Weird smell? Smells like PCB.

[Mat Rodriguez]

I recently purchased an EVGA GTX 970 SSC (this is the only new component in my rig in the passed few years), and I am noticing quite a strong PCB smell coming from my computer under heavy load.

The smell gets stronger as the system heats up and is only noticeable when this happens. I record my game play, play video games at 1080p 144hz, and I stream it as well. I am taxing my computer quite a bit, but was wondering if you guys had any ideas as to what the smell is.

My original assumption is going to be that the card is new, and needs to be broken in. The PCB smell is something that eventually goes away over time, but I'm a little concerned because it's quite strong. I have had the card for exactly 30 days, and I can still return if I need to.

My specs are as follows

Corsair H100i
i7 - 3930k (OC 4ghz v 1.28) I just dropped the OC to 3.6 to cool the system down a bit
Seasonic 650w GOLD
EVGA 970 SSC (I have owned this for quite literally 1 month)
Asus Sabretooth MOBO


I checked all heat sinks, capacitors, and components on the motherboard. The PSU gets a little warm, but that's okay. I also checked wiring and to see if the H100i was leaking. I couldn't find anything although sometimes I miss things.

Let me know what you guys think or if you need clarification on anything.

 

[anti-duck]

Have you monitored all the temps using something like GPU-Z and HWMonitor?

 

[matrodriguez]

Have you monitored all the temps using something like GPU-Z and HWMonitor?

I use HWmonitor.

CPU and GPU temps under load are about 70-80 for both.

Playing League of Legends right now and both GPU and CPU are hovering between 30-40c

Edit: I would like to point out that as the system gets hotter, the smell gets stronger. While playing League of Legends I encounter almost no smell. It's only when I have a demanding game like Tomb Raider, GTA V, Crysis, or Metro that I experience the extreme heat, and thus the smell.

 

[anti-duck]

Have you monitored all the temps using something like GPU-Z and HWMonitor?

I use HWmonitor.

CPU and GPU temps under load are about 70-80 for both.

Playing League of Legends right now and both GPU and CPU are hovering between 30-40c

Edit: I would like to point out that as the system gets hotter, the smell gets stronger. While playing League of Legends I encounter almost no smell. It's only when I have a demanding game like Tomb Raider, GTA V, Crysis, or Metro that I experience the extreme heat, and thus the smell.

I wouldn't worry to much to be honest if you haven't had any issues apart from the smell, just watch it closely. Does your graphics cars have a backplate? I've noticed the smell you describe got a lot stronger when I added a backplate to my cards.

EDIT: I assumed that you meant your CPU and GPU temps reach 70-80 under stress testing? That would be a bit high for a 970, I'm not sure about a reasonable temp under load for an X99 CPU.

 

[Mat Rodriguez]

Have you monitored all the temps using something like GPU-Z and HWMonitor?

I use HWmonitor.

CPU and GPU temps under load are about 70-80 for both.

Playing League of Legends right now and both GPU and CPU are hovering between 30-40c

Edit: I would like to point out that as the system gets hotter, the smell gets stronger. While playing League of Legends I encounter almost no smell. It's only when I have a demanding game like Tomb Raider, GTA V, Crysis, or Metro that I experience the extreme heat, and thus the smell.

I wouldn't worry to much to be honest if you haven't had any issues apart from the smell, just watch it closely. Does your graphics cars have a backplate? I've noticed the smell you describe got a lot stronger when I added a backplate to my cards.

EDIT: I assumed that you meant your CPU and GPU temps reach 70-80 under stress testing? That would be a bit high for a 970, I'm not sure about a reasonable temp under load for an X99 CPU.

When I am playing any of the games that are graphically demanding, I have every single thing maxed. I mean EVERYTHING. Ram usage for the card reaches to upwards of 3.2 GB and the card only has 4GB (with only 3.5 actually usable efficiently)

Stress testing yields the same results. I can run a PRIME 95 on my current OC and report back. When running the Tomb Raider bench I get 100+fps and temps around the 75c mark.

I adjusted my curve for afterburner. I'm thinking maybe I didn't have the curve set up aggressively enough for Tomb Raider. This might help as well so the fan's kick on earlier, and go harder

 

[Mat Rodriguez]

Update:

I think the heat and the smell is coming from the CPU being too hot. I am going to look for some drivers for the CorsairLINK software that actually work and set the fan speed high. For some reason LINK isn't working.