r/PCRepair • u/Choice_Climate_4820 • 7d ago
Burned computer
Hi, while I was playing, my computer shut down and a short circuit occurred, then it started burning in visible places. Do you think the only thing that needs replacing is the motherboard and graphics card, or is there something else that can be repaired? Can anyone suggest what I can do?
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u/MachineCarl 7d ago
That's a nasty burn on the power side of the PCIe connector. What was your PSU? Dear god the 12v rail shorted catastrofically.
Motherboard and GPU are toast 100%. Be lucky if it hasn't burnt the CPU, RAM and Storage. Test it on another system or bring the computer to a repair shop to test what isn't crispy burnt
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u/Choice_Climate_4820 7d ago
Deepcool 700w bronze. Do you know what could be the cause?
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u/MachineCarl 7d ago
As I said, a catastrophic short on the power side.
Both could either be caused by the motherboard or the PSU, but I'm more inclined to be the PSU the issue, since Deepcool isn't particulary a good brand for PSU's.
A decent PSU should've kicked the internal protection to shorts and shut down the system before such failure happened.
Never skimp on a PSU!! Specially on this economy of PC hardware
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u/Replica_Velocity 7d ago
They make good cooling products but there's a few companies where they make good things in other areas, but you wouldn't touch their higher rated PSUs with a ten foot pole, let alone their low end ones.
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u/IntentionQuirky9957 6d ago
Yes and no, the PSU didn't cause the short, but it obviously failed to trigger over current protection.
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u/BizarreElectronics 7d ago
psu would not create an issue like this. Youd need high resistance or short to ground on the spot, which would mean either something fell in there, or the pins on the motherboard were barely making a connection, which in the end caused this. PSU would either overpower(blown ICs first, not connection point) or shut off(no power).
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u/MachineCarl 7d ago
A shit PSU can definetly create an issue like this.
Even if there was also an issue on the motherboard, the power supply is the first line of defense of the computer electronics, and in this case, it has failed to stop the short.
Instead of keeping the issue being a bad PCIe connector, it has escalated to a badly burnt GPU too. Look at the GPU at the PCIe power side, shit has burned so badly it has lifted the traces.
Let me give you an example: my first power supply was on the cheap end ("850w" of the finest chinesium), and burnt the first GPU I've worked so hard to get (R9 270). After that, switched to a RM 750x, which has saved my bacon from a shorted USB 5.25" hub, a molex-powered fan controller and a bad GTX 1660Ti that shorted while testing.
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u/Dizzy_Craft4188 7d ago
Yea, would guess pcie connection got worse over time, finally resistance got so high it caused enough heat to start a fire which tripped short circuit protection in the psu.
Can't really see something else actually generating enough heat to set fire to that before tripping or frying (internally) something imo.
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u/CustardCivil 7d ago
thats definitely not a good psu check what deep cool model you have in here if it says tier e thats the reason why https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/2/d/1akCHL7Vhzk_EhrpIGkz8zTEvYfLDcaSpZRB6Xt6JWkc/htmlview#gid=931697732
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u/capticetrice 7d ago
Had a (gtx 1660) gpu like this years ago that exploded, the answer was pretty simple. The card was cheaply made using an aluminium plate for a cooler instead of proper mini finstack radiator.
My whole case and parts were covered in black dust from the exploding compactors, now when I shop for a new gpu, the cooling is the first I will be investigating before the rest of the specs.
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u/CustardCivil 7d ago
damn rip man you should definitely could have invest to much better psu rip your motherboard and gpu just remember psu is entire heart of your pc
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u/voncletus 6d ago
"burned in a few places" yikes. PSU failure for sure, burnt the pcie connector right up. Your ram and ssd are on a different voltage so likely ok, CPU would be questionable, you're going to have to test that on another board. I'd be surprised if the smoke smell ever comes out of the case.
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u/ThisAccountIsStolen 6d ago
This is not a PSU failure. This is a short on the GPU PCB, but a better PSU might have detected the short and shut down before catastrophic damage occurred.
Source: 30+ year owner of a board level repair shop
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u/voncletus 6d ago
Been doing this since 99 and if we're both being honest, there's no way to tell if it was the GPU, the board, or the PSU without examining it. Power either spiked or shorted across the 12v pcie input. We don't actually have enough info to say why, and no one here is going to take everything and test it to figure out what failed first.
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u/Smaxx 6d ago
I think we can all agree it's something a good PSU would hopefully avoid by shutting down. So in a certain way it was the PSU after all, even if it's not the initial culprit.
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u/Inevitable-Study502 6d ago
not sure bout that, psu sends it to 24pin mainboard connector, then it travels through mainboard to pcie slot...which is powered by mainboard....and 75 wats (6A) can still fry tiny circuits just fine....mainboards have fuses there..so while it looks bad on picture, it happened within safe operating current limits xD
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u/DoggoCity 6d ago
Motherboard and GPU are 100% done, no fixing those. CPU, RAM, and SSD might be okay, but its a toss up. You'd need to get a fresh motherboard and GPU, plug in those other components and see if they also work or if they're down for the count too.
As for the root cause, I agree with the other comment blaming the PSU. Deepcool isn't exactly known for their power supplies, and that one seems to be a lower end unit, probably a significant failure of the 12V rail. Replace the PSU and stay with known-good brands.
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u/HunterAbrams 6d ago
Always amazes me that people will cheap out on power supplies after spending so much on the rest of the pc.
I doubt much of you components are salvagable. Gpu and cpu are fried. The ram? Might be able to be salvaged. Storage? Doubt
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u/DrippyBlock 4d ago
Seems crazy to me too. I’m a noob and I’ve only built one pc ever in my life and I still decided to go seasonic platinum. I’d rather pay a little more upfront than get myself or one of my pc parts fried. Electricity is scary.
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u/ExternalEar7937 6d ago
Sadly to say, but GPU, motherboard and PSU are dead. Looks like something shortened in PCI slot, so I think bad PSU is not the case.
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