Hi Folks,
Three HDDs on a recent rebuild of an existing, stable system were visibly scorched. I am trying to figure out the cause.
This build has worked fine for the past week
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JwZkvV
My PSU is 750W and the above list shows as needing 710W on PCPartPicker. It usually booted OK, but sometimes didn't make it to post. So, I planned an upgrade to a 1000W soon.
Yesterday, I rebuilt it with a changed case, additional (backup) HDD, DVD writer and more fans:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZRbFJV
(While typing this post, I only just now noticed that the site's estimated power needs for the rebuild was 745W)
For this rebuild, the Thermaltake PSU needed more SATA drive power connectors, so I replaced a 3x connector cable with a 4x from a Corsair PSU.
At this point, three old data HDDs and a boot SSD were connected to that 4x cable, while the new HDD and DVD were connected to a separate 3x PSU connector cable.
On first boot attempt of this rebuild:
1. Lights and fans and drives came on for 1-2 seconds
2. Everything went dark/off for 1-2 seconds
3. Lights and fans and drives came on again, with BIOS screen not long after
4. I think just before the BIOS screen, I heard a strange crackling sound and saw black smoke come from the front, near the SSD and data HDD install.
In my 20+ years of PC building, I have never caused my drives to burn on bootup! Until now, apparently.
Disconnecting the 4x PSU connector cable and nearby SP120 fan (which used the mb for power) because they were in the area of smoke, two of the three affected HDDs were visually scorched on their PCBs while the third showed no scorching. Unfortunately, tests on a different system with hot plug SATA revealed that those three HDDs will no longer spin up or otherwise be recognized.
Amazingly, the SSD that was on the same 4x connector cable does spin up and seems fine.
I restored the original PSU 3x connector cable and only reconnected the SSD, which now boots into Windows without problems on this same system (minus the broken HDDs and one fan.)
But, this rebuild system still goes through steps 1-3 above for each bootup.
Help, please
Q1: What fried those three HDDs? A possible surge from the strained PSU?
Q2: Is the pause I still see on bootup a symptom of needing a more powerful PSU?
Q3: All of my games and hobby files over two decades (e.g., 3DS Max projects) are on the burnt drives. Should I try the route of replacing the drive board, transferring firmware, etc. - i.e., is that a viable option?
Without having a recent backup of our most personal files, this would have been a huge disaster. Still, I may have lost 1000s of hours put into creating hobby-related assets.
I want to learn what I have done wrong so as not to repeat it - and maybe someone else can avoid this situation if root cause can be found.
Thanks,
- wader
Three HDDs on a recent rebuild of an existing, stable system were visibly scorched. I am trying to figure out the cause.
This build has worked fine for the past week
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JwZkvV
My PSU is 750W and the above list shows as needing 710W on PCPartPicker. It usually booted OK, but sometimes didn't make it to post. So, I planned an upgrade to a 1000W soon.
Yesterday, I rebuilt it with a changed case, additional (backup) HDD, DVD writer and more fans:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZRbFJV
(While typing this post, I only just now noticed that the site's estimated power needs for the rebuild was 745W)
For this rebuild, the Thermaltake PSU needed more SATA drive power connectors, so I replaced a 3x connector cable with a 4x from a Corsair PSU.
At this point, three old data HDDs and a boot SSD were connected to that 4x cable, while the new HDD and DVD were connected to a separate 3x PSU connector cable.
On first boot attempt of this rebuild:
1. Lights and fans and drives came on for 1-2 seconds
2. Everything went dark/off for 1-2 seconds
3. Lights and fans and drives came on again, with BIOS screen not long after
4. I think just before the BIOS screen, I heard a strange crackling sound and saw black smoke come from the front, near the SSD and data HDD install.
In my 20+ years of PC building, I have never caused my drives to burn on bootup! Until now, apparently.
Disconnecting the 4x PSU connector cable and nearby SP120 fan (which used the mb for power) because they were in the area of smoke, two of the three affected HDDs were visually scorched on their PCBs while the third showed no scorching. Unfortunately, tests on a different system with hot plug SATA revealed that those three HDDs will no longer spin up or otherwise be recognized.
Amazingly, the SSD that was on the same 4x connector cable does spin up and seems fine.
I restored the original PSU 3x connector cable and only reconnected the SSD, which now boots into Windows without problems on this same system (minus the broken HDDs and one fan.)
But, this rebuild system still goes through steps 1-3 above for each bootup.
Help, please
Q1: What fried those three HDDs? A possible surge from the strained PSU?
Q2: Is the pause I still see on bootup a symptom of needing a more powerful PSU?
Q3: All of my games and hobby files over two decades (e.g., 3DS Max projects) are on the burnt drives. Should I try the route of replacing the drive board, transferring firmware, etc. - i.e., is that a viable option?
Without having a recent backup of our most personal files, this would have been a huge disaster. Still, I may have lost 1000s of hours put into creating hobby-related assets.
I want to learn what I have done wrong so as not to repeat it - and maybe someone else can avoid this situation if root cause can be found.
Thanks,
- wader
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