DFI LanParty Ultra B (462) SMD's burnt - fixable?

[Thorn]

Hey Guys,

unfortunately my DFI died some days ago. I didn't realize (had to look at some pics I took a few days back) but some SMD components underneath the socket lever where already fried before the board ultimately refused to reboot from a warmstart. Any chance fixing it? The Board still fires up but is showing only the 4 LED's of death and no beeping. I removed the molten plastic and I can't see any cut/burnt traces but also I don't know the values of the burnt parts. Thought it could be worth a try asking here for help.

Any advise is welcome

Edited November 9, 2019 by Thorn

[Mr.Scott]

Bottom pic shows me a lot of burned traces. 

Chuck that board. I have 2 or 3 just like it.

Sorry.

[TAGG]

I don't have the board, so can't compare it to anything

You got a PCI POST-Code card? what does it say?

But before you throw it out i'd take it

[Thorn]

Thats sad. The upper pic i made is showing the board after i cleaned it a bit.I was hoping that the black mass was just some molten plastic casing from the lower chip or something like that since I don't have any reference Pic.Anyway, Thank you.

E: what's that green stuff underneath the lever? the beginning of what happened to mine? you have to zoom a little.

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Thorn

[Thorn]

11 minutes ago, TAGG said:

I don't have the board, so can't compare it to anything

You got a PCI POST-Code card? what does it say?

But before you throw it out i'd take it

Let me think about

[TASOS]

12 minutes ago, Thorn said:

Thats sad. The upper pic i made is showing the board after i cleaned it a bit.I was hoping that the black mass was just some molten plastic casing from the lower chip or something like that since I don't have any reference Pic.Anyway, Thank you.

If you are sure that this is the only damage done ... and judging from Pic 1 , i would say that sometimes a good technician , can do "wonders"

Give it a try.

[I.nfraR.ed]

I don't think that black stuff is molten plastic. It looks like some sort of hot glue that someone put on top of these smd elements.

The SMD elements you uncovered seem to be fine. Do you have another bios chip to test?

[Thorn]

Yes, i do. Since Tzk started to fiddle around with the crazy bios hacking i even own an extraction tool.

As I wrote, the board was just fine until i did a reboot. It even ran Prime and 32M @ 250-MHz+

outside pic was taken before memtest. you can barely see the damage. I didn't see it back then...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Thorn

[I.nfraR.ed]

I fact this seems to be a factory thing, perhaps some later boards come like that. I think your problem is something else. IMO the Ultra-B is a lot more problematic with bios, although it is the best clocking board out of the box. My 2 older boards don't have this, but they are dead

Here's the same on my board:

PS: Also my older board without this bridging SMD capacitor (between the mosfets) blew up with a VDIMM mod. I think they added it later to "fix" it.

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by I.nfraR.ed

[Thorn]

at least i'm not alone... this is sooo sad. New bios didn't do the trick. Can't tell if the smd's are ok.They don't "duct" through if this is the right term.The lowest one looks pretty burnt.

Can't tell anymore if it has the bridge. Glued the heatsink on it to prevent burning/heating. It's a china version for sure.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Thorn

[Thorn]

OMG. I just cleaned it and in doing so I must have flexed the pcb a bit. The Board does work again. This isn't good after all because now I know the pcb has issues...

Dumpster find does dumpster things

[Mr.Scott]

Probably just brittle old solder joints. Might get lucky if you bake it.

[Mr.Scott]

2 hours ago, I.nfraR.ed said:

 

 

PS: Also my older board without this bridging SMD capacitor (between the mosfets) blew up with a VDIMM mod. I think they added it later to "fix" it.

 

 

I did the same thing.

[Thorn]

I'll throw it into the oven tomorrow and see if it does the trick. What kind of SMD do I have to solder in to prevent the mosfet from blowing up?

[I.nfraR.ed]

It seems to be the same as C7G1 capacitor on the left. Based on the size it should be 0805.

I don't know how to get the capacitance without desoldering and measuring. My guess is about 10-47uF, but not sure. Don't have a deep electrical knowledge.

Edited November 9, 2019 by I.nfraR.ed

[Thorn]

No problem. As long as I stay away from 3.3V it should be ok for now.

thnx.

Put it in the oven for 30min @ 230°F . Booted up right away and the GBit NIC is even showing up. Let's see how long it will last.

And I got the bridging cap too. So it should be safer for high vdimm?

Edited November 9, 2019 by Thorn

[I.nfraR.ed]

I don't know. I only have 3 Ultra-B, one has a blown regulator and I use it for spare parts, the other one has some cut traces to the SB, which could be repaired and it might work again.

The working one has the bridging SMD capacitor, others don't. Haven't had a problem with it up to 3.7V VDIMM with just a FB mod. But it's not that great of a clocker compared to one of the dead boards. I hate the Ultra-B layout and don't use it often. CPU capacitors are too close to the socket and get on the way of my waterblock. The I/O ports are also very close to the socket. The 20-pin connector is on the other side of the socket and I need an extension to plug the PSU in. On top of that the CMOS reloaded and loading safe defaults is very unreliable, at least on my board.

Edited November 14, 2019 by I.nfraR.ed

[Thorn]

I think I'll leave it at stock. It's a quite good overclocker that can run 32M at tight timings with the TicTacXT Bios. And yes, the layout could be better, ran into the same struggle with the P4 12V connector and my trusty Alpha Pal 8045 won't fit unless I would grind the mounting screws because some smd caps are in the way. The onboard Gbit failed again and the SATA Chip also won't show up during the boot process. I guess a professional reflow is necessary.Anyways , it's to rare to me play around with it anymore and now I've boxed it and stored it on a shelf. Still got my NF7 and maybe I'll get myself a Asus A7N8X someday for modding.

Edited November 14, 2019 by Thorn