Hey, I just bought a new Intel Core i7 920 2.66ghz 8mb cache CPU and a P6T socket 1366 motherboard.

I put it all together, made sure all the connectors, fans, power was attached to the motherboard. First time I turned it on, there was a small blue spark where the heat sink is furthest from the CPU.

I decided to take out one of the 4 pin PSU connectors off the mobo (you know where you can either put one 4 pin or put two together to make 8 pin connector) and tried turning it on.

This time, it actually started but CPU fan was going very slow and no more than 5 seconds later, smoke started coming from the PSU fan connector on the motherboard.

I turned it off and took it out. The PSU fan connector coming from the PSU looks a bit burned/melted. Only thing that looks wrong with the mobo is that the PSU fan connector slot has some black stuff from the burn.

What should I do? Any idea what might have gone wrong? Do you think I fried to PSU, mobo, or BOTH? I'm afraid to mess with it anymore!

All help is much appreciated! Thanks!

A full list of what components you're using would be helpful.

Did you correctly place the standoffs in the case?

Either way, don't turn it on any more!

Best keep that unplugged for the moment. It may be fried, but it could be just that one fan connector that is fried, with the rest of the motherboard still working. Either way, give us a little more info on the parts you used especially the PSU model, brand, rail voltage, and wattage.

I have a 650W Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management PSU. It says it's next generation four +12v rails (12v1, 12v2, 12v3, 12v4)

EDIT: Patriot DDR3 3GBx1 1333MHz RAM

8800 GT 512 MB Alpha Dog Edition video card.

1 SATA Segate 140GB HDD

IDE DVD/R Burner

ASUS P6T Deluxe Motherboard

Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHZ 8MB Cache

Unplug everything that was involved with any sort of melting/burning/shorting out and try booting the system again...

Well that's what I'd do, but I'm not an expert with electricity, and that might ruin something. You might want to wait for someone with a bit more knowledge about this sort of thing to come along.

I can't boot the system though if the power supply fan connector isn't connected though, right?

Hang on a minute, power supply fan connector?

That doesn't sound right...

Yea, on the PSU there is a little small connector that is supposed to be connector onto the motherboard to regulate the fan inside I believe.

It says PWR_Fan on the mobo and it is the only thing that was noticeable burned a bit.

OK, that power supply does seem to have the connector you mentioned but I can't get any good information on the connector itself. Is it possible you put it on the wrong way round?

Could you take a picture of the affected parts?

Thanks for the help guys.

How embarrassing is this? The so called power fan connector that I had been talking about was actually a power connector for a floppy drive... which I connected directly into the motherboard.

I ended up returning the motherboard and getting a new one! Thank you warranty!

My system is up and running with no problems at all now!

Oh. Those old floppy connectors do look rather similar to the 4 pin fan plugs