heatsink and fan together, thats what I did.

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Originally posted by jaigandhi5+6 August 2004 - 00:22--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (jaigandhi5 &#064; 6 August 2004 - 00:22)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Quote:

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Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@6 August 2004 - 01:08

Quote:

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Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@5 August 2004 - 17:53
Did you perhaps pinpoint where the board was touching?

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Where would the board touch that would hurt it?...need to know for future refrence lol

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if you tighten the screws too much the mobo starts touching the metal chasis and the tiny thingies at the back of the mobo hit the chasis....[/b]

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Not so. You couldn&#39;t tighten the screws enough to make the bottom of the board contact the case if you used a power drill; the little brass standoffs will keep them apart. Of course, if you didn&#39;t use any standoffs you&#39;d be in trouble but then the ports wouldn&#39;t line up on the back.
No, what&#39;s more common is to leave a standoff from a previous mobo on the mounting panel where there isn&#39;t a hole on a new mobo and having it short across a couple of tracks. I managed this once myself and couldn&#39;t figure out why it didn&#39;t boot in the case but did on a test bench - until I went to put it back in&#33;
Alternatively, but less lkely, there&#39;s the possibility that a foreign object has managed to get between mobo and mounting panel - a misplaced screw or something.

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Originally posted by jaigandhi5@6 August 2004 - 00:22
also if i want to remove the HSF now do i have to take the mobo out again?&nbsp; :frusty:

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You don&#39;t have to take the bard out to do it, but I strongly suggest you do.
The Athlon heatsink clips need quite some effort to (dis)engage as you probably noticed, and there is only so much flexing that the mobo&#39;s PCB will take before fracturing. Obviously you can&#39;t gauge how much flexibility there is in a board and you wouldn&#39;t notice a hairline fracture underneath or on an internal layer, so to play it safe take it out and do it on a firm flat surface. I do it on the foam &#39;underlay&#39; and anti-static bag that the board is packaged with.
This is much safer than putting pressure on the board with only 6 or 9 points of support where the standoffs are.

<!--QuoteBegin-jaigandhi5@6 August 2004 - 00:22
btw this is my first time with an AMD&nbsp; :)[/quote]...but not the last, I hope. :)

i have the standoffs but i have no idea where they go :blink:

anyone have a pic or something...

why do athlon HS have to be so hard to get out :angry: P4 are easier <_<

:helpsmile:


i dont have any standoffs on my p4 either :o

i found a couple of pix on google.... so they go behind the mobo where the screws go in :01:

i wish i had a removeable mobo tray :angry:

then where do i put those round washer thingy


btw the ports lineup :ghostface:


EDIT: im soo stupid <_<

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44 Degrees C idle

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your very lucky my friend my cpu idle temp is 60 what do you think about that

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Originally posted by Keikan@6 August 2004 - 08:37

Quote:

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44 Degrees C idle

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your very lucky my friend my cpu idle temp is 60 what do you think about that

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that calls for some thermal paste? :01:

anyways once i take the stock heat pad off and put some fresh new thermal greese it should be in the 30s :D

im probably going to overclock it to 3000+ if the temps are still low ill go for 3200+


i wish i had an amd :frusty:

anyways would you guys know the easiest way to remove the HSF?
:blink:

btw i have the screwdriver clip thingy :)

You take a flat head screw driver push down then outwards

Quote:

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Originally posted by Keikan@6 August 2004 - 08:55
You take a flat head screw driver push down then outwards

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sounds easy and good luck with your computer... i see you cant reach speeds of 3200+ but now there you are but ur temps too high :lol:

ya well i hope you got those temps too if its possible :smilie4:

yes AMD&#39;s kick ass

i cant take the freaking heatsink off&#33;&#33; :angry: :angry:

its so damn frustrating....

i pushed so hard and tried to take it out... <_<

still no luck :frusty: :frusty: :frusty:


there has to be another way to take it off :smilie4: :angry:

tell me how to remove the damn thing&#33;&#33;&#33; :helpsmile:

ok i took the HSF off finally&#33;&#33;&#33;

now i cant put it back in :helpsmile:

set it on the chip then push down both latches on the side...if u have a hs that uses the latches

i put everything back in and i see 5 Degrees difference :D

but i think the temps arent accurate because in speed fan it shows a diff temperature and in the msi utility it shows diff temp....

underload:
50-52 Degrees C in msi utility
45-48 Defrees C in Speed Fan :unsure:

Idle:
43-47 Degrees C in Msi utilty
37-43 Degrees C in Speedfan

:01:

also the hdd makes that annoying noise when its working on something...

u know... the noise on old computers...

i know u can turn that it off but i dont know how :helpsmile: something to do with the bios i think :01:

Glad you finally got the HS off, saves me replying to your PM, but I agree that some of them can be a real swine to remove. When you&#39;ve done a few you suddenly find there seems to be a trick to it and they are a lot easier from that point on, although you don&#39;t know what you are doing different.

Don&#39;t know what the MSI utility is, maybe they adjust the temps because they don&#39;t trust the readings from the sensor, but you can be pretty sure the readings from Speedfan are correct as long as the sensor is ok. But the important bit is whether the temps with the same prog are better than they were before.

In any case, your temps don&#39;t sound too bad. The ones reported by MSI&#39;s utility are possibly a little high if you are planning to overclock, but otherwise they are nothing to worry about.

i overclocked to make it a AMD 2800+ ran Prime 95 for a couple of hours

no problems everything working fine...

highest temp it went to was 54 Degrees :01: and 56 in msi utility ;)

i am not going to overclock any higher...

the guy is coming to pick up the computer in the morning ;)

thanx for all ur help guys :)