From: spam2007 on 9 Apr 2007 16:40 Recently, I tried installing a graphics card which ruined both the Power Source and the graphics card. The Power Source started smoking and I ultimately had to get both the PSU and graphics card replaced. How do I go about testing to see if the motherboard was also damaged? Currently I have the original graphics card installed in my computer and everything seemingly works okay, but I'd like to be sure that the motherboard was not also damaged during the botched installation. Can anyone help? thanks! Jaxim
From: meerkat on 9 Apr 2007 16:42 <spam2007(a)jack-hand.com> wrote in message news:1176151211.495248.136300(a)n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com... > Recently, I tried installing a graphics card which ruined both the > Power Source and the graphics card. The Power Source started smoking > and I ultimately had to get both the PSU and graphics card replaced. > How do I go about testing to see if the motherboard was also damaged? > > Currently I have the original graphics card installed in my computer > and everything seemingly works okay, but I'd like to be sure that the > motherboard was not also damaged during the botched installation. Can > anyone help? > If the machine is working OK with the original card, I`d say your machine is not damaged.
From: Paul on 9 Apr 2007 17:58 spam2007(a)jack-hand.com wrote: > Recently, I tried installing a graphics card which ruined both the > Power Source and the graphics card. The Power Source started smoking > and I ultimately had to get both the PSU and graphics card replaced. > How do I go about testing to see if the motherboard was also damaged? > > Currently I have the original graphics card installed in my computer > and everything seemingly works okay, but I'd like to be sure that the > motherboard was not also damaged during the botched installation. Can > anyone help? > > thanks! > Jaxim > It depends on which path the electricity took, as to whether the damage is limited to the video card or may include the motherboard. If the video card had an Aux connector on the end, and that is where the miss-connection or overload occurred, then the damage would be restricted to the video card. The things that could be damaged on the motherboard, are connectors and copper tracks. It is possible to burn out a track in a motherboard, without visual signs, if the track is really small. For larger tracks or copper conducting planes, the motherboard fiberglass might begin to char, indicating that there was an overload. So you could look near the video card slot, look at the pins in the video card slot, or look at the condition of the main ATX power connector pins. While it is possible to do some kind of load testing in a lab, measure the voltage drop, and compare the impedance seen to a reference motherboard, I doubt such a measurement would really do much to reassure you that the motherboard will have a long life. A visual inspection will probably tell you as much as anything else, at this point. And the fact that the old graphics card works, tells you no connection was totally blown. So just pull the working video card out, examine the connector pins, and look for discoloration of the fiberglass, to determine whether there was any significant damage. Paul
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