PSU Electrical burning smell

NightmareXX

NightmareXX

NightmareXX

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Just installed my new system of a phenom 2 and a GTX 280 and when I run 3D mark vantage, I can smell something nasty coming from my PSU. It's an electrical burning smell that until now I've never noticed, could be due to me never being this close to the PSU, I'm not sure.

My PSU is a well branded model, an FSP FX700-GLN Epsilon. It is old though (2 years).

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=638&page=2

According to the above, I should be fine for powering my system. For my phenom there's the standard 12V mobo connector (15A for it's own rail), the GTX 280 has 2x 6pin PCI-E connections (15A on each rail) and a 2x molex to 6pin PCI-E (15A shared along the molex/sata rails, got 3 HDD's and a DVD drive plugged in).

Am I likely to kill my system or is it just the smell of the PSU actually being tested?
 
If it is getting hotter than before and is dusty that might be what you can smell. Im sure a burning smell isn't a good thing though so I'd suggest you don't use it until you get to the bottom of it! It could be a sign that it is on it's last legs? Burning smell from PSU is certainly not normal though.

I've never smelt an electrical "burning" smell from a PSU unless it has blown. Other people may have had a different experience though. You sure it's not a new PCB smell?
 
could just be from the new components as a lot new electrical equipment has a slight smell when 1st used. as smells generally rise its coming out through the fan /vent for the psu... would still double check by removing side etc and smell in the actual case

could be something and nothing
 
Well at the moment my case is on the floor on it's side so I can easily get to components and such. It'd make sense with the "new electrical equipment" thing as I am using a 12V rail that was previously untouched. I know it's the PSU because I can smell it coming from it's vent at the back and there's nothing else blowing into it.

Got a watt meter plugged in to the wall socket so I'll see how many watts it's drawing before I make any conclusions. I'm hopeful for the 12V rail never being used one :D

EDIT: I've had a look inside the PSU through the grill and I can't see anything visibly wrong
 
Worth keeping a close eye on it and maybe run the system with the side cover off.

Check to see the fan spins up correctly under pressure.

EDI: lol just saw your post above after I posted.
 
Right then, it's drawing around 300W at the wall so I'll assume 280 for the 12V devices.

280 / 12 = ~23A across all 12V devices.

The CPU has 15A available to it and the GTX 280 has (12V1 + 12V2 + 12V3) about 45 available :o Surely I can't be overloading it?

EDIT: The fan is definitely spinning on the PSU although the air it's blowing out isn't too warm
 
I would just give it a few days and keep an eye on it, might just go after a day or 2, like I stated common with new components/electrical goods and you have plenty of power with your psu
 
I unplugged everything bar my fans (12V rail) and hotwired the PSU to turn on. The burning smell is still there although not quite as strong. Is this good or bad?
 
It's your GTX280 mate. A lot of them buzz crazily, mine does. Also, I noticed the new PCB/burning smell just after installing mine.
 
I'm sure the buzzing comes from the PSU though and I don't like it! Although....

Just installed my old ATi X1900, loaded that with furmark and stuck prime95 on all 4 cores and managed to get to 270W draw from the plug. Not a whisper over normal operation from the PSU and that was with the new 12V rail being used (The one that hadn't been used before).

@Alex: I can smell the burning coming from my PSU, surely it isn't drawing it from the GTX? I can still smell it when I put my X1900 in.
 
Just listened again very carefully and it does seem like the GTX is the one buzzing. The PSU still has a nasty burning smell although I think that can now be attributed to the 12V rail being used for the first time :)

If my PSU were to go pop, is it likely to take anything with it? It's got both overvolt and overcurrent protection on it and it's by a reputable brand so it shouldn't kill anything right?
 
OK if you're sure. Perhaps your PSU hasn't dealt with this much load (and therefore heat) before, so it's just burning up some dust or something?

If the PSU is decent, it shouldn't, but you never know. I do wonder where you stand with the warranties on this, are they obliged to replace your other components (or at least refund you damages?)
 
It's never had this much load before, most was 250W and it'll quite easily get to 300W now. As far as I'm aware, FSP is a good, well known brand so I should be fine :) I'm pretty sure that if a PSU blows and takes something else out, there's nothing they'll do about it.
 
You have two choices, risk it blowing and maybe taking other components with it or buy a new psu and feel settled that you acted before any damage could have been caused.
 
But the risk of it blowing is quite small given that it's not even at half load and it's made by a good brand?

I'm 99% sure that it's my GTX that's making the buzzing noise. Is this normal?
 
Yes, it will be the GTX, a lot of nvidia cards do this. Try forcing vsync on all the time, that's what i've done. Never needed above 60fps.

Mine was the same, I connected a new power connector to a 12v rail that hadn't been previously used, and it was a bit smelly (like blown PSU) for a while then went away. I think it's just the extra load not being used before. Mine is a corsair hx620, so i'm quite sure of it's reliability and capabilities.
 
Right then, that's made my mind up. The buzzing is the GTX and that's normal (Yet annoying) and the burning smell from my PSU is from a newly used rail.

To add to this, the buzzing sound is still evident at only 240W draw (Running 3Dmark 06) and therefore, must be the graphics :)
 
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