Question My GPU or Motherboard caught on fire... How did this happen and why?

Ape_no

Prominent
Oct 27, 2021
9
0
510
I was on my computer doing some light work; suddenly everything went dark, keyboard, monitors, fans, everything, but the power light remained on. So the first thing I did was press the power button; nothing happened: the light remained on and it stayed the same. So then I tried using the switch on the back of the PSU. I turned it off then on again. I then pressed the power button, everyhing turns on— then sparks star to come and a fire appears right above the GPU on the far left side of the PCIE slot. I immediately turned the power off and the fire went out, u plugged my PSU and waited about 30 monutes. I then inspected it futher and noticed a scorch mark above the left side of the pcie slot. I decided to take the GPU out, first thing I noticed was the entire top layer of the pcie slot was burnt with some holes melted. I then looked at the GPU and noticed whay appeared to be a scratch that let to a chip labled "C102". There was also some scorch marks around it. I flipped the GPU over and saw what I believe is the culprit, but I'm not really sure what it is. There was a lot of melted plastic and smelt like it too. The nearest visible lable was "TP103" which was on the left of it. The backplate has some minor scorching to it.
Just in-case it was the power supply I took it out and looked: it seemed normal. I've had this PC for almost 2 years, not that long ago I had an issue with it, however it very different. I replaced the PSU with a corsair RM650 to solve the old issue, however it turned out the old issue was simply the GPU not in the PCIE slot correctly as it was fixed after I remounted it. That was back before december 2021. My specs are:
Asus Prime B550m-AC motherboard
Ryzen 3700x
Asrock challenger(the older one with yellow stripes) 5700xt
16 gb 3000 mhz DDR4 crucial ballistix ram
Lexar 1tb SSD

If you have a solution or reasoning for this issue please let me know. I'm not sure how to claim any warranty as it was a pre-built computer. I could not figure out how to post images on here, but if I do I'll post them. I cannot figure out how to post images, if I do I'll do it.
 
I'm not sure how to claim any warranty as it was a pre-built computer.
you would take up the issue with the distributor that provided the system but if they know you swapped out the power supply or any other components it will void any possible warranty.
I cannot figure out how to post images
upload images to IMGUR, link them to the thread with the 'Insert image' icon or Ctrl+P.
 

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
What was the exact old PSU. If it was a prebuilt, it may have been a junk PSU and if it was a junk PSU, it could explain this issue. Hopefully you still have warranty coverage; tons of prebuilts only have a one-year warranty.

It's also extremely concerning that you continued to run a PSU that displayed any problem.
 

Ape_no

Prominent
Oct 27, 2021
9
0
510
What was the exact old PSU. If it was a prebuilt, it may have been a junk PSU and if it was a junk PSU, it could explain this issue. Hopefully you still have warranty coverage; tons of prebuilts only have a one-year warranty.

It's also extremely concerning that you continued to run a PSU that displayed any problem.
The old PSU was known for exploding so I replaced it with a Corsair RM650. I've had the RM650 since last October with no issues. I do recall a recent driver issue with the gpu I was having. It would reset after every windoes update despite me disabling that setting. I was also having DirectX issues, I couldn't launch any modern games unless I installed the AMD radeon driver. It became pretty annoying after a while.
 

Ape_no

Prominent
Oct 27, 2021
9
0
510
What was the exact old PSU. If it was a prebuilt, it may have been a junk PSU and if it was a junk PSU, it could explain this issue. Hopefully you still have warranty coverage; tons of prebuilts only have a one-year warranty.

It's also extremely concerning that you continued to run a PSU that displayed any problem.
It won't let me insert the link as an image but I can post it here: View: https://imgur.com/a/os8WTXw
 

Ape_no

Prominent
Oct 27, 2021
9
0
510
What was the exact old PSU. If it was a prebuilt, it may have been a junk PSU and if it was a junk PSU, it could explain this issue. Hopefully you still have warranty coverage; tons of prebuilts only have a one-year warranty.

It's also extremely concerning that you continued to run a PSU that displayed any problem.
It won't let me insert the link as an image but I can po
I asked about the power supply!
I replied to the wrong person, but I did answer your question about the power supply.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
I keep everything, even original boxes and packaging, until I'm sure any warranty has long expired. So I would have kept the old psu. It may be junk, but it still worked. If you did keep it, and any warranty is left on the build/parts then I'd be looking into rma. Put the original psu back in.

Even if the builder warranty has expired, you may get lucky with a manufacturers warranty on the gpu as the builder might be considered as a factory authorized reseller.
 

Ape_no

Prominent
Oct 27, 2021
9
0
510
I keep everything, even original boxes and packaging, until I'm sure any warranty has long expired. So I would have kept the old psu. It may be junk, but it still worked. If you did keep it, and any warranty is left on the build/parts then I'd be looking into rma. Put the original psu back in.

Even if the builder warranty has expired, you may get lucky with a manufacturers warranty on the gpu as the builder might be considered as a factory authorized reseller.
I did keep the old PSU, but replacing the PSU wpuld void any warranty from the prebuilt company. Also I'll look into the factory warranty on the GPU. Thanks.