So shit blew up.

[Deleted]

Doesn't look like there is any blown capacitors, I guess I could ask my friend if I can borrow his power supply and check if it will make my system boot. If it doesn't boot I can assume it's either MB or CPU and just change both or?

[Cyanotical]

Doesn't look like there is any blown capacitors, I guess I could ask my friend if I can borrow his power supply and check if it will make my system boot. If it doesn't boot I can assume it's either MB or CPU and just change both or?

well, you can try getting a hold of a used x58 that is in good condition, but it never was a cheap platform

if you are going to spend the money on a replacement, or have to anyway to get a x58 to test with, get a z77 and 3570k instead, it's worth the upgrade over an older first gen i series

[Faithh]

Could you give us some signs of the symptoms your pc has? Like this: "It's booting but shutting immediately down after x secs" or just tell us which led lights on the motherboard are turning whatever color.

Just to mention, if you're able to reach the bios -> CPU ain't dead. It's either cpu working 100% OR a complety dead cpu. By far I can tell the maximum Vcore for your cpu is 1.45Vcore for the 45nm series and 1.38V for 32nm series but for sandy's 1.45V was the ultra max to avoid electromignation and something else every chip is different because of the tolerances.

There's a very rare chance a 45nm chip can die at 1.3Vcore, again very rare but I'm asking the symptoms and especially a lot of details. Remind asus boards have that function, what's the name of it again it's shutting the pc down when the PSU is overvolting so basically your first step of all steps should be trying a working psu.

[Deleted]

well, you can try getting a hold of a used x58 that is in good condition, but it never was a cheap platform

if you are going to spend the money on a replacement, or have to anyway to get a x58 to test with, get a z77 and 3570k instead, it's worth the upgrade over an older first gen i series

I will try to get hold of another power supply and try that, if that doesn't work it seem that I am better off upgrading since the cost will be about the same as replacing either the CPU or the motherboard. Do you have any suggestions for good motherboards? I guess the only requirement I have is that I have A LOT of USB stuff hooked up, so like 6-8 USB ports would be a minimum.

Could you give us some signs of the symptoms your pc has? Like this: "It's booting but shutting immediately down after x secs" or just tell us which led lights on the motherboard are turning whatever color.

Just to mention, if you're able to reach the bios -> CPU ain't dead. It's either cpu working 100% OR a complety dead cpu. By far I can tell the maximum Vcore for your cpu is 1.45Vcore for the 45nm series and 1.38V for 32nm series but for sandy's 1.45V was the ultra max to avoid electromignation and something else every chip is different because of the tolerances.

There's a very rare chance a 45nm chip can die at 1.3Vcore, again very rare but I'm asking the symptoms and especially a lot of details. Remind asus boards have that function, what's the name of it again it's shutting the pc down when the PSU is overvolting so basically your first step of all steps should be trying a working psu.

Well my 3.9Ghz@1.2875 overclock failed on me when playing BF3 so I managed to get a stable 4Ghz@1.3 overclock (The chip is a bitch to overclock so I had to play around a lot to get a stable combination of settings.) But after an hour of Prime95 it shut down, smelled burned and it won't boot. All it does it show light on the motherboard and I can power USB stuff off of the motherboard still.

[Cyanotical]

my personal choice for a Z77 would be the MSI Z77 MPower and the i5-3570k

but if you are looking a bit more budget oriented look at the ASRock Z77 Extreme3


if you need something a bit more workstation oriented but still very gaming capable you can get the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 and an FX-8350

[Warrax]

You didn't mention what is your motherboard. Also, don't just look at capacitors, look at Mosfets around the CPU, funny smells are also an indication. About your cpu being at 72c on full load, I consider this temperature not safe, try to stay under 60c. Being over 60c means that you need a better cpu cooler (in my opinion) or a lower overclock/voltage, otherwise expect degradation somewhere, specially on budget motherboards without coolers around the CPU and with low power phases. And yes, a cheap PSU could be the problem too.

As for what to do now, a Z77 motherboard + an 3570k or 3770k is the best upgrade atm; 3570k if you game a lot, 3770k if you encode videos a lot and runs a lot of things at the same time. If you're into overclock, get a motherboard with coolers and 8+ power phases so expect to pay 175$+ for a motherboard like that. The ASUS Z77-V PRO is a good start for an overclocking-friendly motherboard.

[Deleted]

Thank you for all the recommendations! I will most definitely want and i5 3570k. And just going to commend on the temperature, you have to consider that it's an i7 950 which is running very hot most of the time, I have an h100 on it, so the cooling is good, which is also why I have no idea how it could at 72C with only 1.3vcore.

[Sturmbringe]

@OP: Before you buy new CPU & board etc have a look at e-bay.de and see if you can find a cheap MOBO for your i7. If my Core 2 is still perfectly capable of playing games maxed out, I see no reason why your CPU isn't just as capable or more, provided that ofc it is working OK.

With regard to the memory modules, I believe that 2 modules are always better than 4 because they put less stress on your board and overclock better than 4 modules. So for example, 2x4 GB are better than 4X1GB.

Just out of curiosity, for how long was your CPU working overclocked like that? (i.e. months, years).

Edit: Also, less modules allow you to run your system at lower tRD values thus yielding more performance. Dunno if the board later than P45/X48 still have tRD (performance) settings.

[Deleted]

The 3.9Ghz had been almost 24/7 stable for 6 month but as of lately it started failing in BF3 so I bumped the vcore up a bit. But I think it's time to upgrade, seeing as any older parts are about the same price as newer ones.

[Faithh]

Thank you for all the recommendations! I will most definitely want and i5 3570k. And just going to commend on the temperature, you have to consider that it's an i7 950 which is running very hot most of the time, I have an h100 on it, so the cooling is good, which is also why I have no idea how it could at 72C with only 1.3vcore.

That's normal, Prime95 small fft's? This mode heats the CPU like 10° more than blend mode does. My advise I can give is replace your PSU. There's no way a motherboard can blow up with a perfect working psu unless you've been taking the heatsinks etc off and pushing the vrm frequency very hard and having some Arctic thermal paste everywhere on your board because this TIM is slightly conductive.

Just a simple question to determine if you had a psu overvolting situation -> Did your H100 been making a very loud rattling noise or grinding noise? The older versions of the H100, pre-July 2012, were really making insane noise with PSU's giving on the 12V rail higher than 12.3V. The noise is like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouXXI_TS7KQ

The newer H100 (not H100i) from July 2012 had the overvolting protection basically according to george :P

---------- Post added 2013-01-13 at 07:45 AM ----------

*

I would buy a used CPU (possibly I'll be asking the vcore for x ghz :P) but not a used motherboard really.. Some are really being fuck to overclock after a while which happened to my z68 pro which was having every 20-30min a huge vdroop with LLC set as Ultra high which gives me the most precise vcore all the time as been set in the bios.

[Sturmbringe]

I would buy a used CPU (possibly I'll be asking the vcore for x ghz :P) but not a used motherboard really.. Some are really being fuck to overclock after a while which happened to my z68 pro which was having every 20-30min a huge vdroop with LLC set as Ultra high which gives me the most precise vcore all the time as been set in the bios.

Like they say, "you get what you pay for" and "mucho bang mucho bucks".

I have bought several used PC components off e-bay.de, and I have never gotten any bad piece yet. However, I am extremely cautious in what I buy. For instance, I bought my Asus P5Q Deluxe MOBO for 100 Euro while there were several identical boards sold for 70 Euro or less. My board came in its original box and anti-static bag with no signs of wear and tear. Its original owner had barely used it, and the MOBO itself was sold by a German tech shop with 1 year guarantee. Needless to say that I never had any kind of problems with my board, although I have overclocked the beejesus out of it, both FSB and NB.

I could have bought one of the cheaper identical boards and "save" 35 euro. I didn't. So, "mucho bang, mucho bucks".

[Deleted]

As of now I am trying my best to get hold of a power supply so I atleast can rule that out before I start looking for new CPU and motherboard. And there is really only 1 place in Denmark I'd want to buy used stuff from and I doubt I will find any LGA1366 stuff on there as it's usually brand new stuff being sold.

[Faithh]

As of now I am trying my best to get hold of a power supply so I atleast can rule that out before I start looking for new CPU and motherboard. And there is really only 1 place in Denmark I'd want to buy used stuff from and I doubt I will find any LGA1366 stuff on there as it's usually brand new stuff being sold.

Which graphics card are you using? Using something like a gtx 660 you don't need more than a 430W psu which costs 40eur only..

[Deleted]

Which graphics card are you using? Using something like a gtx 660 you don't need more than a 430W psu which costs 40eur only..

Thing is I am not sure wether it's the PSU and as a student I don't really have the money to just upgrade or buy new of EVERYTHING!