Did you notice a sudden spark from your computer? It's worth checking if it's something normal or needs attention.
Did you notice a sudden spark from your computer? It's worth checking if it's something normal or needs attention.
I'll attempt to keep it concise yet detailed.
The PC was off but connected to the wall, and I turned on the PSU. Suddenly, I heard a brief zap sound coming from where my PC was located—though it might not have been directly from there. The sound lasted just a fraction of a second, followed by a quick flicker of lights in the room, with only a couple of flashes every twenty seconds.
This wasn’t something I’d experienced before, so I’m unsure what to expect next. The zap and the flickering lights made me feel uneasy, and I became a bit paranoid. It probably was a short circuit caused by the sound and light disturbance, but everything quickly returned to normal. I didn’t smell anything burnt from my PC, and even when I sniffed it from about five centimeters away, nothing stood out.
After turning on the PC, I ran a graphical test for a minute to check if all components were recognized. Everything seemed fine—no performance drops, no instability, no visual issues or random shutdowns. I didn’t notice any burnt smell either.
I checked it several hours ago and can’t verify it right now, but I plan to do so in a few hours. I want to play a game on it soon and might record it as well.
To be honest, I’m getting anxious because this incident feels unusual. It’s like my PC just started acting up without warning, similar to how someone might react to exposure to a harmful substance that only causes problems later.
By the way, I don’t have a UPS, and I wasn’t able to afford one at the moment. My PSU might have some built-in protection, but it’s not enough to guarantee safety.
I searched online for possible issues, but most results were about PCs that won’t turn on, which isn’t my case yet. Even though everything seems normal now, I’m still worried.
I’m wondering if I should start saving up for a new PC or if I’m okay and there’s no need to panic.
My PSU is the Chieftec GDP-650C Gold, and when I bought it, it only had OCP protection—do you think that’s sufficient?
It seems more likely you encountered a problem with the electricity entering your home. If the connection failed completely, causing damage to the lights, something could have been destroyed. The precise amount will vary depending on your country, but an outlet can easily supply more than double the 650 watts it supports. An outlet can operate at full capacity without interfering with other devices. In most homes, lights are not even connected to the same circuit as the outlets in the same room. If you used too much power, it might have caused unusual smells.
A surge in electricity could have harmed the power supply. Many people use inexpensive surge protectors, which may no longer work but still protected other devices from damage. I think you should be okay using it. However, if you’re worried, your best choice might be to purchase a new power supply. It would give you peace of mind more than anything else. Sadly, it’s not practical for home users to test a power supply themselves. There are also few professional review sites with the right tools, making it difficult to find reliable alternatives beyond some expensive brands.
Note OCP means over current protection. It will turn off the power supply if your machine has a short or if say you put in a new video card that tries to take too much power. This is on the DC side it is not on power coming into the house. It kinda is like the circuit breakers in your house but between the power supply and the components in your machine. If it dimmed the lights it is on the AC side of the power supply so OCP does nothing.
It could have been a power surge, I reside in Ukraine in an apartment building and during that event I wasn't consuming much electricity—just the normal usage for things like my fridge and tablet charging, nothing unusual. Probably it was caused by the neighbours or something external, though I'm not sure. As far as I know, I don’t have a surge protector, and my PC is connected to an extension outlet that plugs directly into the wall. When I checked if the PC functions properly a few hours ago, there were no slowdowns, no visual issues, and it started up quickly as usual. There were no strange occurrences, so I’m hoping everything is fine with my components, including the PSU. However, since I haven’t tested it for long—just a few minutes—I’m still a bit concerned. Power surges are common in my area, and they haven’t caused any problems yet. What bothers me now is the loud zap sound I heard. I have no idea what caused it; it might have come from somewhere else, but it was very noticeable and seemed to originate near my computer. The sound was brief, making it hard to pinpoint its exact source.