Please Help - PC not Starting / Smoking...

cleaver

cleaver

cleaver

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Joined
21 Apr 2011
Posts
8
Hello,

I'd be really really grateful for any thoughts on this.

I built my own PC about a month ago and it's run absolutely fine, for playing racing games.

Last night I was just about to switch off when the computer suddenly died. I presumed it had a funny moment and would be fine. Because it was late I switched the plug off at the wall and went to bed and forgot all about it.

Today, just pressed on the on switch and nothing happened. I turned off the power, tried again and noticed the case light come on, and a slight sound for literally a tiny fraction of a second, then nothing. Tried a different power lead and the same happened.

I took the side of the case off. Checked all the connections and noticed nothing except a very slight smell that sort of reminded me of a train set from many years ago. Tried the power, same again.

Tried one more time, everything starts running, fans etc. Suddenly I notice smoke coming out of the back of the DVD drive, either where the power or possibly the SATA lead attached - at the same time the DVD drawer opened. I quickly pulled the power, and now I'm upset!

Any ideas would be very very welcome. Initially I thought the Power supply had died, and I'm still hoping that's that case, although I guess the DVD drive is dead too. Or could the problem be just the DVD drive?

Any ideas?

Many many thanks,

Adam
 
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heyy, ive never had any problems with smoking DVD drives in the past but if your using something REALLY cheap maybe thats the case? what make was it? something made by a propper brand? and also whats the PSU you have? if thats cheap and nasty most definatley its that, also you can try 'the paperclip trick' to see if the PSU is working, google it :P sorry to hear about this!
 
Thanks for the quick reply. The DVD drive is a Sony, so it should be good quality, the PSU is a Casecom, which maybe isn't so good...

Will get googling now!
 
The most likely suspect is the PSU and it's taken the DVD with it. Hopefully nothing else.

What's the make and model of the PSU and the full spec. of the rest of the system?

Try taking the PSU out of the case and give it a sniff to see if you get that "train set" smell from it.
 
cleaver said:
Thanks for the quick reply. The DVD drive is a Sony, so it should be good quality, the PSU is a Casecom, which maybe isn't so good...

Will get googling now!
Click to expand...

A quick Google shows Casecom PSU's are less than £20.

No, no, no, no, no.

Never skimp on the PSU.

It's almost certainly the PSU which has gone.

Send it back, get a refund and buy a quality brand.

Provide full details of your system and a PSU can be recommended for you.
 
I know I maybe should have paid more, but I was trying to balance the cost across the whole system. This is what I have:

- Gigabyte GA-HA65M-D2H-B3 H61 Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio mATX Motherboard
- Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz Socket 1155 3MB L3 Cache
- Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Memory Kit
- Xilence Red Wing 80mm Quiet Fan - 3&4pin connection
- XFX HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI Mini Display Port Out Graphics Card
- Casecom Silver 500W PSU
- Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW & DL SATA Optical Drive
- Seagate 250GB 3.5" Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s Hard Drive - 7200RPM 8MB Cache

Many thanks for your reply.
 
Moothead2 said:
The Corsair 430w would be enough for that system.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-033-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

Even if it's not your PSU that has faulted (Which it very likely is) get this PSU. You'll pay heavily in the future for skimping on the PSU.
Click to expand...

That PSU is pretty bottom end for Corsair and isn't even 80+ certified:

Corsair Builder Series CX430 430W Preview

It's also been replaced by a V2 model.

I'd suggest this one:

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £44.99
 
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Many thanks for the continuing advice and ideas.

It may be impossible for you to comment on this, but what are the chances that something other than the DVD drive got fried? This is what is now frightening me.

My first step will be to choose one of those PSUs (I'm hoping I can pick one up tomorrow), and pray it all works when I fire it up.
 
Just thought I'd update since I got so much help here.

Bought a £50 PSU yesterday connected up everything except the DVD drive. The machine and fans all powered up but nothing on the screen. Moved the monitor lead to the motherboard output and the screen came to life, to tell me there was no boot drive.

I can get into the bios which confirmed the processor speed and RAM.

So my guess is the graphics card and hard drive are dead, and hopefully the motherboard and CPU are OK. I backed up using Windows 7 default backup settings a couple of weeks ago, I hope the restore process is painless...

The company I bought it all from have been excellent so far (other than selling me a junk PSU) and are accepting all the components back to test, and should replace as necessary.

Something I read here before I started my PC was to buy everything from the same supplier, this has proved to be excellent advice.

Many thanks for all the help.

Adam
 
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