While gaming with friends, the breaker tripped and my PC made a loud popping noise before shutting down. After smelling something like an electrical fire from the power supply, I unplugged everything and replaced it with a new PSU. However, when I tried to turn the PC back on, the fans only spun for a couple of seconds before stopping, and no peripherals even lit up. I double-checked the connections, but it seems like I might be dealing with fried components like the motherboard, CPU, or something else. The fans are connected directly to the motherboard, so it seems to be getting some power, which confuses me. Anyone have ideas on what might be wrong?
6 Answers
It sounds like your PC went through something pretty rough when the breaker tripped. I had a similar experience, and it turned out to be a fried motherboard. Do you have a PSU tester? You might want to test the PSU by itself to see if the fan spins up. That could give you some clues about what's damaged.
I’m betting it’s the motherboard. If it were just the CPU or GPU, you’d still get some power to the system. The fact that it won't start properly points more toward a PSU or motherboard failure.
This issue might stem from overclocking if that's something you've done before. Could you share which PSU you got and your PC settings? Knowing that might help narrow down the problem.
If you’re lucky, the CPU is fine and it’s just the VRM on the motherboard that took a hit. If it's worse, one of your drives could be shorting out the PSU. It's a good idea to unplug everything but what's necessary to boot into BIOS—like drives, GPUs, and extra RAM sticks. See if it gets to BIOS that way to avoid triggering any overcurrent protection.
Replacing the PSU was a smart move! That electrical smell is no joke. After swapping it, did you also change out the cables? If one of the cables is faulty or not suitable for your new PSU, it could cause the boot issue you're facing.
Definitely sounds like you should consider investing in a GFCI, but remember, if the PC has a short, that won't fix it. It's a bit of a catch-22 here!
Yeah, I agree! But if it develops a short, that GFCI might not catch everything.
That makes sense! A power surge could definitely mess with voltage regulation. For future reference, consider getting a surge protector. They're pretty cheap, and some come with warranties if they fail.