Due to overvoltage 1.8000, CPU fried, is my mobo dead too?

I am new to overclocking and this is the first time I did overclocking of my processor. While overclocking, it was going successful till I raised voltage till 1.6 V. But I went too high and raised the voltage to 1.8 V. At this point, my PC shutdown and a weird burning smell starting coming out. So I opened my CPU cabinet to see where the smell was coming from. To my shock, the processor was burned out and giving out smoke. I removed the processor from motherboard immediately and took it to local technician. He said that the processor was damaged beyond repairs. I wanted to ask, if my processor has been burned, then will the motherboard be damaged? I mean, processor’s burning must have burned the slot in which the processor is attached. Can someone tell me about it?

I don’t know how you got your voltage so high. BIOS restrict the voltage to a specific level that is usually lower than 1.8 V. Maybe you are using CPU of 21x class which allows such high voltage. I can’t tell you if your motherboard has been damaged or not by just reading your question. You will need to show it to the technician who can tell you the condition of the motherboard. But I think that motherboard will be in good condition. You will only need to properly remove the residue of the damaged processor as it may create some problem. Also if your processor allows such a high level of overclocking, then see to it that other peripherals that you use also provide option for such high level of overclocking. The problem will happen in this case, is that processor will perform at high performance while the peripherals won’t response at same rate. So it is preferred that even after overclocking, a balance between peripheral’s performance is maintained.

When you are overclocking for the first time and have no experience of it, then it is recommended that you take small steps and limited steps. Such big steps, like one which you did to raise the voltage to 1.8 V shouldn’t be done. Take the steps that you can control easily and stop if something goes wrong. Also if you overclock processor, then you need to do benchmarking regularly. This will create checkpoints to which the BIOS will automatically load if it detects any problem in the overclocking process. Also you need to continuously keep checking the stability of your computer using softwares like Prime95. Now that your processor has been burned, you will need to replace it one which will restrict you while overclocking.

Overheating and burning down of peripherals while overclocking is common if you don’t provide proper cooling to your computer. It is recommended that you keep the side panel open as it will provide proper ventilation and airflow inside the cabinet. If the ambient temperature where your computer is placed is high, then you will need to provide extra cooling to your computer. Professional overclockers use liquid cooling to keep the temperature low. You can attach extra cooling fans and heatsinks that will help you to keep the environment inside your computer’s cabinet cool. Heating of the peripherals can damage them in manner that will never get them repaired. More the voltage you increase, the more temperature it will generate.