[SOLVED] GPU crash and burning plastic smell coming from PSU

Apr 19, 2021
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I recently bought a Nvidia GTX 970 and when I tried gaming on it it would crash to a blank colour screen, I managed to fix this by underclocking it. After I tried playing dirt rally 2.0 on ultra settings and it performed really well but there was a burning plastic smell coming from the PSU (I could be wrong and it was coming from the GPU but I am fairly certain that it was coming from the power supply). Then the screen went black and I could still hear the game, this could just be the cable though.

the PSU is low quality and most likely the problem but I just want to confirm before I go out buying lots of computer hardware

link to PSU:
https://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/5..._MbcYipfG4IikwPW7smSYxl2Sgjp2oygaAgyOEALw_wcB

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
HDD: Toshiba P300 2TB
Motherboard: Gygabyte a320m-s2h
RAM: 8GB DDR4


I tried using my old GPU and there was still some smell coming from the PSU
I was also using SATA to 6-pin adapters I should get a new power supply anyway
also does not crash with my old gpu
 
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Replace that PSU ASAP. An 18 pound PSU? I wouldn't dare to think powering a CPU like that with a sub 20 pound PSU. Never trust anything that cheap. Also, when you smell burning/melting plastic, do yourself a favor and stop what you're doing. That's a good sign to stop what you're doing.

Replace the PSU with at least a known brand, an 80 Plus White label for all I care, but don't fool yourself like that again, dude..

Please don't feel like I'm attacking you, but it hurts my eyes to read what's written above..
 

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
Ouch! That's not even a 300W PSU. And when a "500W" PSU is only really a 264W in a modern sense, the innards are going to be equally a horror show. Get a quality PSU -- we keep a curated tier list in the power supply forum -- and cross your fingers that this garbage didn't fry the GTX 970. One of the most expensive things in PC building is a cheap PSU.
 

Cubrix

Commendable
Nov 28, 2019
54
11
1,545
Replace that PSU ASAP. An 18 pound PSU? I wouldn't dare to think powering a CPU like that with a sub 20 pound PSU. Never trust anything that cheap. Also, when you smell burning/melting plastic, do yourself a favor and stop what you're doing. That's a good sign to stop what you're doing.

Replace the PSU with at least a known brand, an 80 Plus White label for all I care, but don't fool yourself like that again, dude..

Please don't feel like I'm attacking you, but it hurts my eyes to read what's written above..
hahahahahaha, I always cringe when I read about people smelling something burning coming from a PC, and I fully agree on the "I'm not attacking you" part, it's just that the smell = NOT GOOD

Glad you sorted it out! Good PSU's ONLY from here on bud!