My motherboard caught on fire. (And has now died. Choosing new one.)

[n0cturni]

This happened. It is a burn. This MSI microATX motherboard has been giving me problems for a while now, and the computer had been spontaneously shutting down on me in the most random moments for at least a few months now.

So today, it does the same thing, only it can not turn back on, like it normally is able to. I open it and find this burn mark near my sound card (I removed it for the picture).

I try to diagnose the problem with no luck; I gave up and tried powering it up again just to see what would happen. It worked fine.


Long story short, something on my motherboard burned, computer stopped working, and now my computer works again.

So the motherboard finally quit today, and it turns out that if I sent this in for RMA, it will most likely be rejected because it has a burn.

My computer isn't really anything too fancy, I just need a board to replace this one. I am not buying another MSI board.

The problem can also be the power supply, but I opened it and saw no form of damage. It's best to assume it's fine and to say it is the board's fault since it burned. If it does turn out to be the power supply, I can just buy another cheap one until I can afford one of a quality brand.

[Ad Bot]

[WhatevaGuy]

Strange...
Welp, its over, no need to worry.

[Marcem]

Strange...
Welp, its over, no need to worry.

HIs motherboard just burned, nothing to worry about.

[Justin K.]

HIs motherboard just burned, nothing to worry about.

Nothing at all

[Kalphiter]

Use the fatherboard instead.

[n0cturni]

For a better idea of what happened, what is circled in black seems to be the source of the flame as it was burned to a crisp.

[KoopaScooper]

Your motherboard caught on fire?
I think when your computer read "Go die in a fire." it took it too seriously.

[massa900]

Use the fatherboard instead.

Yea, or that old dusty grandmaboard in the corner.

[jordguitar]

Start looking for a new board because that is going to spread and cause it to fail. Might fry other things also.

[Reactor Worker]

If it is still covered by the warranty, contact the manufacturer for an RMA.

[Game master pro]

it's ok that's meant to happen, it's a feature.

[Amade]

it's ok that's meant to happen, it's a feature.

Spontaneous combustion is now a standard feature in computers?

[Nightmare-Duckie]

why put out the fire when you could take pictures for the interwebs 

[Rughugger]

It's possible for sparks to jump over random circuits from time to time. It's possible that this was just a random surge and a spark jumped the wrong connection. Clean off the area as best as possible with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. Let it dry for about an hour (or overnight since you'll be sleeping and not tempted to use the PC) and try again in the morning. That should eliminate the chance that it will repeat the problem and cause serious damage to your motherboard. Do the same with the sound board connections as well. Might as well be thorough.

[jordguitar]

It's possible for sparks to jump over random circuits from time to time. It's possible that this was just a random surge and a spark jumped the wrong connection. Clean off the area as best as possible with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. Let it dry for about an hour (or overnight since you'll be sleeping and not tempted to use the PC) and try again in the morning. That should eliminate the chance that it will repeat the problem and cause serious damage to your motherboard. Do the same with the sound board connections as well. Might as well be thorough.

Dont do that.
Sparks are bad.
Fire is bad.
Smoke is bad.
Anything that shouldnt be happening on a mobo is bad. Nothing can fix it unless you send it in for repairs or get it replaced.