My computer just "popped". Burning smell!

[TechManMax]

It won't turn back on though weirdly the motherboard RGB lights are still on. Not sure if it's the PSU, GPU, motherboard, luckily it's a pre built spec (besides the GPU which I upgraded from a 4070 super to a 4070 ti super as I was hitting the vRAM limit in some games...sold the 4070 super included in the prebuilt to help fund the upgrade). Thankfully I explained the situation to Amazon and they are arranging a replacement just in case (won't arrive until 11th June due to low stock though and I've been given until 14th June to return the current GPU). I've got in contact with the pc manufacturer, explained the situation and am now awaiting their response. But honestly a bit shaken up right now, glad there wasn't an actual fire! I suppose it could have been worse...but any idea what happened??

P.S. yes I've completely unplugged it cannot risk a fire...

[emoticorpse]

take the side panel off and examine the motherboard?

[Electric Cupcake]

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bulging+capacitor&t=ffab&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

[404]

you had problems with that thing before didn't you

[TechManMax]

Originally posted by Iceman985:

you had problems with that thing before didn't you

Yes the Original build wouldn't display signal (but it turned on). Was sent back, rebuilt with an upgraded motherboard (at no extra cost) due to VRM power delivery concerns. Replacement build arrived and was working fine up until today. I was even in a game when it happened, in the middle of a raid on destiny 2! Computer made a pop sound and instantly turned off. When I tried to turn it back on nothing happened though I noticed the motherboard RGB lights were still on. It was then that I noticed the burning smell and immediately unplugged it.

[emoticorpse]

What brand/model is that pre-built? Got a link to yours?

[TechManMax]

https://www.drmem.com/xum-gaming-pc-legend-intel-core-i7-13700f-cpu-rtx-4070-super-12gb-gpu-32gb-ram-1tb-nvme-ssd/

Except they upgraded the motherboard on the replacement build (the one that's just popped) to an H670 Steel Legend. And the CPU is an i7 13700KF not i7 13700F (but it wasn't overclocked).

The GPU was upgraded (by me) from a Palit Dual RTX 4070 Super to an MSI GeForce RTX™ 4070 Ti SUPER 16G VENTUS 2X OC (which was running in preconfigured "Extreme Performance" mode as configured by MSI Centre)

The RAM was Corsair Vengeance CL16 2x 16GB XMP DDR4 3200MT/s XMP (operating in dual channel slots 2 and 4 using XMP Profile 1).

OCCT stability tests returned no issues a matter of days ago. Gaming performance was fine, temps were reasonable (GPU never went above 74-75 degrees even when maxing out gaming at 4K with Quality DLSS) and CPU was even cooler thanks to the Peerless Assassin (no idea what VRM temps were though but Cinebench R23 only earlier today returned 2082 single core and 26,000 and something...can't remember the exact figure...multi core score).

[_I_]

do you know what psu is in it?

pop sound, can be electrolytic cap, but that should not happen on a new psu
next would be fuse popping in the psu, but if the leds stayed on, then its not those

or it could be mosfet overheating and cracking
in the psu, mobo, or gpu

most of those should be covered by heatsinks, look for burns around heatsinks or mosfets

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Originally posted by _I_:

do you know what psu is in it?

pop sound, can be electrolytic cap, but that should not happen on a new psu
next would be fuse popping in the psu, but if the leds stayed on, then its not those

or it could be mosfet overheating and cracking
in the psu, mobo, or gpu

I find it funny you are still going on about this because the issue is now fixed and RMA is better than the original.

[_I_]

Originally posted by The Incredible Magical Cupcake:

Originally posted by _I_:

do you know what psu is in it?

pop sound, can be electrolytic cap, but that should not happen on a new psu
next would be fuse popping in the psu, but if the leds stayed on, then its not those

or it could be mosfet overheating and cracking
in the psu, mobo, or gpu

I find it funny you are still going on about this because the issue is now fixed and RMA is better than the original.

that was the previous problem, weak mobo

now its having a new issue

[Iron Knights]

Unlocked CPU is not solely for overclocking, but for access to the full features of the CPU while in Advanced Mode in Bios. I would backup my data constantly, looks like a bad builder.

[_I_]

Originally posted by Iron Knights:

Unlocked CPU is not solely for overclocking, but for access to the full features of the CPU while in Advanced Mode in Bios. I would backup my data constantly, looks like a bad builder.

no, not even close again

k (unlocked) cpu has higher base and turbo clocks than non k and overclockable
other than that it has all the same features of the non k

parts failing is not completely the builders fault
picking bad parts is their fault
they did replace the mobo and gpu last time he had problems
that actually a sign of a good builder, if they are willing to support their customer after selling and shipping the pc

[Bad 💀 Motha]

I can pretty much guarantee a crappy PSU is to blame.

What country are you in?

[TechManMax]

Originally posted by _I_:

do you know what psu is in it?

pop sound, can be electrolytic cap, but that should not happen on a new psu
next would be fuse popping in the psu, but if the leds stayed on, then its not those

or it could be mosfet overheating and cracking
in the psu, mobo, or gpu

most of those should be covered by heatsinks, look for burns around heatsinks or mosfets

I opened the case up this morning and had a look inside. Everything "looks" fine...as in I cannot see any blown capacitor caps or see any signs of burning anywhere (the parts basically all look the same as before the incident). Of course I cannot see "inside" the GPU but from the outside everything looks fine. I also had a sniff around to see if I could locate any burning smell but after being off for a few hours with the window open the burning smell seems to have gone (either that or the bunged up nose I woke up with is affecting my sense of smell).

Obviously not going to risk turning it back on so just waiting for the pc manufacturer to respond at this point. But I will say this...the computer would not turn back on (when I pressed the power button) yesterday. The motherboard RGB lights however, which remain on by design even when the machine is turned off but still connected to power, remained on. Surely if the PSU blew there would be no power at all (as if it is was completely unplugged)? Obviously I unplugged it the moment I smelled the burning smell at which point the RGB lights did go off obviously.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

The only weak caps on that Motherboard are the 4 yellow ones for the Audio. The rest are very strong ones, for the VRMs and CPU power related stuff. Again you'll need to inspect the Power Supply. The power not turning back on could be a momentary thing, due to what may have occurred. Like if an over-voltage or something similar occurred that caused the PC to turn off, that is a fail-safe of the Power Supply. The pop could have been something on the RGB also. They have resistors on the RGB strips and they could have caused this as well, depending on where the RGB ultimately connects to.

Test the PSU on another PC maybe. Or just toss in the trash and buy one out of pocket. You should have a backup PSU anyways just in-case. That won't be a guarantee everything else in the system is 100% "OK" though.

[_I_]

odds are its psu, if is an unknown brand

mobo and gpu are hopefully fine