• lightrush@lemmy.caOP
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    2 months ago

    I think I found the source of the liquid @abcdqfr@lemmy.world. The thermal pad under the VRM heatsink has begun to liquefy into oily substance. This substance appears to have gone to the underside of the board through the vias around the VRM and discolored itself.

    Some rubbing with isopropyl alcohol and it’s almost gone:

    Perhaps there’s still life left in this board if used with an older chip.

    • abcdqfr@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Good detective work! Adding liquefying thermal pads as a reason to avoid Gigabyte.

        • abcdqfr@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Asrock has done me well for budget builds, asus is what I happened to upgrade to for midrange. Honestly being dramatic, just haven’t cared for GB historically.

          • lightrush@lemmy.caOP
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            2 months ago

            So generally Pegatron. :D I used to buy GB because it was made in Taiwan when ASUS became Pegatron and went to China. Their quality decreased. GB used to put high quality components on their boards in comparison. But now GB is also made somewhere in the PRC. I’ve no idea where MSI are in terms of quality. We used to make fun of them using the worst capacitors back in the 90s/00s. Looking at their Newegg reviews, their 1-star ratings seem lower proportion compared to Pegatron brands and GB. Maybe they’re nicer these days? The X570 replacement I got for this machine is an ASUS - “TUF” 🙄

    • kattfisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      Discovered exactly the same thing when I replaced my dead Gigabyte Z370 recently! Also took me a while to figure it out.

      Both those chipsets were released in 2017 so I guess it’s no surprise they were made with the same thermal pads.