I just got a new power supply unit (PSU), the Thermaltake Toughpower GT 1000W (ATX 3.1), and I noticed a really bad smell when I first booted it up. I had to switch some cables around since I was using some from my old Thermaltake G1 850W. The smell was concerning, almost like something was burning, so I turned off my PC immediately. I've heard that some electrical components can emit odd smells when used for the first time, but this one was quite alarming. Is my PSU faulty, or is this smell normal?
4 Answers
Did you possibly power it on with the wrong cables connected? That could definitely cause issues. Just a thought!
If you don’t see any smoke, you might want to run it for a little while and see if the smell goes away. Sometimes they just need to burn in a bit.
Hey, I just found out it wasn't the PSU after all! It turned out to be the capacitor on my PC case that was burnt. I think the PSU provided too much power, which overcharged it and caused it to burn out.
I've heard some negative things about Thermaltake PSUs. It's too bad because I've had good experiences with them in the past. Seems like there are mixed reviews.
I understand your worries, but honestly, I've used Thermaltake for my builds and haven't had issues either. I guess it really varies!
It was just the cable to the case capacitor. It's an old case and I was going to upgrade anyway, so good to find out it wasn't the PSU!