My Computer smell like something is burning

[ithelps]

Yesterday I turn on my computer and it said my fan has an error or it not working or something like that. I ignored that message and then it never showed up again. The fan seem like it was working, but I have a lot of fans and I didn't open up the case. This computer is a built computer, I built it myself.

I really don't feel like opening it up and inspecting the problem. A couple of weeks ago my graphics card flashes with color and it seems to be getting better now. But anyways the problem. Today I turned on the computer and was watching a youtube video and noticed a burning smell. I try to see where it was coming from and it seem like it was from my computer. It smelled for a couple minuites and disappear. I smelled the desktop and it was coming from inside but then disappear so I didn't open it up since I feel lazy.

My question is, should I stop using it and open it up or is it okay to just leave it like that? I mean the smell is gone and I am not getting a fan error when I startup the computer now.

 

[atomicWAR]

yes you should stop using it unless you are specifically trouble shooting the problem with new/spare parts.

 

[atomicWAR]

I would start with seeing what fans work the swapping out your GPU...i would also use hardware monitor to get your systems temps...look for temps over 75 degrees Celsius.

 

[ithelps]

What if i dont stop using? Will it blow up

 

[atomicWAR]

well it could cause a capacitor to blow which it literally blows its' top off (so yes a super mini explosion is possible...though it usually just leaves a small mess around nearby parts)...OR you could end up frying more then one component instead of just the one going bad, costing you even more money to fix it. I had a PSU or motherboard (not sure which to this day because i did not fix it sooner) go bad. I saw warning signs like you and was lazy about troubleshooting it as i was sick when they started to show up....long story short my psu cable melted to my motherboard. Had i replaced the broken part before that i would have only need one part not two.

 

[ithelps]

What do i look for? This is my first computer i built and first desktop i owned. It started to smell again today so i want to open it up now. What do i look for. And how do i fix it?

 

[ithelps]

This is my build
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YbNQBm

I use the evo 212 fan

 

[atomicWAR]

look for carbon scoring, bulging/leaky/swollen capacitors, use your nose to see if you can pin point to origin of the smell...if you can pin point the where its coming from you may likely find your bad part. the easiest place to spot carbon scoring is on the back side of a mother board or graphics card...the converse is true for capacitors going bad (the bulging/leaky bit). Also you can pick up a power supply tester for amazon or new egg....it should allow you to rule out/in a very major component and they are good to have anyways. looking at your build the first thing i would suspect is your antec power supply. i have had bad luck with them personally and will not buy their PSUs any more. Get something from Seasonic when ever possible. they make some of the best PSU in the business.