Budget 21-30k Faint glow on POWER LED / subsequent upgrade of CPU & MOBO

A little story is required at the beginning behind the upgrade. Well my PC is working fine and gaming at full HD is also working fine. But off late i have observed that the power LED is glowing with a faint glow even when powered off. I thought that's it's a issue with the power LED switch. So I replaced the switch and LED connectors with a brand new one. But the faint glow is still there. Then I took off the entire motherboard out of the case and reinstalled everything. Still the problem is there. I also upgraded the PSU and HDD in the mean time. I also added a new 500 GB HDD in the system. I suspect there is always a leakage current in the motherboard. I have lost 3 hard drives in the past 3-4 months. All these hard drives were various size , manufacture and form factor (drives lost are 4TB WD, 2 TB SEAGATE , & 500 GB Seagate laptop drives) Most of the data was not critical and i had backup of most of them. But it's absolutely NOT OKAY to deal with random dead hard drive. I suspect that there is some leakage current somewhere in the motherboard. Also it is relevant to mention that some water percolated in the LAN PORT and adjacent USB 3.0 port rendering both of them dead. I have apprehension that some other internal part must have also been damaged in the process.The water came through inside portion of LAN CABLE as one end of cable / router was on the rooftop. o_O

Now its virtually impossible to find a new motherboard for i5 7th generation. At least at decent price. Some rare sellers are selling boards on Amazon but they cost more than 8-9k which IMO is not worth it. I also need a PCI port (NOT PCI express but old) for connecting ASUS XONAR DG as i use the SPDIF OUT. Most motherboard have a SPDIF header but I was unable to get a output port for those headers.


So thinking to upgrade the entire CPU+MOBO. I already have 16 GB RAM and would like to reuse it (if possible) Guys please help me with upgrade of Core components of my PC.
  1. What is your budget?
    • 30k
  2. What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • CPU - Intel i5 7500
    • Motherboard - asrock 110
    • GPU - GTX 1650 SUPER
    • RAM - CORSAIR DDR4 2400 MHZ 16GB*1
    • Monitor - Dell U2311
    • PSU - Corsair RM650
    • SSD - KINGSTON 500 GB SATA
    • Hdd - Seagate 4TB+4TB
  3. Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • Monitor - Dell U2311
    • PSU - Corsair RM650
    • HDD & SSD
    • GPU - GTX 1650S
  4. Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
    • CPU - Intel 11th gen / 12th gen either i7 or i5 [will prefer a 8C/16T processor if possible]
    • Motherboard - any compatible motherboard (must have a PCI PORT / SPDIF PORT )
  5. Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
    • Yes, will upgrade the following within 1 month
  6. Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Delhi
    • Open to online purchase
  7. Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • Yes (only processor)
  8. What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • Gaming
    • Browsing
    • Desktop Processing
    • Watching HD movies
  9. Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
    • Would prefer Intel build for some software compatibility but not mandatory
  10. If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • AAA games at medium / high settings
    • Should be easily able to decode 4k videos
  11. What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
    1. Gaming - 1920*1080
    2. VIdeo - 4k
  12. Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  13. Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 11 64 bit
Also is it worthy to wait for AMD AM5 platform? Although I have a personal preference for Intel systems. Had a few issues with AMD with some office applications and would like to avoid those kind of embarrassing stuffs. Although it was a long time ago (had issues with FX 6300 Balck edition and i hope that AMD does not have any such issues these days). Also I heard that AMD is finally going the LGA way , i think it's a good thing. And LGA is way better than pin configuration.

Ps - Sorry about the long post. But i wanted to give a clear picture of the issue and the exact reason for upgrade.
 
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you might want to start by checking your home earthing.
Thanks for your reply. I have subscribed your YT. You have some great video.

The building that i currently live in is actually quite old. Do you think that earthing / other power cables can become faulty?

Also is it possible for me to check the earthing myself or is it mandatory to bring in an electrician? I don't trust most local electrician and they try to fleece you as much as possible even for trivial things.
Done everything but have you ever check and confirmed any current issues in the electric board and for earthing.
Actually i feel stupid now for not checking the electric board for earthing. But everything seems to work okay. Normally we can feel a slight tingling sensation in case of poor earthing and maybe slight shock too.

On more thing is that i use an APC ups for the entire system. If that makes any difference anyhow. The UPS also runs TV, PS4 , XBOX ONE X and set top box. Only one device at a time or sometimes 2 at max. Like TV+XBOX and PC , OR PC and TV+PS4.
 
Also is it possible for me to check the earthing myself or is it mandatory to bring in an electrician? I don't trust most local electrician and they try to fleece you as much as possible even for trivial things.

Actually i feel stupid now for not checking the electric board for earthing. But everything seems to work okay. Normally we can feel a slight tingling sensation in case of poor earthing and maybe slight shock too.

On more thing is that i use an APC ups for the entire system. If that makes any difference anyhow. The UPS also runs TV, PS4 , XBOX ONE X and set top box. Only one device at a time or sometimes 2 at max. Like TV+XBOX and PC , OR PC and TV+PS4.
Of course an electrician will be the best person to check it through the core.
Running multiple devices on a single devices is fine though not recommend esp. tv and pc. If for every connection there is an individual on/off switch that should suffice.
Lastly, most imp. point, just that earthing is fine doesnt mean everything is good. Have seen instances where earthing is fine but additional voltage gets supplied to that point making devices vulnerable to frequent failures/faults.
 
UPDATE : - Got the connection checked by a professional electrician. He said that everything is okay. No issues with board, or switches, MCB etc. In fact , he said that the wires are much thicker than actually required.

Miraculously the faint glow has also subsided somewhat. I was almost about to open the 500 GB hard drive and even punctured the sticker to get access to the hidden screw. But then thought to check it again by connecting before taking the point of no return. And big surprise even that is working fine. It is as if nothing had happened to the HDD. There is no issue at all and it is working absolutely fine. There is no bad sector , no spin error , nothing.

Any suggestions ? Things are getting weird.
 
UPDATE : - Got the connection checked by a professional electrician. He said that everything is okay. No issues with board, or switches, MCB etc. In fact , he said that the wires are much thicker than actually required.

Miraculously the faint glow has also subsided somewhat. I was almost about to open the 500 GB hard drive and even punctured the sticker to get access to the hidden screw. But then thought to check it again by connecting before taking the point of no return. And big surprise even that is working fine. It is as if nothing had happened to the HDD. There is no issue at all and it is working absolutely fine. There is no bad sector , no spin error , nothing.

Any suggestions ? Things are getting weird.
A golden touch of electrician was all needed..
 
UPDATE : - Got the connection checked by a professional electrician. He said that everything is okay. No issues with board, or switches, MCB etc. In fact , he said that the wires are much thicker than actually required.

Miraculously the faint glow has also subsided somewhat. I was almost about to open the 500 GB hard drive and even punctured the sticker to get access to the hidden screw. But then thought to check it again by connecting before taking the point of no return. And big surprise even that is working fine. It is as if nothing had happened to the HDD. There is no issue at all and it is working absolutely fine. There is no bad sector , no spin error , nothing.

Any suggestions ? Things are getting weird.
Sell the whole system and build a new one ;)
 
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