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New build problem :(
Hi, long time lurker first time poster here. There are a lot of very smart people here, so I figured I would post the problem here to see if anyone could lend some insight 
Ok, so I put together a new build. When I first turn on the computer (I had it on it's side with case open to make sure everything was spinning ect.) there was a crackle pop fizz sound and a whisp of smoke arose from the motherboard. We got a picture and the ASROCK startup screen showed fine on the monitor. Every fan was spinning EXCEPT the processor heat sink fan. I quickly turned off the pc as to not damage he processor, quadruple checked that everything was where it should be and gave it one more try and...nothing..just nothing. No power at all, nothing spinning, no lights working, no beeps...just nothing.
Would I be correct in assuming that this is almost certainly a bad motherboard?
Any help or insight would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you
Here are the parts:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/
We were using an old 8600 GT (tested works fine) as a placeholder until we order the new video card.
Comments
Thank you for the repsonses.
The problem is that now none of the fans are spinning. The motherboard is just simply not powering on at all t seems..
Well even if the cpu was fried the motherboard would still power on, correct?
Also, it was on for less than a minute, probably 45 seconds.
Take it to the shop or at least to someone who has a diagnostics tool so he can tell you for sure.
Normally if the cpu was fried the motherboard would still come on and make some error beeps ect.
At least that was my understanding.
To test your PSU you need a jumper lead from the green wire to one of the black ones next to it. Some people will just use a paper clip. This is a short term thing to do, only for testing PSU's. After you have that jumper placed, try and turn on your PSU. NOTE: have it disconnected from everything else prior to test. If your PSU powers up, its mostlikely a capasitor on your motherboard. Get a flashlight and start looking.
DRAXKZ is correct, bad cpu would give you beep and error code.
What happens when you log off your characters????.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQhfhnjYMk
Dark Age of Camelot
Motherboard is almost certainly dead. The real question is, what else is dead along with it. I would go ahead and start processing an RMA for that right away.
Memory almost always dies with motherboards or PSUs. Video cards are not uncommon victims either.
CPUs rarely die, they seem to be fairly hardy critters and they get somewhat insulated by the hefty phased power module on the motherboard. But occasionally they do get zapped.
And given the way that it failed, the power supply is somewhat suspect as well.
That being said, your options are somewhat limited. You can try to RMA your parts too - not knowing if some parts are really faulty or not. Newegg sometimes will allow you, sometimes they won't, depending on how shady you are with them.
Your best bet is to test the components. If you have a friend, or some extra cash, get a second motherboard and start plugging stuff in (one part at a time), and seeing if you get the computer to POST. For RAM - even if it POSTs, you need to run a memory test (memtest86 or similar).
The price of using a Mom&Pop shop will probably be somewhat less than the price of just ordering a second motherboard (which doesn't need to be identical to your RMAed one, you can get something less expensive and then either returning it when your RMA is returned for a 15% restocking fee, or re-selling it second hand on eBay/Craigslist/etc). The cost of something like Geek Squad will almost certainly be more.
ok the exploding sound was like what exactly? if was like a little bomb then its was a capacitor blowing up, i'm thinking it could be your power source who is not that good or was too weak to support the PC, it does have 520W with I would normally use 650 at least just to be sure.
so first thing you should do is check the MB jsut to make sure then everything is ok, take a look on anything burned or displaced, if nothing try to see if you can find a new power source and test it.
also check if you wired the case on MB right and the power source on MB too.
if the MB burned then you will have to check all things again and see if anything else is working right. if it was only the pwoer source then everything should be fine, normally when a power source burn it hold everything on it and don't burn anything else
if you are unsure of what to do find a tech and let him work. in anycase tell us what you find out, or I don't know, put pics of everything
Hey thank you all for the responses really appreciate it
The sound it made was kind of a little crackle and fizz , and a tiny little bit of smoke came up from the motherboard. Ot wasn't a loud pop or anything. It seemd to come from right around where the ram is located. There was a little burning smell as well. I really don't think that it had anything to do with the PSU, but I could be wrong.
All the parts are brand new, with the exception of the video card. I did test the video card and it was working fine.
test the rest, main thing to do is first test it with another power source, and if is just a little noise like that it was not a capacitor (trust me capacitor when explode are like small bombs, I saw some old capacitor blowing up), still the cpu should be ok you can't even close the case if your cpu is not placed right, you could have wired something wrong or the power source was the problem.
and just to make sure your case was open when you saw the smoke?, you can also test the memorys in anotehr computer and see if they still are working.
the drill for this kind of thing is test everything and see if you find the problem, it hard you find a faulty MB like that but who knows
Not to insult your intelligence but I'd rather eliminate it as a possibility and no one has asked yet that I"ve seen but you did use thermal paste when you attached your CPU cooler to your CPU/MB correct? And if you did use it did you make sure it didn't "spill over" the side of the CPU onto the motherboard? This is a common mistake that can easily result in the issue you are describing. Thermal paste or a thermal pad are a must but if the paste runs down the sides of the CPU and makes contact with the MB itself that is BAD.
Otherwise the majority of the advice here is sound. If you have a friend you can test your RAM with (by simple swapping out his/hers with yours) you could easily test to see if that is the/an issue. Technically that is true for all the parts (I assume you have something else to test the parts on since you said you tested the GPU prior, and just in case I would do it again) but the RAM is the easiest. Remember you will still need to run something like Passmark Memtest86 to truly ensure it's still functioning properly. The MB does sound like the culprit but even if you can narrow it down to that I'd highly suggest checking the PSU too. It's really the most important part of your build when it comes to not skimping on quality as a bad psu (note: bad no necessarily lemon) can easily take a whole system down with it.
Out of curiousity when did you purchase your PSU? You mentioned all parts are new aside from the GPU but as far as I can tell the PSU is a discontinued item, at least on most of the standard online retailers (US mind you).
Hey no insult taken, and thank you very much for the response
The cpu was installed perfectly with no problems (with the thermal paste). I've used this exact same cpu in the past.
This isn't my first build, and have never had a problem in the past at all. Guess it was bound to happen sooner or later though.
The PSU was purchased maybe 6 weeks ago from Newegg, it must be very recently discontinued. I've used antec PSUs in the past and never had any problems. Was I wrong in assuming that antec is a good brand?
I've found where the burning smell came from (I think). It's on the Motherboard right along the edge about 1/2 inch next to where the ram slots are seated.
There is about an inch long line with some curled up black stuff (looks like something that was burned).
Hey guys thank you again for all the insight. We're just going to rma the motherboard and take it from there. I guess she got warranties on all the parts so no big deal. I feel bad becaise something went wrong on such a budget build
I've built computers for family and friends in the past, and usually just slap everything together and it works. Works better than any HP, Dell or whatever other nonsense ever does.
If it still doesn't work then we will take it to a Mom and pop shop and find out exactly what is wrong, because I don't have the time to keep messing with it. I know better than to take it to the "geeks" at best buy. One reason is because it's deragotory to call someone a "geek" because they know a lot about computers (I make my living on a computer, and basically the world runs on computers), and also because I got into an argument with a best buy "geek" who swore up and down that my radeon 4870x2 couldn't run WoW on full settings (I don't even play WoW), and basically told me I was full of shit when I told him I can run TSW, AoC, even Tera on full settings without dropping below 35 fps. He also gave many many reasons as to why we shouldn't build our own computers and just buy one of the pieces of shit they have on the showroom. Also, a friend of mine took his alienware there, after it magically died right after the warranty expired, and they said there was absolutely nothing that could be done, and it cost him like 50 bucks just for them to tell him that. I convinced him to let me build him a computer, and it's been going strong without a hitch for 4 years running. He paid some ridiculous amount of money, like $1,200, for the Alienware that lasted less than 2 years.
Best Buy sucks. I miss Circuit City and Media play, those stores were fun. Best Buy is like Wal Mart or something.