Brief Burnt Smell

[StevoWunder]

Hello, I have visited this site many times and have found the answers I needed. This time, however, I am not able to located the answer.

I have a custom built system, my first build about 3 years ago. (Coming up on 4) The specs are:
CPU: FX-4100
GPU: Radeon HD 7850 2GB
PSU: Rosewill RX850-S-B 850W (80 Bronze)
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaws 8GB
MoBo: ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0
HDD: Seagate 2TB @ 7500 RPM
I added another HDD I came across in an old PC which is a 40GB Western Digital. (Luckily was a SATA)

I added the HDD and did some miscellaneous cleaning of my tower, just to rid of a little dust buildup. When I connected back what I needed to, there was a brief burnt smell and nothing displayed on the monitors. I unplugged the HDD thinking that may have caused it. After unplugging the power and SATA cord, there wasn't a burnt smell but there was nothing on my monitors.

My PC will turn on and everything will run as normal just no display after the brief burnt smell.

Thanks!


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Update: I still am not sure what the burnt smell was, it may have been dust that got near a heat source. Anyway, I was able to solve my issue. It was simply my 4-Pin connector to the motherboard. On my tower the PSU is at the bottom and the 4-Pin is at the top, not giving any wiggle room. It was simply pulled loose.

 

[clutchc]

The burnt smell was probably the electrical arc caused when the 4 pin CPU cable pulled loose from its header. I supect there may be some burn marks on the pins or socket or both.

 

[StevoWunder]

The burnt smell was probably the electrical arc caused when the 4 pin CPU cable pulled loose from its header. I supect there may be some burn marks on the pins or socket or both.

When I smelled around the tower, it seemed to have either come from the PSU or the GPU. I didn't see any burn marks near/around the 4-pin.
Would this cause issues in the future?

 

[clutchc]

The burnt smell was probably the electrical arc caused when the 4 pin CPU cable pulled loose from its header. I supect there may be some burn marks on the pins or socket or both.

When I smelled around the tower, it seemed to have either come from the PSU or the GPU. I didn't see any burn marks near/around the 4-pin.
Would this cause issues in the future?

Only if the plug or the socket was burned to the point it wasn't making a good electrical connection.