What causes a motherboard to go bad

[originx7]

In reference to the Post we need a young priest and an old priest. What would cause a MB to go bad?

[Target]

Geez......there are a ton of things that could make a motherboard go bad.

Incorrect voltage supplied to it, grounding of the pins on the back to the case, a scratch of one or more of the traces on the PCB, bad components from the factory.....the list could go on and on.

[Daft_Ghosty]

most common is static shock..

[cadetstimp]

Bad Flash
Temperature Overheat/extreme Heat-Cool cycles
Static Charge/Build Up
Internal from poor mounting / grounding / peripheral
External from phone line / Lan Line / Speakers / Monitor
Wall Outlet with a grounding prong that doesn't work
RAM chip failure
Video Card failure
CPU chip failure
Leaky CMOS battery
Foreign material that allows a short to occur
Dust - Conductive Thermal Compound -
Power Supply Failure/Out of Tolerance
Powerful Magnetic feild nearby

[mpc]

I find that if you step on them or dump a lot of water on 'em....they have a tendancy to go bad.