Help something's burning- is it motherboard, PSU, what?!

claypigeon101

claypigeon101

claypigeon101

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Hi guys, serious issue here,
I've put it here because I don't know what my issue is,

I have two pins on my PSU-to-motherboard ATX power connector that are burning away and I don't know what the problem is :eek:
I believe they are the two 12v pins.

The ATX cable (pictured) going from the PSU goes into an ATX extension (not pictured), and the extension goes into the motherboard. When I split the PSU ATX from the extension I saw this:
x232bs.jpg

As you can see one pin is very blackened and the other is literally burning away...

A better angle of the PSU ATX mobo end:
9hqff6.jpg


Also, if it's of any help, the other side of the PSU ATX plug (mobo end) has two blackened/singed wires near a capacitor/component:
sdz669.jpg


The ATX extension (not pictured), both female and male (into mobo) end are clean. It's just the end of the stock PSU ATX cable (that should go straight into the motherboard, if the extension wasn't fitted)

For reference my motherboard is perfectly clean. See?:
2zofakm.jpg


Can you guys shed any light please? I don't know if my power supply is failing, or the cable needs replacing... if it's corrosion spoiling the pins, or something to do with having two SLI'd 580s... Or the motherboard is drawing too much voltage somehow...

[For reference:]
Stock i7 2600k
Stock SLI'd 580s
4x4GB DDR3
Corsair H80 connected to molex + CPU fan header. H80's own single fan connected to H80's own header

Before I had this system the guy had the H80 installed with the radiator fan plugged into the CPU_ALT port.
Don't know if any of this is significant.

What do you think?! Petrified to use my PC at the minute.

Many hopeful thanks in advance.
 
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If it's the same one as his siggy it's a OCZ ZX850. I have seen this before where the motherboard has tried pulling too much power but that's usually on the plug that goes into the motherboard. Was this a quality extension or a cheapo one?
 
Can you show a picture of the extension, and the end of the actual PSU wire please?

I'm confused to which is the extension, and which one isn't.

My extension cables do not have any capacitors on them at all. (Silver Stone) and I would have thought the same would apply to the Bitfenix ones too.
 
Thanks for the response guys, but allow me to clarify:

PSU is OCZ ZX 850w.

The cable in the photos is the PSU's ATX cable, and the end where it connects to the motherboard (or in my case the extension) has the two burning pins.

[The extension is clean, and yes it has no capacitors etc on it, it's just a male to female with wires straight through. It's basic Akasa branded I think]
 
careful! you may need to replace both if the damage gets much worse, I had a power surge a while back. (my fault for having a cheap as chips PSU) and the PSU melted into the MOBO and both were fried, could smell burning and couldnt find the cause, until I tried pulling out the 6 pin cable and it wouldn't budge. is the burning on the MOBO aswell, if not then I would see about maybe trying a spare PSU if you have one or could borrow one.
 
I was wondering if it could be a little corrosion that has caused this. Have read about it before.

This was a 2011 power supply but very expensive fully modular and 80plus gold... But it has been running SLI'd 580s.

Got onto Firepower USA (took over OCZ CPUs including warranties) and they told me they'd happily send me a new ATX cable.

Do you reckon this will solve the problem?
 
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High draw, poor quality connectors (high contact resistance) = heat.

Change the PSU, ditch the extension cable.

Capacitors can be useful in some situations for smoothing power delivery but the PSU should be doing this for you internally. Never seen them on a cable before - very odd!
 
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Skiddley said:
High draw, poor quality connectors (high contact resistance) = heat.

Change the PSU, ditch the extension cable.

Capacitors can be useful in some situations for smoothing power delivery but the PSU should be doing this for you internally. Never seen them on a cable before - very odd!
Click to expand...

I thought so too- never seen capacitors inline on the cable.

Have officially requested an RMA so will see what they do about it.

Can I ask, do you think 850W is enough power for my system?
Specs in my sig, specifically 2 580s SLI is very high draw... online calculators estimate I need 900w minimum.

I'm planning on flogging them to make room for a 970 mind... hehe
 
russell664 said:
Can you show a picture of the extension, and the end of the actual PSU wire please?

I'm confused to which is the extension, and which one isn't.

My extension cables do not have any capacitors on them at all. (Silver Stone) and I would have thought the same would apply to the Bitfenix ones too.
Click to expand...

Sorry russell664, no photos are of the extension. The extension is a cheap Akasa standard-looking one, and both ends of that are absolutely fine. As is the motherboard socket.

Please see my silly paint drawing above to explain.

The only burnt pins are on the PSU ATX cable, at the male (motherboard) end. Except in my case it's attached to an extension, not motherboard. And the extension is fine. :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
pastymuncher said:
If it's the same one as his siggy it's a OCZ ZX850. I have seen this before where the motherboard has tried pulling too much power but that's usually on the plug that goes into the motherboard. Was this a quality extension or a cheapo one?
Click to expand...

It's the OCZ ZX 850w, yes.

The extension is a basic-looking Akasa one, with wires straight through pin-to-pin. No capacitors etc in the way.

Could it be a motherboard issue do you think? Both things are in warranty still. I could always attempt to RMA both and see how far I get
 
Very unlikely a motherboard issue.

It would most likely be the PSU.

Change the PSU. If the cable is burnt like that, it is due to poor connectors as others have said above.

Get a Seasonic, or Superflower. :)
 
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