Computer died randomly

[Badger101]

Hello friends,

I know many people have posted similar, but still hope you guys/girls can help.
My computer recently, out of the blue, shut itself off. It has sporadically done that in the past, but it always restarted immediately. Alas, not this time.

As soon as my pc didn't turn on, I opened the case to a strong smell of burning.

My other peripherals - monitors, keyboard,etc still light up; work when power is on.

I tried it today and as soon as I pressed the power button, the front fan light turned on, then off.


Many thanks if you can help me

 

[Soul Hacker]

Typically, when a PC shuts itself off, that is due to a critical issue which causes the motherboard to perform an emergency shut down. I don't know how much help I can be, or anyone really with what you're describing but you said you smell burning. Can you not look about the case and identify the source?

How old is the PC? Is the board discolored anywhere that you can see? Capacitors on the board popped anywhere? I'd normally assume burning smell, to be the power supply but you say other devices have power? Under what circumstances?
Like, my PC is plugged into an outlet and the power supply has a switch on the back, that turns it on/off. I typically shut it off during the day, because other people insist on using the power all day. If the PSU switch is in the off position, nothing else has power, like my mic .. if the switch is in the ON position, then my mic light is on, etc.
Are you saying just sitting there, other attached parts have power? Or they seem to turn on, when you try to turn it on ..? Do they immediately shut off with that fan light you mentioned?

Look into your power supply, because even if the power is flickering on briefly, your power supply may be melted badly and failing. I'd always assume that first, but if the capacitors (those little black cylinders with silver tops on your motherboard) appear damaged, or the board is discolored anywhere, then the board has sustained terminal damage.

 

[Badger101]

Thanks for your reply.

Pleased excuse my vagueness in the initial question, 'twas rather late in the evening.

I, literally, know very little about computers. Other than what hardware is good etc. I couldn't tell you what hardware caused the issue. I did notice that a bright yellow light(don't know if flame) appeared briefly next to the cpu cooler when it shut down.

The PC is a couple of years old - FX3820, 16GB Corsair Ram, GTX 770, a bizarre branded 80+ bronze PSU, ASUS M5A-78L-M.

The monitors, obviously, are plugged into the surge protector, mouse etc into the pc. The latter is what happens - mouse lights up for less than a micro second when the power button is pressed.

I gave a brief check, nothing to note. But, then again, I was not sure what to look for.

I'll check later on when I'm back home.

Many thanks once again!

 

[Soul Hacker]

Well, no one else had responded, so I wanted to try and offer you atleast some guidance. I'm no expert myself and without looking myself, it's difficult to venture theories. But the smell should tell you the most obvious part, something melted .. and that would generally mean your PC is gone. There's not gonna be any real fixing this. I mean, you can rebuild with the parts that survived it but wherever that smell is coming from, is shot and beyond repair.

I'd .. assume those were sparks or something you saw, and venture a theory the CPU fried.

When you can give it a better look, remember what I said. Look for popped little black cylinders on the board, or discoloration. Check the power supply, you can usually peek into those from behind with a flashlight and see enough to determine if there's damage.

I'll keep an eye on this post and offer any help I can but all you can really do right now, I would think, is determine what fried .. and what is undamaged, and decide how to proceed.

The good news is, I'd shoot to wager your harddrives are OK, so your data is likely safe. So you could either plug them into a new PC, or buy an external harddrive enclosure for $20-34 bucks, tops, and get all your data moved to a new PC with relative ease.

But the one you have .. is likely finished. Burning smell = destroyed hardware somewhere. If it was the PSU that fried, that could be replaced and the PC might be okay but you saw what may be sparks near the fan .. that .. does not encourage any faith in my part to attempt salvaging it.

Consider a new PC, and external enclosure or transfering your drives to see if your data made it through this intact. If you have any other questions, feel free to post. I'll try my best.

I'm also assuming you bought this PC from a store since you said you aren't very knowledgeable, so technical failure can be pretty common there especially when you try to use them for more than typing/internet browsing/email etc.

Pardon if that's a wrong assumption.

I also have to add, do not attempt to turn it back on anymore, it's clear something is very wrong. Until we know what went wrong, don't mess with giving it power.

 

[Badger101]

Thank you very much, Soul

I do surmise, hope as well, it was the PSU that failed as it would often restart.

I'll send it back to the company that built it for me (your assumption was correct ) and hope they'll fix it.

I was going to get a new one this winter, but it looks likes I'll be getting one sooner. Especially with the announcement of the GTX 1080!

Once again, you've been incredibly kind and helpful. I do appreciate it.

 

[Soul Hacker]

You're welcome, I'm glad I was of some help to you. But like I said, if you saw sparks or flashes near the CPU or it's heatsink, that sounds pretty serious to me but if you're sending it back to the manufacturer you bought it from, inform them of everything you smelled / witnessed so they know to check everything thoroughly.

You might want to learn more about the various PC components, even a very basic knowledge. It really helps. I've built my last two machines myself, from hand chosen parts. The first time was a bit nerve-wracking (so was the second time, actually .. haha) but I feel more confident because of it.

Never the less, good luck with getting it fixed! I'm sure they'll handle it for you from here.