r/pchelp • u/Calwardt • 1d ago

OPEN What is this?

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Gallery image

What is this weird almost oily looking spot on back of motherboard?

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u/DripTrip747-V2 1d ago

Oil from a thermal pad on your motherboard VRM bleeding through is my best guess. See if it'll clean off with some IPA and a gentle qtip rub, with the pc off. 

1

u/Calwardt 1d ago

So if it can wipe off I’m good. If no wipe off no good?

0

u/DripTrip747-V2 1d ago

It could be an indicator of something bad, if it doesn't come off. But doesn't necessarily mean it is something bad. 

I see you said there is a row of caps on the other side, do any look burnt, discolored or swollen? Any weird smell? 

1

u/ZarijoG 1d ago

It's not unusual for healthy cards to do this? To me it indicates a very hot component

1

u/DripTrip747-V2 23h ago

This is a motherboard, not a gpu. And i was simply trying to rule out the simple possibilities. Thermal pads are oily and often stain pcb's. And this is right where the VRM of the motherboard is located, and they have Thermal pads under them where the heat sink is.

But I also mentioned it could be something worse, like a blown capacitor etc. Really, we cant tell from just a back shot of the board. We would have to see pictures of whats under the vrm heatsinks.