New installation, crackling noise, burning odor
New installation, crackling noise, burning odor
Hi all.
I've also posted this over on the Reddit forums as I'm desperate for advice.
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/commen...ing_smell/
I'm in a bit of a panic and I come seeking help / advice / sympathy.
I have built a new PC for about € 2000, which is a lot of money for me.
I built it myself, which I have done several times before. It was built two days ago. All components are brand new, except for one SSD drive and one HDD drive.
The new PC has been running normally for the past two days. It has been slow to boot, starting with showing red and orange debug led for a few minutes before starting up the OS. I've read that this is not uncommon for AM5 systems like mine. Other than that the PC, once booted into the OS, was running fine. I kept an eye on temperatures. CPU temp would sit idle at around 35 C (95 F), to jump to around 55 C (130 F) during cpu tasks.
Today I was using the computer. It had been running for two hours or so. While I was installing an application I heard a click from the PSU and the PC had shut down completely. I tried to restart it, but other than a click from the PSU, nothing happened.
I turned off the PSU power button and unplugged the power cord from the wall socket for a few seconds. I then plugged the power cable back in, switched the PSU on and tried again. The computer started like it did before, with red and orange debug lights. But almost immediately I also heard an electrical crackling sound coming from the motherboard. I wanted to power down immediately but was dumb enough to try that with the power button at first. Didn't work fast enough so I hit the switch on the PSU. Altogether had about 3 seconds of crackling. After shutdown, there was a burning smell coming from the case. The smell was clear, but not strong enough to fill the room and had dissipated after around 15 minutes. There was no smoke.
I inspected the insides of the case visually with a flash light. I do not see anything out of the ordinary. The crackling sound appeared to come from close to the debug leds, close to the outer edge of the RAM. No visual clues.
My brother asked whether I had installed the motherboard properly, with the necessary standoffs. Now I did install the mobo directly into the case, assuming the standoffs molded into the case would be sufficient. It was for my previous pc and that one was built in a similar case. The back of the motherboard is not touching the case anywhere, except through the screws. Also, if this was the problem I reckon it would have appeared sooner, not after 2 days of use?
I'm devastated and scared for major damage. This is the Christmas present I gave myself after having saved up for it for years.
Since I purchased the components individually I can't RMA anything without localizing the component that is the source of the problem. But it's not as if I have professional testing equipment to test each component in isolation.
🙁
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Also I apologize in advance if I put this in the incorrect forum section.
Components:
CPU: Ryzen 7800X3D
CPU cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin
Motherboard: MSI B650 Gaming Plus Wifi
Ram: G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO 2x 32 GB 6000 Mhz CL30
SSD/HDD: M2 Western Digital Black SN 850X 2 TB | Samsung EVO 960 SSD 250 GB | Western Digital Blue HDD 1 TB | WD Blue HDD 2 TB
GPU: None (Bought a 7800XT to go with the build but I haven't installed it yet, was using the iGPU)
PSU: Corsair RM1000e
Chassis: NZXT H7 Flow
OS: W11
I would advice you not to even touch the computer at the moment and any burning smell and computer going off could be link to faulty PSU or HHD Drive or possable motherboard if you heard crackling noices.
After christmas when stores open would be best to contact them see if you can exchange/Replace the Corsair RM1000e and possable the motherboard and then bulid it again and see what happens or you could find friend or spare PSU to test it or there is an paper clip test to test your psu out
https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articl...pply-Unit-
Thank you for your feedback. I'm considering running the PSU test again, though I'm unsure if it will help. The PSU did power on previously, but I had to shut it down manually to avoid further damage.
If you don't want to do the testing, then when stores reopen you might consider returning and replacing the motherboard and PSU. Alternatively, check for any burning smells around the hard drive or similar components. If it was a CPU, expect higher temperatures and no warning messages, pointing to issues with the motherboard, PSU, or HDD.
Like from the wall socket? Extremely improbable. There was a gap in time between when the computer stopped working and I restarted it, which might have caused an issue. Nothing else in the house was impacted. Thanks for your help! Your input is really valuable.
Keep the forums informed about what's going on, as it's costly to build. If you were in their shoes, you'd panic and get stressed out. Normal store times are fine—just ask them to replace the PSU and motherboard you bought, just in case because they might be faulty again.
Last night I disassembled the PC thoroughly. No visual damage was seen on any components, and there were no loose or faulty connections found. The smell of burning was clearly coming from one specific part on the motherboard—it's a fixed component without any connections. There are no blown or swollen capacitors. I've reached out to the motherboard seller asking for a replacement, and I'm also planning to replace my PSU just to be safe. Once the new motherboard and PSU arrive and everything is reassembled, I'll post an update here. I really hope it works out without any further issues. Thanks for all the responses so far.
Well, it turned out interesting. I stumbled upon it and found myself quite intrigued. I’m hoping none of the costly parts got damaged!