Computer shutting itself off, recently made a popping sound

[Monklypomp]

I could really use some help right now.

I built my current PC about 2 years ago and everything has been fine. Soon after I upgraded to Windows 10 in late July, my PC started shutting off by itself about once a week or so. No crash dump is generated and the error I'm getting in the event viewer is "kernel-power 41 (63)". It's happened several times now, every time it's at night with only one exception. One reason for this might be that I have my video card running flat out at night, crunching data for the Folding@Home program. Something about my computer being under load might be part of what's causing it. I was thinking it was software related since it started happening shortly after I updated to Windows 10, but now I'm thinking it's hardware. The last time it shut off, my computer wouldn't power back on at all. I came back to it later, and I plugged the power cord into another outlet on my surge protector just for the hell of it. I pressed the power button and it started back up, but this time there was an audible pop, followed by a burning smell. The computer appears to be running fine, however. I suspect it could be a faulty PSU. One more thing to add to all this is that not long ago there was a lightning strike nearby and it blew up my modem. I'm starting to wonder if it didn't also do damage to my computer. It's plugged into a surge protector, but I didn't learn until later that you also need to have EVERYTHING connected to the computer also going through the protector for it to be truly effective. Unfortunately I never got around to this.

So there could be lots of things wrong. I was wondering if you guys had some suggestions for what I could try next and what clues I could gather. Any and all help is very much appreciated. Thanks!

Maximus VII Hero
EVGA GTX 970 w/ a small factory overclock
I7 4790K 4.0 GHz
16 GB G.SKILL ram
SuperNOVA 850 G2 power supply

 

[dudio]

I'm thinking either GPU/CPU temperatures (you don't list them), or the PSU is indeed hurt.
Check temps first, then if that's fine, swap in a PSU to eliminate that possibility.

 

[Monklypomp]

My CPU, GPU, and case temps have all been normal. And I nearly bought another PSU today online, but wanted to run this by this forum before I did so.

 

[Monklypomp]

Ok, so I continued to use my computer for a time until it started making a burning smell one night. I immediately shut it off, and left it off until I swapped out the PSU the next day. I replaced it with the exact same PSU. I was reasonably sure that was the problem because I inspected the old one, and when looking through the rear grill it appears that there's a whitish-grey substance around the base of a capacitor. The new one doesn't have this. However, when turning the computer back on it immediately started making the burning smell again and I was forced to shut it off. I suppose the next most likely culprit is the mobo? I've already looked it over and couldn't see any evidence of damage. Any ideas on what to do next?

 

[dudio]

I'd be looking for something else faulty or shorting out.
It might be best to take everything out of the case and putting everything back together piece by piece. Make sure the motherboard looks good and ensure the standoffs between it and the case are good and in right position. Make sure no wires are exposed and touching something they shouldn't. When you do power up, do it with least amount of components plugged in, then introduce them one by one (powering off and restarting each time to do that).

 

[Monklypomp]

Thanks for your help so far, dudio. I can't say I've ever had a computer problem quite like this one before.

Ok so, I started swapping components in and out of the PC, it appears that the burning smell is coming from the video card. The smell starts up just as soon as the PC is powered, but it doesn't occur without the card. I also plugged in an older card and it works fine, no smell. Looks like I'll be ordering a new one. I'll bump this thread if I have any more problems.