What's that smell?

[greenfreak]

My company just acquired another little oil company and one of them had a problem with their computer. I didn't work on the problem but found out that they had had their computer replaced. I then found that the user's computer had an AMD processor and because we only deal in Intel at work, it was up for grabs.

I asked my boss if I could take the mobo/processor/case and he agreed. It's been sitting in my home office for months and I finally got ambitious today and tried to make a whole computer out of the parts I had. I went through the whole rigamorole of putting it together, stealing parts from the other four computers I have, and I finally plugged it in.

Immediately I smelt something rank. I walked around the other side of the case, and there was smoke coming from the CPU. I pulled the power and waited a few and then took the heatsink/fan off... I've attached a pic of the CPU complete with scorch marks.

It's an Athlon, so I'm bummed that it caught fire in the first place. Now here come the stupid questions:

1. Your thoughts on the cause of the fire? Can simply having no gel between the CPU and the heat sink do it? Mobo problem? Too much juice from the PS?

2. Should I scrab the whole mobo and give up on this?

3. Am I an idiot for even asking these questions?

Seriously, I would purchase another CPU if I thought I could salvage the mobo. Something had to cause the smoke-I don't even know where to start. I'd like to hear your thoughts...

 

[Q]

ooh, ooh, I can answer #3!!!! It's definately no.

I shall drink a glass of wine and help you grieve your deceased cpu.

 

[Justintime]

Greenie, you most likely did not get proper contact with the heat sink, and T birds burn fasssssssst did you use thermal compound? i'm sure it'll work with another processor, its just that contact was not properly made, make sure if you install another sink that theres no gap between the core and sink, shine a light and make sure! Check if the clip is in proper condition too
Having no compound can cause an overheat and usually long term damage not usually a direct burn, so i'll say check the clip, or the heatsink base itself.

 

[Kruz]

sure looks like the heatsink wasn't making good contact to me...
What Mobo is it.. can you tell? Maybe you can pick up a XP dirt cheap and plop it in...

 

[fury]

Be sure to check the mobo carefully for burn marks, especially in the socket, under the socket, and around it. That looks like it got way up there in the temps. The CPU was what most likely caused the smoke, cause burning silicon doesn't smell too well. If you don't know what that smells like, take a whiff of the air coming out of the back of the power supply, or coming out of the vent holes in a monitor and you'll see what I mean.

Good thing you heeded my sig, you could've burned up more than just the CPU

 

[greenfreak]

I'm liking these replies. I was hoping that I could salvage everything else. I could probably get a cheap Athlon. Here's a link to the motherboard specs:

http://www.dealtime.com/Product/Product/1,2436,1717--1-1-20208611-1,00.html

Not the best thing I've seen but not total crap. No burn marks around the socket on the mobo although it still smells bad. Think I should spray some perfume on it? Just kiddin.

I dialed in to work and found the original call that came in on this computer. Guess what the problem was? Smoke coming from the vents lol Maybe I should have read that beforehand.

 

[greenfreak]

It got a 6.5 out of 10 at amdmb.com but I don't like that it doesn't have at least one ISA. I've got so much old crap around here I'd like to use and can't. This isn't going to be a 'spare' computer, it's pretty decent machine.

Another stupid question--it says it will take Athlons and Durons but not how high I could go with the speed. I wouldn't want to spend the money on a processor to put in a mobo that won't support the speed. How do I find out how high it can go? I can't just assume any Athlon will work (1.7Ghz?) can I?

 

[Justintime]

Desktop
Form factor ATX
Compatibility PC
Chipset type VIA Apollo KT133
Compatible cpu Athlon, Duron
Max cpu qty 1
Max supported ram 1.5 GB (SDRAM)
Storage controllers 1st: IDE / EIDE 2nd: IDE / EIDE
Audio output Sound card
Dimensions (wxd) 12.02 x 9.61 in.


Xps won't work, its a KT133 motherboard, therefore limited to 100FSB prcessors, i'll check if it supports 1.4 100fsb Athlons (The last T bird), but 133fsb is out of the question, thus XP support.

 

[Justintime]

God i've looked, says nothing about 1.4Ghz, s i have no idea about 14x and if it needs locked 1400 t birds, best bet is a 1.1 to 1.2Ghz 'B' class (100fsb) Athlon

 

[greenfreak]

Ok I took my 1.2 tbird out of my main machine and put it in the new one to make sure it would work before I go out and buy all this stuff...

I can't get the video to come on. It doesn't smoke or smell or anything like that but I can't even get the monitor to turn on. I have the AGP video from my other machine in it so I know the video card is good.

Please forgive my ignorance but do I have to do anything with the BIOS? I thought I would at least get the BIOS screen but I seem to remember having a floppy to boot from for the BIOS in my other machine when I built it. Looks like I have more work to do tonight...

 

[Justintime]

hmm, ok.. get on msn if any problems not sure if the board ships with a 12x multiplier, so you may have to get a slower cpu and boot up to flash it

 

[greenfreak]

I have MSN on my main machine which is currently missing it's CPU and video card silly. I'm on my bf's machine and he's very picky about installing software. I was thinking of just getting a 1ghz processor but the slowest Tiger has is 1.2 which is what I have already. Bah.

I think I'm going to put my stuff back in my main machine and call it a night for now. I'll get on MSN in a minute...

 

[Justintime]

ok, good luck!

 

[Professur]

Try with a PCI video card.

 

[greenfreak]

I don't have any, if you can believe it. Two AGP and one ISA but the mobo has no ISA slots. I put some ram in from a Gateway and Justin suggested I try different ram, I'll do that tomorrow.

I looked at the beep codes, it says if no beeps to try reseating everything and make sure the jumpers are right. The pc was working before all this so I know the jumpers are ok.

Justin also found info that it won't take anything more than a 1.1ghz. It might be having trouble with the multiplier on my 1.2ghz tbird. I don't know anyone selling anything under that. Any suggestions on vendors besides Tigerdirect?

 

[greenfreak]

I'm considering a new motherboard/cpu bundle from Tiger, they're not that pricey...

Word to the wise, check the pictures/specs carefully. I don't know if this is just the wrong picture or if the specs are wrong but the specs list two PCI and one AGP where the picture has three PCI and no AGP...

Pine Socket A mobo

 

[fury]

Don't settle for crap. If you're going to get a new one anyway, go for the good stuff, like an Abit KR7A or something. Newegg has some specials where you can save so many dollars by getting some motherboards bundled with certain CPU's.

 

[HomeLAN]

I'll second what fury said anbout buying crap. It's usually nothing but trouble in the long run.

If you want to get a 1.1 T-bird for that AZ-11, Newegg has 'em for $59.

 

[PuterTutor]

Actually I've found that Tigerdirect is a little high in most of their prices. I've use tcwo.com and newegg.com and gotten good prices and good service from both. Tigerdirect usually has the best selection, and great service, but it costs you too.

 

[greenfreak]

I put the stuff in my cart (1.1ghz processor, arctic silver compound, swiftech hs/fan) but the processor is currently out of stock. When it comes back into stock (possibly today) I'm going to buy it.

Now if it doesn't work once I put it in the mobo, I'm really gonna be pissed.