How can you diagnose a failing motherboard before it's too late? (2024)

In my experiences before you reset the bios,make sure to check logs it can tell you if there was a thermal or other event that might help you determine where to start looking for board defects. I’ve been to schools where students put paper clips in the front bezel of the computer and stopped the cooling fan. Which caused a thermal event to be triggered in bios log files.

I've bought a refurbished motherboard that lasted only three years. The symptoms started with BIOS startup messages "CMOS checksum error" or "CMOS battery low". Replacing with a fresh CMOS battery didn't fix the errors. I noticed any new battery I installed would drain quickly (3.3V to 3.1V in a day or two when checking with a multimeter). Resetting the BIOS (CMOS jumper pins) didn't fix the errors. Plugging the power supply into a different power strip in case of improper grounding didn't fix the errors. Therefore, I concluded it must be a failing motherboard.

On of the biggest things I've noticed is that having excess dust or even larger particulates gathering on your mothherboard or components will cause issues with booting or function. Removing the dust/debris will help immensely when you're attempting to diagnose computer problems.

On new builds, sometimes motherboards can be damaged, bent, or warped during shipping. Always inspect the package and product for signs of damage.

If we are diagnosing a motherboard that is potentially failing diagnostic software may not always be the answer because the system may or may not be in a bootable state. If the system is not bootable, one option would be to create a bootable USB disk (live disk) if you have a secondary computer that you can use to set it up. Ideally you would want to use a Linux distribution as it's open source and will be easy to get an image. If you can access your BIOS/UEFI but cannot boot to your operating system, see if you can boot to a live disk. If you can, then it would be possible to use diagnostic software or get logs and analyze them yourself. Information on live disk creation is publicly available online.

Before you start thinking about replacing expensive hardware on the motherboard, I would think about clearing CMOS. remove all power sources from your motherboard then look for a battery on board. It will most likely be a CR2032 cell, a coin shaped battery. Take the battery out for a bit and stick it back in. Or if you want to replace it you can buy these batteries in packs from your local store. You can find them with all the other batteries near the register. They are very cheap. replacing RAM, CPU, or GPU, may or may not be a viable solution depending on how old the computer is. That hardware is also expensive.

The biggest one - how old is the computer? If it’s older than about 4 years, replace it.Outside of that, if you’re a tech, look at the obvious clues - it locks up frequently or it takes a long time to boot up.

Another thing to remember when performing any sort of maintenance on your computer is to be sure to ground yourself to avoid causing damage yourself due to electrostatic shock. You can find ESD straps anywhere electronics are sold both in stores and online. :)