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    What could cause a mainboard/motherboard to die?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by King of Interns, Sep 2, 2009.

  1. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    I RMA'ed my month old Asus C90P as seen in sig as it would no longer boot. I originally thought the GPU had fried as that is common especially with the 8600M GT with which it was equipped. Today however I was told by the repair service centre that they tried a GPU replacement and it still wouldn't boot so they are ordering in a new mainboard (I guess that is the motherboard).

    I just wanted to query what might have caused the motherboard to fry? So I can take precautions when I get it back as the warranty is now expired so I won't be able to RMA under warranty again :(
     
    King of Interns, Sep 2, 2009
    #1
  2. timfountain

    timfountain Notebook Consultant

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    I had an Intel 955XBK that blew a mosfet that literally smoked a hole in the board. Since it was out of warranty I replaced the high side MOSFET and it smoked again, so I replaced the high and low side and it got it working again. Since the MOSFET was in the core CPU VRM, once that stops working the MOBO is completely dead. Most dead MOBOs have either been the VRM or the associated capacitors.

    The power that the VRM puts out is very high (140A for the XBK)....

    - Tim
     
    timfountain, Sep 2, 2009
    #2
  3. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    heat, plain and simple. Either that or accidental damage such as water on the kbd soaking through.
     
    newsposter, Sep 2, 2009
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  4. garetjax

    garetjax NBR Freelance Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    There are other things that could cause a laptop to not boot, such as a failed BIOS update. Barring that, did you smell anything odd with your notebook, such as the delicious scent of fried electrical components?
     
    garetjax, Sep 2, 2009
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  5. TevashSzat

    TevashSzat Notebook Deity

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    Water
    Heat
    Bad/corrupted BIOS
    Electrical shock
     
    TevashSzat, Sep 2, 2009
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  6. sleey0

    sleey0 R.I.P. AW Side Topics

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    Heat, voltage, static, cold solder joints, unclean power, etc, etc....
     
    sleey0, Sep 2, 2009
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  7. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Aging of components, caps blowing out, mosfets going out, etc, etc.
     
    Greg, Sep 2, 2009
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  8. laserbullet

    laserbullet Notebook Evangelist

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    Depending on the build of your laptop, lifting it with one hand from a corner can cause damage over time as well.
     
    laserbullet, Sep 3, 2009
    #8