Smoke from inside of case..

When I turned on my computer this morning, I heard some odd clicking noises, when I looked inside my computer, I saw smoke and that obvious burnt wire smell. I turned off the comp as fast as I could and when I looked around in the case, I cannot find any signs of wires melting. Something that stood out, when I noticed the smoke, was the cpu fan was not running, and maybe even the PSU fan as well (not 100% about the psu fan). After I checked everything, I turned on the computer and everything seems to work okay. So my questions are:

If the cpu fan does not start, how fast will the cpu overheat?
If it overheats, could it smoke?
If all works well, do you think I'm safe with my current setup or am I better off trashing the cpu/mobo and get a new one, just to be on the safe side?
What else could have caused the smoke?

I hope this is posted in the right section.
thanks for any help.

If the cpu fan failed then the processor will overheat QUICKLY... Check to see if there is any discoloration from smoke to try and see where it came from... Take care of the failed fan and then do stability test and try a different PSU... Something has gone horribly wrong!

I would look at the PSU first, especially if you can't find melted wires inside the case.

Look for a bulged cap (capacitor) the silver tops should be flat.
Check the connectors to the MOBO 24 and 12 pin. These can sometimes burn due to weak connections.
I've mistakenly left CPU fans unplugged, they get hot fast but with a pipped sink it tends not to reach over 70C for a few minutes. I use the BIOS shutdown at 70-75C on all my rigs. It's a temp that will not cause smoke but above that is over spec for most CPUs. Smoke from a CPU is 99% instantly fatal to the chip.

Update: I did find one of the psu wires fried. It's a moduler psu and the cable was melted from the psu to the dvd drive. so far, everything else seems okay..

plasmar said:

Update: I did find one of the psu wires fried. It's a moduler psu and the cable was melted from the psu to the dvd drive. so far, everything else seems okay..

Click to expand...

Hopefully it was just the PSU then, and probably the drive.

plasmar said:

Update: I did find one of the psu wires fried. It's a moduler psu and the cable was melted from the psu to the dvd drive. so far, everything else seems okay..

Click to expand...

Which PSU? Can you post a few pictures?

Super Nade said:

Which PSU? Can you post a few pictures?

Click to expand...

It's a Thermaltake Toughpower 650W,

http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/Power/ToughPower/W0128/w0128.asp

I'm kinda upset with Thermaltake b/c they said they will not replace the powersupply without a valid receipt, even though the ps has a 3 year warranty but has only been in production for less than 1.5 years. Most companies go by the date code or serial number to find out how old the unit is and whether it is under warranty. luckily, I was able to get a copy from Frys.


no pictures yet. ill try and get some soon.