Hey there! I have a Cooler Master M2 850 watt power supply paired with an AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT graphics card. Last night, the cable from the power supply to the graphics card almost caught fire. It might just be that the cable was faulty or that the power supply is quite old. I'm okay with either possibility, but I want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong with my setup that could lead to this happening again. I've uploaded an image of the damage for reference. Thanks for any advice to help prevent any fire hazards!
5 Answers
Make sure the cable was plugged in properly, and that should be it! Hopefully, the PSU was the only issue and nothing else got damaged. But if it’s old, you might want to consider a full rebuild soon.
Definitely time for a new PSU! When you get a replacement, avoid using any old cables; it’s crucial to use the ones that come with your new power supply to prevent any fry-ups. Check out some PSU tier lists for great options.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll make sure to swap out all the cables along with the PSU.
Were you using one single PCIe power cable or two separate ones? If you were daisy-chaining them, that could be a problem in the future.
Nope, I used discrete cables as recommended. I think it was just the PSU being outdated.
Considering your PSU is from 2012, it’s time for a replacement, especially for a newer graphics card like the RX 6950 XT. Make sure to choose a reputable model this time around!
It sounds like a super old power supply for such a power-hungry GPU! Generally, you shouldn't use a PSU from around 2012 with a card that can draw close to 400 watts. As a rule, I wouldn’t use a power supply beyond its warranty period, which is usually around 5 to 10 years depending on the model.
Good point! I had no idea, but I won't make that mistake again. Thanks for the heads-up!
Luck was on my side since there’s no visible damage to anything else. I’ll definitely be looking for a new PSU soon!