I just shorted my motherboard. Is it doomed?

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Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H

I screwed it straight in without realizing and it wouldn't start, then I realized and put the extra screws on as I should have done in the first place.

Now everything lights up and it comes on when i turn it on but it bleeps about ten times and restarts without properly booting or anything. I am worried I have fried it but it is just as plausible that I have not plugged something important in as it has been years since I made a setup from scratch.

I took out the ram and it did nothing.

  • Processor: Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket 1155 6MB
  • Ram: G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9
  • HDD: old seagate SATA from another computer

Magpie

Posted 2012-07-17T18:28:24.700

Reputation: 131

Answers

8

Yes, unfortunately the motherboard is likely to be unrecoverable.

Looking up the beep codes seems to indicate that 10 beeps is a CMOS/BIOS error:

• CMOS shutdown Read/Write error

• Your problem lies deep inside the CMOS. All chips associated with the CMOS will likely have to be replaced. Your best bet is to get a new motherboard.

• The shutdown for the CMOS has failed

You may be able to try changing the CMOS battery and resetting it, but chances are that the UEFI has burned out.

That board has a DualBIOS feature which you may be able to use to reset the BIOS, but again, chances are the system is too damaged for even that to work.

If the board is still new, you can try exchanging it.

Synetech

Posted 2012-07-17T18:28:24.700

Reputation: 63 242

Would resetting bios do anything when I haven't had a chance to set it? – Magpie – 2012-07-17T19:10:48.770

@Luke, that's why I said try. I had an EPoX board that died for no reason after the warranty had expired. I contacted them about it and they offered to do a "courtesy repair", but just replaced it outright. Some companies are great and have wonderful public-relations. (Some companies are crap though; like Intel. I bought their QX3 microscope which didn't work. They gave me a "refund" but in the end, I ended with -$75 and no microscope.) – Synetech – 2012-07-17T21:14:22.033

@Magpie, probably not. I only mentioned the reset because it was linked to by one of the above pages. The problem is that the 10-beep code could also be caused by other BIOS issues, so resetting may work, but by short-circuiting it, you probably burned out the chip itself or one of the other wires or components leading to/from it which could lead to the same error, but much worse (like having a cough can be a symptom of something easy to treat or something untreatable). – Synetech – 2012-07-17T21:18:10.920

@Synetech I'm the middle man at my job, that's why I hate it... I agree some companies are good (cough ASUS cough), but others are nightmares – Canadian Luke – 2012-07-17T23:18:35.873

Just to confirm. Replaced Motherboard and it works fine now. – Magpie – 2012-07-27T21:42:02.430

Also I think it's fair to go for a refund because ot wasn't on the instructions (I looked second time around you see...) Only that is not the company that sold it to me's fault, more gigabyte. I should probably write to them directly? – Magpie – 2012-07-27T21:47:04.800

Asked: 2012-07-17T18:28:24.700

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Active: 2012-07-17T18:53:44.797