Topic: Biostar TB250's catching fire at chipset heatsink (Read 376 times)
Thanks for the input!
I have a few of these boards too and have so far experienced no issues with them for over a period of several months. I use powered risers on all the slots so I do not plug in any of the Molex connectors on the motherboard, which is maybe one difference. Also, I do not use the SATA power connector as according to the manual it only serves to "enhance the power of rear USB ports".
However, I suspect your issue is more to do with the open box nature of the motherboards than anything else. Realize that most open box items are returns from customers and NewEgg probably does a very basic functionality test, meaning pop in a CPU and ram and check that it boots. It is possible some exhibited issues with the first owner who then sent them back, or even the first owner may have done something with it to damage it in a way to not easily be detected right away.
CPUs, RAM, Motherboards and PSUs are items that I stay away from on refurbished and open box items, as they are products that can hide defects initially even though they may already be on their way to failure. GPUs aren't as bad to buy secondhand as they will usually fail right away if you subject them to 3D graphics testing such as Futuremark's line of benchmarks and of course mining. Most bad GPUs can be fleshed out within a day or two and sent back, however the other components I listed can sometimes take weeks/months before exhibiting strange issues or outright failing.
However, I suspect your issue is more to do with the open box nature of the motherboards than anything else. Realize that most open box items are returns from customers and NewEgg probably does a very basic functionality test, meaning pop in a CPU and ram and check that it boots. It is possible some exhibited issues with the first owner who then sent them back, or even the first owner may have done something with it to damage it in a way to not easily be detected right away.
CPUs, RAM, Motherboards and PSUs are items that I stay away from on refurbished and open box items, as they are products that can hide defects initially even though they may already be on their way to failure. GPUs aren't as bad to buy secondhand as they will usually fail right away if you subject them to 3D graphics testing such as Futuremark's line of benchmarks and of course mining. Most bad GPUs can be fleshed out within a day or two and sent back, however the other components I listed can sometimes take weeks/months before exhibiting strange issues or outright failing.
I'm currently running just over 100 of these motherboards without an issue on a using single psu setups....sounds like a power supply issue with the setup.
Might want to check the power draw on the motherboard from the 1080ti.
Might want to check the power draw on the motherboard from the 1080ti.
I pretty much only run these boards with no problems. Im guessing something is wrong with your power supply setup. These boards just work.
I have been building PC's for 15 years.
With my mining rigs I have been using ASUS and ASRock mobo's. Always liked the brands (especially ASRock). Recently Newegg had a bunch of open box Biostar TB250-BTC for cheap so I picked up 7 of them.
So far two have caught on fire shortly after booting with 6 1080 ti's on powered risers. These 1080 ti's have previously run for a week straight on an ASRock H81. The fire started next to/underneath the chipset heatsink near the SATA power in.
In both situations I ran the motherboard for some time without any graphics cards plugged in. Different power supplies.
I am using 160W Pico-PSU (ITX) plugged into the 24Pin. I have made adapters by hand crimping mini-fit jr's to take the Pico's 5pin outlet to a chain of 3 4pin MOLEX. The first MOLEX feeds a MOLEX->SATA power adapter (bought) that plugs into the motherboards SATA power in. The second MOLEX plugs into the inlet near the CPU, the third to the inlet on the side of the board. The PICO is fed by a 5mm pigtail from Eyeboot that I spliced into a 6pin PCIE -> 8pinEPS at the EPS terminals. I've made and used these adapters before without issue. I use 18AWG stranded hookup wire.
I've read the extra power inlet's aren't technically necessary when using powered risers but where I come from we don't risk underpowering hardware.
In the first case the EPS was fed from a 1200watt HP server supply with an X-Adapter. The risers were also fed directly from this (they have 6pin inlets). The top two inlets (6 pin and 8pin) were fed from a separate 1200W HP psu. I figured I'd have a max of 100W per inlet when hashing (PL @ 205W) and wanted to try split supplies.
I figured the MOLEX->SATA adapter was to blame (a ground pin was loose) so I tossed it. I was concerned that the GFX cards might have tried to draw too much from one PSU on boot so for the next attempt I used a Delta 2400W PSU with two GekkoScience breakouts, and plugged all 19 connectors into it. I think I used a different PICO PSU but I'm honestly not sure. I used the same hand made PCI->EPS and 5pin->MOLEX->MOLEX->MOLEX adapters. I suppose the adapters could have a short, but I don't see one.
Fire in the same spot on the second mobo.
I could test the adapters with an H81/Pico/adapter combo I know is good. I suppose I should just toss the PICO and adapters, but want to see if there's something obvious and stupid I'm doing. And if anyone knows why this would happen at the SATA in of all places. Are these boards especially prone to problems? I'm thinking about returning all of them, never liked Biostar much anyway.
Maybe I will stop hooking up on-board MOLEX/SATA in's.
With my mining rigs I have been using ASUS and ASRock mobo's. Always liked the brands (especially ASRock). Recently Newegg had a bunch of open box Biostar TB250-BTC for cheap so I picked up 7 of them.
So far two have caught on fire shortly after booting with 6 1080 ti's on powered risers. These 1080 ti's have previously run for a week straight on an ASRock H81. The fire started next to/underneath the chipset heatsink near the SATA power in.
In both situations I ran the motherboard for some time without any graphics cards plugged in. Different power supplies.
I am using 160W Pico-PSU (ITX) plugged into the 24Pin. I have made adapters by hand crimping mini-fit jr's to take the Pico's 5pin outlet to a chain of 3 4pin MOLEX. The first MOLEX feeds a MOLEX->SATA power adapter (bought) that plugs into the motherboards SATA power in. The second MOLEX plugs into the inlet near the CPU, the third to the inlet on the side of the board. The PICO is fed by a 5mm pigtail from Eyeboot that I spliced into a 6pin PCIE -> 8pinEPS at the EPS terminals. I've made and used these adapters before without issue. I use 18AWG stranded hookup wire.
I've read the extra power inlet's aren't technically necessary when using powered risers but where I come from we don't risk underpowering hardware.
In the first case the EPS was fed from a 1200watt HP server supply with an X-Adapter. The risers were also fed directly from this (they have 6pin inlets). The top two inlets (6 pin and 8pin) were fed from a separate 1200W HP psu. I figured I'd have a max of 100W per inlet when hashing (PL @ 205W) and wanted to try split supplies.
I figured the MOLEX->SATA adapter was to blame (a ground pin was loose) so I tossed it. I was concerned that the GFX cards might have tried to draw too much from one PSU on boot so for the next attempt I used a Delta 2400W PSU with two GekkoScience breakouts, and plugged all 19 connectors into it. I think I used a different PICO PSU but I'm honestly not sure. I used the same hand made PCI->EPS and 5pin->MOLEX->MOLEX->MOLEX adapters. I suppose the adapters could have a short, but I don't see one.
Fire in the same spot on the second mobo.
I could test the adapters with an H81/Pico/adapter combo I know is good. I suppose I should just toss the PICO and adapters, but want to see if there's something obvious and stupid I'm doing. And if anyone knows why this would happen at the SATA in of all places. Are these boards especially prone to problems? I'm thinking about returning all of them, never liked Biostar much anyway.
Maybe I will stop hooking up on-board MOLEX/SATA in's.
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