Notice loud noise and burning odor upon powering up
Notice loud noise and burning odor upon powering up
There was a loud pop and a brief burning odor this morning while turning on my computer. Before I could press the power button, the login screen appeared on my monitor. After logging in, everything looked normal. Concerned, I powered off the machine and unplugged it. Through quick research, I suspect a capacitor failure in the power supply (Corsair HX 650w), which is likely the oldest component (~10 years). Since nothing obvious was damaged on the motherboard, I’m considering replacing the power supply with a Corsair RM850x. I plan to restart the computer using only the C: drive connected, leaving the data drive disconnected for safety. Is this a reasonable solution or should I take it to a repair shop? I’ve inspected the board closely and found no signs of damage.
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
You might want to note all the components the PSU supported over its decade of use with you.
I gathered the information from memory. Here are the details:
CPU: Intel Core i7 LGA 1151
CPU cooler: Cooler Master
Motherboard: Asus Z170 Pro
Ram: 32 GB DDR4
Storage: SSD replaced 3 months ago with Samsung V-NAND 980 Pro; currently 2 SSDs installed, possibly 2 or 4 HDDs over time. Previously had a graphics card.
GPU: none
PSU: Corsair HX 650W
Chassis: Cooler Master HAF High Airflow
OS: Windows 10
Monitor: Eizo 24"
You need to decide whether to replace the current power supply to fix your setup, or consider this as your initial upgrade if issues arise with the older components that are still missing. Your strategy seems well thought out.
Occasionally, PSU makers place two or three electrolytics in parallel on a low voltage DC output rail, aiming for the right level of ripple suppression—for instance, 3 x 2200uF for a total of 6600uF. If one of these capacitors fails, the ripple voltage rises and the PSU keeps operating. Whether this higher ripple exceeds ATX limits and causes damage is hard to judge. Usually, some margin exists in the design of motherboards, drives, etc., before failure occurs under excessive ripple. The ripple limits set by ATX are 120mV for the +12V and -12V rails, and 50mV for the other rails (5V, 3.3V, and 5VSB). It seems your motherboard handled the minor surge without a violent reaction and kept functioning. If this were my setup, I’d just swap in a fresh PSU and monitor everything to ensure everything stays intact.