# [HELP] PC won't POST and it just keeps on "restarting"



## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

Good day!

I need help with my PC. System specs are on the left. What happens is every time I press the power button, the PC lights up for 5 seconds then shuts down again then lights up again then shuts down again. No beeps and nothing displays on the monitor. It worked just a few hours before. I did a proper shutdown the last time I used it. What I've tried to do so far is just to clear CMOS by pressing the button on the IO panel on the board. I'm thinking it might be the PSU. The only thing is I don't have an extra PSU that I could try to test the system with. I'm planning to buy one maybe in next few days but before that, I would like to know what you guys think before I spend some money. 

Thanks in advance!


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 29, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> Good day!
> 
> I need help with my PC. System specs are on the left. What happens is every time I press the power button, the PC lights up for 5 seconds then shuts down again then lights up again then shuts down again. No beeps and nothing displays on the monitor. It worked just a few hours before. I did a proper shutdown the last time I used it. What I've tried to do so far is just to clear CMOS by pressing the button on the IO panel on the board. I'm thinking it might be the PSU. The only thing is I don't have an extra PSU that I could try to test the system with. I'm planning to buy one maybe in next few days but before that, I would like to know what you guys think before I spend some money.
> 
> Thanks in advance!


 
Well, you anticipated the first step, and it really is to see if the same thing happens when connected to another PSU.  Until then, you can start out unhooking everything non-essential to see if it still does the same thing. One memory, cpu, cpu fan, and gpu, although technically at this stage you don't even need GPU.  If it still does this turning on and then right off again after that, try removing the motherboard from the case and set up on cardboard with just as few things.  This is to eliminate possibility of a short on the backs side of the board with the case.

My suspicion is the voltage return on the motherboard not sending a complete signal back to the PSU, so it doesn't stay on.


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## awesomesauce (Jul 29, 2014)

hmmm it can be  many option.. try another psu, no bip? try to force bip: u remove all ram and see if it bip.


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## Shambles1980 (Jul 29, 2014)

id be inclined to blame a bios setting but you a;ready reset the cmos. so its hard to guess where to go from there really, 
i would imagine most other hardware errors would bleep an error code. or light up an error code. 

i would go re seating everything just in case though.


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## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try booting w/o the video card and a single stick of RAM if it fixes the issue. I'll also try to post a vid of the PC as well.


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 29, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> Thanks for all the replies. I'll try booting w/o the video card and a single stick of RAM if it fixes the issue. I'll also try to post a vid of the PC as well.


 

Just to be sure, try multiple times.  Put that one stick in each slot, and then try other sticks of RAM same way.


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## Nabarun (Jul 29, 2014)

Resetting the UEFI may not always work if it is somehow corrupted. Try to flash it (with the latest firmware) using the USB BIOS Flashback feature.


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## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

rtwjunkie said:


> Just to be sure, try multiple times.  Put that one stick in each slot, and then try other sticks of RAM same way.



Yup. I'll check each stick of RAM just to make sure.



Nabarun said:


> Resetting the UEFI may not always work if it is somehow corrupted. Try to flash it (with the latest firmware) using the USB BIOS Flashback feature.



It won't display anything on the monitor. Even if I press del or F2. It just keeps on rebooting.


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## Nabarun (Jul 29, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> Yup. I'll check each stick of RAM just to make sure.
> 
> 
> 
> It won't display anything on the monitor. Even if I press del or F2. It just keeps on rebooting.


You don't need to start the pc to flash the uefi. Just put the PROPERLY NAMED BIOS on the root of a usb drive, put it in the SPECIAL usb port on the rear I/O panel (near the cmos clr switch), turn on the AC mains but don't start the pc. If the pc automatically starts after switching on the mains, then hold the start/shutdown button for a few seconds to initiate a forced shutdown. Then press the CMOS clr switch for a few seconds until it starts to blink. This will continue for about a min. After that, if you have trouble starting up, press the direct-to-bios switch on the motherboard to go directly to the UEFI, then reset to optimized defaults by pressing F5. Do also try without the GPU. And like others have said, try a minimalist barebones system with only the cpu, mb, and ram (try every stick on every slot - 1 at a time). Remove ALL storage.

Edit:
I hope the monitor is OK. Verify by disconnecting it from the gpu and see if it lights up.


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## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

Nabarun said:


> Resetting the UEFI may not always work if it is somehow corrupted. Try to flash it (with the latest firmware) using the USB BIOS Flashback feature.





Nabarun said:


> You don't need to start the pc to flash the uefi. Just put the PROPERLY NAMED BIOS on the root of a usb drive, put it in the SPECIAL usb port on the rear I/O panel (near the cmos clr switch), turn on the AC mains but don't start the pc. If the pc automatically starts after switching on the mains, then hold the start/shutdown button for a few seconds to initiate a forced shutdown. Then press the CMOS clr switch for a few seconds until it starts to blink. This will continue for about a min. After that, if you have trouble starting up, press the direct-to-bios switch on the motherboard to go directly to the UEFI, then reset to optimized defaults by pressing F5. Do also try without the GPU. And like others have said, try a minimalist barebones system with only the cpu, mb, and ram (try every stick on every slot - 1 at a time). Remove ALL storage.
> 
> Edit:
> I hope the monitor is OK. Verify by disconnecting it from the gpu and see if it lights up.



Thanks for the info about the BIOS flashing. I didn't know that 

The monitor is working and I'll be trying what the other have suggested.


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## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

Ok so I just got home from work. The damn PC won't work. I tried to switch it on but the power LED just flashes a bit and it turns off again. I removed the video card and used just a single stick of RAM. Just a question, which wires on the 24-pin mobo cable should I jump to switch on the power supply? Sorry I'm just using a phone to post msgs and it's a pita to type and search thru the net...


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## Nabarun (Jul 29, 2014)

green and black. but what the hell for?


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## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

Just to check if the PSU will turn on by itself? The wires are all black on yhe PSU.


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 29, 2014)

Nabarun said:


> green and black. but what the hell for?


 
The reason he would do this is to eliminate the PSU as a culprit.  If it works, his PSU is probably good, and the motherboard is likely the culprit.

@adulaamin: The wires should not be all black.  Are you looking at the actual wires going to each pin of the 24 pin connector?


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## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

rtwjunkie said:


> @adulaamin: The wires should not be all black.  Are you looking at the actual wires going to each pin of the 24 pin connector?



Yup... on the Corsair AX650 all the wires are black...


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 29, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> Yup... on the Corsair AX650 all the wires are black...


 
wow, perhaps someone else here has experience with those...I don't have a clue how to guide you on that without the colored wires.


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## adulaamin (Jul 29, 2014)

I think I'll just sleep it over for now. Its 5am here I'll try some more testing later... thanks for all the replies!


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## Nabarun (Jul 29, 2014)

Right. But if you disconnect the 24-pin cable from the motherboard, you will have to connect *something* ... like a fan, directly to the psu to be able to tell that the psu is working. I hope you have the necessary 3-pin/4-pin to molex/sata etc connectors to do that. The fan on PSUs don't always run at lower loads. Not sure about this particular one though. BTW, did you try the USB BIOS flashback? And what happens with the "GO" button?


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## Law-II (Jul 29, 2014)

Hi



adulaamin said:


> Yup... on the Corsair AX650 all the wires are black...



+1 Nabarun put load on the PSU with a fan

pin 16 Green & pin 17 Black
_Example_


_Note:_ 24 pin power that connects to motherboard

atb

Law-II


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## Shambles1980 (Jul 29, 2014)

a psu will usually auto shut off if there is not enough of a load on it. i dunno if a fan is enough of a load. most use a old ide hdd


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 29, 2014)

Shambles1980 said:


> a psu will usually auto shut off if there is not enough of a load on it. i dunno if a fan is enough of a load. most use a old ide hdd


 
+1 to that. A load is necessary. I have left all fans connected to psu whenever i have tested this, and it provides enough of a load.


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## awesomesauce (Jul 29, 2014)

goodnight adula, it can be a nightmare when u have no stock for testing (ie, ram,psu etc..) hope u find it bro!


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## Aquinus (Jul 30, 2014)

You've reset your BIOS right? My P9X79 Deluxe will sometimes do the same thing when I push my DRAM or IMC too hard.


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## adulaamin (Jul 30, 2014)

Good day! I just finished testing the PSU with 4 fans and 3HDDs plugged in and it works just fine. I'm gonna have to download the BIOS later at work coz I dont have an extra PC here at home. I'll try what @Nabarun suggested with flashing the BIOS as soon as I get home. A friend of mine has an extra PC we could try to test the parts in although we'll only be able to do it on saturday coz of work constraints. I'll just try to clean everything up for now and disassemble and assemble the PC.


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## Jetster (Jul 30, 2014)

Take it all apart and bench test the MB with minimal hardware attached. Then start building one part at a time testing it as you go. You probably have one odd part causing it to shut down. Drive bay, sound card, heatsink, cable. I really doubt its your PSU


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

Good day! I took it all apart and set up the parts outside the case to try and boot it up. I placed the mobo on top of its box and I also updated the BIOS through the ROG Connect usb port. I waited 30min and also double checked no LEDs were blinking before removing the flash drive and before booting it up. Nothing still happens.

I was able to borrow an ax850 and an asrock z77 extreme 6 board. I plugged the processor on this board and used 1 stick of RAM. I plugged everything up and switched it on. Nothing displays on the monitor and the Dr. Debug LEDs show 00. Now based on the user manual, 00 means not used.


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## Shambles1980 (Aug 3, 2014)

does it display 00 when the cpu is not installed and powerd on ?


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

Let me check... give me a min or two...

Edit: 
It won't turn on without the processor...


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## Jetster (Aug 3, 2014)

Did you use the same memory? Ive never had a CPU go south. I know they can but its rare.


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## Shambles1980 (Aug 3, 2014)

if your processor was in the board that said 00 but it wont power on without processor then processor is probably fine. some msi board had an issue like that with some processors. Could be something to do with the microcode in the bios but i dunno what the cause was had to rma a msi for that and the cpu was fine.  (im using the cpu now so it is fine) 

not to sure whats up other than that though. can you borrow some ram?


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

I used 4 different sticks of the RAM I have. Tested them one at a time on each mem slot. Could it be that all 4 are dead or the processor or RAM died when the M5G died?


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## Shambles1980 (Aug 3, 2014)

you may also need to test with a different psu. extreme ripple/low voltage could cause issues.
and could help explain the errors yu were getting to start it


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## rtwjunkie (Aug 3, 2014)

i think he said he borrowed an ax850, and its still not working right with that and a different motherboard. The only constant i see is the cpu.


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

Ya I think I need to borrow a diff processor to test both boards... time to call some friends and force them to stop playing for a few hours I guess...


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## Shambles1980 (Aug 3, 2014)

same here. but i dont see why the board would display 00 with a dead cpu and not turn on at all without a cpu.. if it wont turn on without a cpu it should not turn on with a dead cpu. "was why i asked to check"


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## micropage7 (Aug 3, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> I used 4 different sticks of the RAM I have. Tested them one at a time on each mem slot. Could it be that all 4 are dead or the processor or RAM died when the M5G died?


I ever experienced 3 of 4 rams dead at the same time, if you could you may borrow from your friend and test it again


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## Nabarun (Aug 3, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> Good day! I took it all apart and set up the parts outside the case to try and boot it up. I placed the mobo on top of its box and I also updated the BIOS through the ROG Connect usb port. I waited 30min and also double checked no LEDs were blinking before removing the flash drive and before booting it up. Nothing still happens.
> 
> I was able to borrow an ax850 and an asrock z77 extreme 6 board. I plugged the processor on this board and used 1 stick of RAM. I plugged everything up and switched it on. Nothing displays on the monitor and the Dr. Debug LEDs show 00. Now based on the user manual, 00 means not used.


00 on Asrock boards means cpu problem. See *this page* for debug codes. I hope you correctly installed the cpu and connected the 8-pin power connector and the 24-pin power connector from the psu to the motherboard. If you did, then either the cpu is dead, or you need to try with another (preferebly non-Asrock) motherboard, since the Asrock boards are plagued with this particular problem. What code was the Asus motherboard showing when trying to start directly in the UEFI through that particular RED button in the motherboard? You haven't answered if you tried to do that.


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

I think I can 100% confirm now that both the motherboard and CPU are dead. My friend's here and we tested the processor using 2 different boards and the M5G with a different processor. We also used 3 different PSUs. All the RAMs though are working also the GPU. I don't know what could've caused this.


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## Nabarun (Aug 3, 2014)

I'm very sorry to hear that. But seems very unlikely that both the motherboard and CPU would die at the same time. Have you checked the motherboard's cpu socket very closely? Are all the pins intact? Also, keep in mind that when you put the cpu to a new motherboard, you need to go to the BIOS/UEFI and reset the BIOS and save it. But I understand it is difficult when there's no display. You may have a dead cpu, but you still havent answered what the ON-BOARD debug LED shows on the ASUS board when installed with a new cpu. Also, I hope you're using the onboard graphics and NOT the GPU. Do keep us updated.


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

The asus board won't show anything on the debug LED. It won't power up. We did reset the CMOS on both the other motherboards we tested the 3770k with. We also used 3 diff PSUs.


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## Nabarun (Aug 3, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> The asus board won't show anything on the debug LED. It won't power up. We did reset the CMOS on both the other motherboards we tested the 3770k with. We also used 3 diff PSUs.


This may sound annoying, but did you connect the 8-pin and 24-pin connectors and *make sure* that the psu was ON (_there may be a switch on the back of the psu_)? You did mention in the beginning that the pc was restarting. Is that still happening now or no response at all? I'm assuming that you are using your motherboard's built-in start switch and *not* connected the cabinet's  front panel headers to the board (don't). Just still hoping the board isn't dead


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

Yup we made sure that all the cables were plugged in properly. What happens with the M5G is the LEDs just light up when you switch it on. The debug LEDs show nothing though and the CPU fan doesn't spin either. Oh and I tried using the Start switch and I tried jumping the power pins.

We used an intel core i3 ivy bridge processor and 3 PSUs an AX650, AX850, and an FSP Aurum 1200w. We used 2 other boards, an Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 and an Asrock Z68 Fatality. Both of those boards have the latest bios and worked flawlessly with an i5 3570k. The PSUs, RAM, and video card also worked on those boards. We did reset the bios on both as well before we plugged my 3770k. We also tried the working processor on the M5G and same thing happens, nothing.

I really don't think were doing anything wrong with plugging the cables or any other parts.


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## Nabarun (Aug 3, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> Yup we made sure that all the cables were plugged in properly. What happens with the M5G is the LEDs just light up when you switch it on. The debug LEDs show nothing though and the CPU fan doesn't spin either. Oh and I tried using the Start switch and I tried jumping the power pins.
> 
> We used an intel core i3 ivy bridge processor and 3 PSUs an AX650, AX850, and an FSP Aurum 1200w. We used 2 other boards, an Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 and an Asrock Z68 Fatality. Both of those boards have the latest bios and worked flawlessly with an i5 3570k. The PSUs, RAM, and video card also worked on those boards. We did reset the bios on both as well before we plugged my 3770k. We also tried the working processor on the M5G and same thing happens, nothing.
> 
> I really don't think were doing anything wrong with plugging the cables or any other parts.


Well, then the board does seem to have problems. You should contact Asus now. Do you have a surge protector?


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

Yup I'm using an OptiUPS 1500B. I'll contact ASUS asap. Although based from what I've been reading on local websites/forums here in the Philippines, it seems it's gonna be a PITA. I won't know until I try so I hope it's gonna be OK.

Has anyone tried sending a bad chip to Intel btw? Is there something that I need to know?


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## Aquinus (Aug 3, 2014)

Generally speaking RMAs for most companies go pretty well for me, but I have no idea what kind of experience you're going to get outside of the US of A. That's interesting that the LEDs just read out 00. I would expect it to hang on CPU initialization if that were the case. Maybe it's bricked really bad? The CPU doesn't have anything on the contact-side that would create a short, would you? Like conductive thermal compound?


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

I checked for that too. And bent pins as well. The socket is clean, so is the processor. Upon closer inspection I found something interesting on the top left corner of the motherboard near the clear CMOS button and on the back area of it as well. I'm trying to upload a pic of it now through TPU. I'll post it ASAP.

Pic:


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## Aquinus (Aug 3, 2014)

I can't tell from the picture. It looks like smudged dust to me. I don't know what to say.


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## jsfitz54 (Aug 3, 2014)

The dust colored area should clean up with this: http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/crc...-11-oz-05103?gclid=CP6h6eXC978CFSgV7AodmQ4AgQ

Alcohol based cleaner should remove residue.  I have sprayed entire boards with it.  I had a Dell monitor that was not coming on so I removed the entire logic/power board and sprayed off all the accumulated greasy dust and inspected the caps.  It works now.


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

How about the solder points which has something like a line conecting them together? Could that have caused a short? The pic got resized by photobucket its pixelated when you try to zoom in. Tried uploading it through TPU but constantly got errors. Might be because Im using a phone. The residue is white-yellowish in color. Now Im thinking something spilled on it...


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## jsfitz54 (Aug 3, 2014)

That area looks like it was overheated.  A spill could cause stray current to travel out of bounds.  The lines are the copper circuit board embedded between/underneath the black coating.  There may be a component that has gone bad,  look for cracked solder points, due to heat stress.


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## adulaamin (Aug 3, 2014)

I'm refereing to the "lines" between the solder points on the middle part of the pic... i just don't know how to encircle them on this phone.


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## jsfitz54 (Aug 3, 2014)

I can't quite tell, 2 areas, but it looks like the black coating split???
The lines don't appear straight so it does not look like a printed topical circuit.
See if alcohol removes lines.
Yellowish powder is odd, how do capacitors look on opposite side?


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## Shambles1980 (Aug 3, 2014)

the white stuff looks a lot like dried water to me but dont ask me how that would have happened


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## adulaamin (Aug 4, 2014)

Could a humid environment cause it? I don't think the Antec H2O 920 leaked coz I don't see anything else on the front of the motherboard and the GPU. We've had 1 tropical storm every week for the past 4 weeks now and it's really raining hard everyday. If it's not raining, it's foggy except for a few hours of sunlight in the morning every now and then.


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## OneMoar (Aug 4, 2014)

could defiantly be the humidity the traces on the board look fine it just looks like dust/dirt 
check the external power ( the power to your home) for good ground and proper voltage
You could try placing the board and cpu in a oven at 170F/75c for a hour to see if there is any moisture


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## Shambles1980 (Aug 4, 2014)

wouldnt expect rain/general humidity n so on to leave that sort of residue. you usually get that kind of residue left over from water with minerals in it.. "tap water/bottled water" i dont think coolant from an aio would do it. could just be dust but does look a lot like evaporated water.


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## Aquinus (Aug 4, 2014)

OneMoar said:


> could defiantly be the humidity the traces on the board look fine it just looks like dust/dirt
> check the external power ( the power to your home) for good ground and proper voltage
> You could try placing the board and cpu in a oven at 170F/75c for a hour to see if there is any moisture


Absolutely no higher though. Plastics tend to melt around the same temperature that water boils at depending on the type of plastic, some more easily than others. I serious recommend against putting anything in an oven unless you know for a fact that a solder connection that you can't reach is broken. If this isn't the problem, baking it could kill it if it isn't already and is a very bad idea. Water evaporates on its own.


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## adulaamin (Aug 4, 2014)

It's hard and it won't come of easily using cotton buds. I'll try to brush it off with some isopropyl alcohol and a soft toothbrush.


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## OneMoar (Aug 4, 2014)

water boils at 212f 75c is 167f no ware near the melting point for most plastics


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## Shambles1980 (Aug 4, 2014)

you can easily warp a board by baking it. its a last ditched effort, and not something i really recommend.   also electrolytic caps have a tendency to bulge and leak if you bake them. some have working temps of 25c and love to die if you bake them.


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## Nabarun (Aug 5, 2014)

OneMoar said:


> water boils at 212f 75c is 167f no ware near the melting point for most plastics


It's ~100C. Not 75C.
And the term is "nowhere".


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## adulaamin (Aug 5, 2014)

No worries folks I won't be baking anything. I'm on the process of trying to RMA the processor and the motherboard with the distributor as it's gonna cost a lot cheaper than doing it directly with the manufacturer. 

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!


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