PC Gaming Discussion

[morsdraconis]

So frustrating...

A couple of weeks ago my main PC died on me and immediately afterwards I smelled a burning smell (like burning wires). I tried to see if there was anything particular that smelled burnt but couldn't find it. I waited overnight and in the morning, powered it back up and it went fine. I left it running for the rest of the day without issue but the next day, it crashed again with that same burning smell. Best I could tell it was the power supply but couldn't be sure.

I ordered a nice new power supply and installed it this past week but got nothing... no fan, no lights, nothing, only a half-hearted click that sounds like it's coming from the power supply after I press the power button. So without much time this past week, I had to set it aside and wait to look at it this weekend.

Finally tonight I'm able to break it down and see if I could find it but low & behold, after checking every connection, I still get nothing. I don't know if it's two bad power supplies, a fried CPU/motherboard or possibly even a fried video card. I'm going to take it into a PC shop tomorrow... first time I've ever had to do something like that since typically I can find the problem myself. I'm hoping they can just tell me it's a bad power supply and I can RMA it back to newegg to get a new one.

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears but at this point I'm just ready to get it fixed, hopefully without too much cost.

Burning wire smell is tough to diagnose though because it could be a connection on the motherboard causing the issue or it could be one of the wires coming from the motherboard to somewhere else causing the issue.

First thing I'd do is take it all apart and see if you can locate the main source of the burning wire smell. Look at the motherboard - any burn spots on it? Smell the inside of the old power supply. If it doesn't have a STRONG burning wire smell, it's highly unlikely it was the original issue.

While it could be a bad power supply followed by a DOA power supply, I actually find it unlikely to be the case. Maybe check the outlet itself. See if it has burn marks on it. Try plugging it into a different outlet. Hell, make sure it didn't burn up your powerstrip. There are plenty of things that could be causing the burning wire smell so I'd be thorough before I'd just take it to a PC Repair Shop (if they're anything like ones that I've been to before, they know less about PCs than I do).

Above all else, I can tell you it's definitely not the video card, RAM, or fried CPU. All three wouldn't prevent the powersupply from coming on. The video card would just prevent any visuals and RAM and CPU would cause the onboard speaker to make some interesting noises but otherwise allow the powersupply to come on.