Question Burnt out PSU + checking for associated damage

[drakenskar]

I turned on a PC I've been building for a while for the first time yesterday, and was having difficulty getting it to post. After reseating the memory and trying again, the PC began to start up, but there was a very audible static sound and an immediate smell of something burning. I turned it off immediately, and for the most part have isolated the smell to the PSU but have no idea where to go from here.
I am pretty sure the PSU is fried and don't want to risk using it again, but is there a way to check the rest of my PC for damage? I'm not sure whether the PSU was faulty from the start or if I just killed the rest of my components by plugging something in wrong, and don't know where to go for help

EVGA 750 G3
Nvidia 2060 Super
Ryzen 3700X
ASUS Prime X470-Pro

 

[PC Tailor]

Welcome to the forums my friend!

There is no sure fire way to test other components outside of visual inspection for damage/burns/cap damage etc. The only true way to test is to re-use them in another safe working system and see if they are still working as expected.

It would be worth checking that the rear power cable to the back of the PSU was properly and fully seated and didn't just cause arcing which can create a static like sound.

 

[drakenskar]

Welcome to the forums my friend!

There is no sure fire way to test other components outside of visual inspection for damage/burns/cap damage etc. The only true way to test is to re-use them in another safe working system and see if they are still working as expected.

It would be worth checking that the rear power cable to the back of the PSU was properly and fully seated and didn't just cause arcing which can create a static like sound.

I don't think was an issue with the rear power cable because it was doing fine on standby, but I'll try reseating and jumping it. It sounds like I'm gonna have to buy another PSU and just try powering each component one after another to make sure they work, so I'll look into that. Thanks for your help
Edit: Having now jumped the PSU, it ran perfectly fine. No smell, fan spun, no sounds of sparking. Either something goes wrong when it tries to power everything else, or you're right and I screwed up on the seating.

 

[PC Tailor]

I don't think was an issue with the rear power cable because it was doing fine on standby, but I'll try reseating and jumping it. It sounds like I'm gonna have to buy another PSU and just try powering each component one after another to make sure they work, so I'll look into that. Thanks for your help
Edit: Having now jumped the PSU, it ran perfectly fine. No smell, fan spun, no sounds of sparking. Either something goes wrong when it tries to power everything else, or you're right and I screwed up on the seating.

Glad to see that you've got it working. Also if it is a brand new PSU, just remember some chemically smells are perfectly normal (outside of leaking cap fluid for example) as they use quite a lot in the manufacturing process and also clean it down chemically before shipping.

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