Midnight,
Thank you for sharing. Interesting post! In the future, I will let the motherboards cycle at least a dozen times or more just to be sure.
I too have never experienced a motherboard recycling on a repeated basis. This was a first for me.
If I recall correctly, I believe I let the old MB recycle 3-4 times, perhaps more, over and over again. It was frustrating. But in the future, I will be sure to let the recycle go on at least a dozen times just to be sure.
Intel did send me the new i7-4770k as promised, and it arrived Tuesday instead of Monday. I did install it and was able to boot into the BIOS. I did not yet try to fire up the system with the SSD/operating system.
And now my wife discovered something that will make all of you want to slap me very hard! I kind of feel like crap too because now I feel it may not have been Intel's fault with the i7-4770k. Promise to not slap me hard?
Ok, here goes...and I hope you won't think I am totally stupid.
A little background...
This rig was built as a dedicated security rig, to use for many, many HD IP cameras with a very well known security software. It must be located in a secure metal building. I have had it in the metal building for 3+ years, most of which were extreme drought years here.
You will not believe what we just discovered...
For the first time since we moved here we have received a lot of rain. This lead to lots of fog. We began to notice the concrete floor showing signs of moisture coming up from underneath the ground [perhaps someone forgot to add a vapor barrier when they poured the concrete]. Then, we began to experience unusually cold weather as in below freezing for several mornings...and for the very first time ever, interior moisture that began to build up on the inside of the steel roof and then it turned into interior ice. In the past, we have never had any moisture build up on the interior of the roof.
My wife told me she saw all sorts of drip marks throughout our steel building. I went to investigate, and sure enough she was right.
And now the dumb part...[you probably already guessed]...
I put the security computer together in a dry building, but took it to the steel building to test. I only left it in the steel building for 10 minutes...and I left it there with the top off and the system powered off. When I went to pick it up for final rebuild, I discovered drops of water on numerous parts of the motherboard. Dang! I put the entire system in a super heated room over night, and it tests fine again.
So here is what I think happened...
Due to unusually wet weather [we had 6 inches of rain in two days in Oct], moisture came up through the concrete floor and condensated on the steel roof. Then it froze during the late night/early morning hours. When the sun came up, it defrosted the ice on the roof, and dripped a lot of water on the security rig that just so happened to have a Cooler Master HAF XB case with the screened top and of course, the MB is orientated horizontal.
This lead to a situation that may have been similar to the US bombers dropping bombs on Berlin toward the end of WW2. Needless to say, now I am fairly certain our system got nuked by drops of water...
Now we are almost at the end of our story...
I hope to replace all used parts later tonight [I want this to last another 3 years without any maintenance], fire it up, and hopefully not have to call Microsoft for re-certification of the Windows 10.
Last, and most important of all, I will custom make a special steel plate that sits 2-3 inches off the of the screened top of the case that covers the entire computer. I will also see if I can find a good deal on the plastic top window that the XB EVO uses because it fits perfect on this computer case.
Dang, I feel like Sherlock Holmes!
Nuff said.
Let me know if you guys have any other recommendations...
Thanks,
Soar