CX750 Warehouse Odor

[OOLuigiOo]

What's the likelihood of this PSU damaging other components? What if it fails?

Would a surge protector help in any way? What does it do for PCs?

What if it emits a bad odor with no performance issues or noticeable changes or even a bad sound?

BIOS: BIOS Date: 11/15/12 11:09:38 Ver: 04.06.05
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-6300 Six-Core Processor (6 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8094MB RAM

GPU: GeForce GTX 970

4x HDDS(one less after failure). 3 Seagate, 1 hitachi)

At first, it did smell sort of like something was burning but now it has this foul odor like a warehouse. Pretty strong. Making the room smell.

Could it be dust from PSu smelling up the place?

There is no loud noise. though there is this low pitch sound. Hardly noticeable.

Though there is no impact on performance though an HDD just failed and was causing a major impact on performance.

Bought this last year. It's been precisely one year since this was bought.

What could be the issue and is this CX 750w enough to run this PC with 4 HDDs(3 seagate, 1 hitachi) with the setup above for gaming?

And what PSU would you recommend for gaming?

How long is this CPU expected to last if it's bad?

Also if the PSU is replaced, how long before the odor dissipates?

What are ways to prolong this PSUs lifespan?

What's the likelihood of this PSU or any other especially CX750 causing hardware damage/failure prior to failing?

Is it a bad capacitor?

What issues can bad capacitors cause and can the CX750 prevent any damage to other components especially due to this?

How long PSU lasts when smelling this foul smell with these capacitors going bad? What would make this situation worse if PC is running?

 

[EarthDog]

Holy cow....

1/2. Depends on the PSU. High quality PSUs have significantly less of a chance to take out other parts than cheap ones. You dont mention your PSU in this barrage of questions.
2/3. Surge Protector does exactly what its name says.. protects from power surges.
4. If the odor is coming from your PSU, get rid of it.
5. Could be.. we can't smell it so how would we know???
6. In order to give you a PSU recommendation, i would want to know what GPU you have too..
7. Who knows if your CPU is bad in the first place. You dont mention anything but an odd smell coming from something.
8. Who knows how long a smell would take to go away. Presumably really quick.
9. Buy a quality one with some headroom (peak at 80% or so of its capacity).. otherwise, there really isn't any.
10. I have no idea what PSU failure rates are.. I would imagine low, but it depends again on the quality of the PSU in question which you did not mention... unless its a CX750?
11. Maybe.. who knows.
12. PC shuts down when under load is one.
13/14. Who knows how long it will last if the capcitors are going bad.. you are assuming A LOT. Using your PC if it a part is going bad like it smells like... LOL... can make it worse.

 

[OOLuigiOo]

Holy cow....

1/2. Depends on the PSU. High quality PSUs have significantly less of a chance to take out other parts than cheap ones. You dont mention your PSU in this barrage of questions.
2/3. Surge Protector does exactly what its name says.. protects from power surges.
4. If the odor is coming from your PSU, get rid of it.
5. Could be.. we can't smell it so how would we know???
6. In order to give you a PSU recommendation, i would want to know what GPU you have too..
7. Who knows if your CPU is bad in the first place. You dont mention anything but an odd smell coming from something.
8. Who knows how long a smell would take to go away. Presumably really quick.
9. Buy a quality one with some headroom (peak at 80% or so of its capacity).. otherwise, there really isn't any.
10. I have no idea what PSU failure rates are.. I would imagine low, but it depends again on the quality of the PSU in question which you did not mention... unless its a CX750?
11. Maybe.. who knows.
12. PC shuts down when under load is one.
13/14. Who knows how long it will last if the capcitors are going bad.. you are assuming A LOT. Using your PC if it a part is going bad like it smells like... LOL... can make it worse.

CX750. GTX970

 

[tabascosauz]

What do you mean "how long before odor dissipates"? Isn't the smell coming from the PSU?

I recommend an EVGA B2 750 at the very least. Some part inside the CX750 is not right if it smells that bad.

 

[OOLuigiOo]

What do you mean "how long before odor dissipates"? Isn't the smell coming from the PSU?

I recommend an EVGA B2 750 at the very least. Some part inside the CX750 is not right if it smells that bad.

Before Odor from old PSU is no longer there.

 

[tabascosauz]

Before Odor from old PSU is no longer there.

I don't know...how would I know? How ventilated is your room? What does your room look like? Where is your PC in the room? etc.

First off, as @EarthDog said, we don't even know what this "warehouse odor" even smells like.

Oh that's cool. Copy + Pasting double posting from Tom's Hardware. I see.

 

[EarthDog]

He doesn't remotely need a 750w psu... 650w is penty.. evga gs650 is my choice.

I can't even tell if the op is having a problem in the first place....

 

[OOLuigiOo]

I don't know...how would I know? How ventilated is your room? What does your room look like? Where is your PC in the room? etc.

First off, as @EarthDog said, we don't even know what this "warehouse odor" even smells like.

No, from PC.

it's just a strong odor.

 

[tabascosauz]

He doesn't remotely need a 750w psu... 650w is penty.. evga gs650 is my choice.

The GS650 comes in at a more expensive price point because it's Gold. The B2 750W is like, a bare minimum but reliable choice. Bronze. It's like, CX750-price.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Hold the phone for just a moment. Let's do some house keeping.

1) Put your system specifications into your profile. It makes things easier to read, and we aren't blasted with whatever you've got off the top of your head.
2) Lay out your questions. It doesn't have to be perfect grammatically and structurally, but with some semblance of order you can break down a big problem into easily answered chunks.
3) Titles matter. This isn't a case modding question, and it isn't a coherent question. Getting the right forum will help you immensely in answering your questions.



Now let's dissect your issue.
1) Clean out the computer. You wouldn't believe how many times a funky odor is caused by junk getting into the case, and the heat from a processor beginning to fuse the junk onto a heatsink. Crappy cooling, due to dust and junk building up, is a problem that few people consider.

2) Test the PSU.
a) Remove it from your system, only once it has been unplugged from the outlet and had about 30 seconds to discharge.
b) Once removed jumper the green wire (there's only one) from the 20/24 pin main connector to one of the black ones. This is basically telling the PSU to power on whenever power comes back to it.
c) Connect one fan to the PSU. This is a power drain, to make sure the PSU doesn't overheat.
d) Reconnect the PSU to the outlet, and power it on. Let the fan spin up, and run it for a couple of minutes. If there's a smell, unplug the PSU immediately. Your culprit is the PSU, and it needs replaced immediately. If the PSU test works, it's time to move onto the

3) Assuming the PSU checks out, you've got three options. The easiest test, would be inspecting the motherboard. If you've somehow managed to damage it you've likely burst capacitors, burst leads, or scorch marks somewhere. Do a visual inspection of the motherboard.
4) If the motherboard is good, the next issue could be the video card. Detach the shroud, clean everything up, inspect the card for damage, reapply thermal pastes, and hook it back up. Sometimes GPU damage can be the result of a poor job when the card was manufactured, while other times it's over clocking.
5) If everything else has been cleaned, checked, and you've still got issues it's the CPU. You can't fix it, so I'd recommend testing everything else first.



As far as your PSU questions, that's pretty straight forward.
1) Find the maximum draw for your system, multiply it by 1.25, and round up to the nearest 50. That should give you the required wattage of your system. If you plan to upgrade later budget in another 100 watts to cover either upgrades, Crossfire/SLI, or more power hungry components.
2) Go with a PSU certified to be 80+ efficient. Check out this website for the list of suppliers that use this mark officially: http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80PlusPowerSupplies.aspx
3) Go with a large name brand. Corsair, Seasonic, etc... have name branding because their supplies are built well. Joe's PSU co. is as likely to have over rated (in terms of wattage) supplies as they are to contract out their PSU creation to the lowest Chinese bidder. Splurge on a PSU, because without a good quality PSU everything in your system could dies a terrible death.
4) Electrolytic capacitors go bad. As the dielectric either evaporates or degrades they expand and eventually pop. If the PSU is operating at rated watages this is not going to happen until several years of usage have been logged. Even then, most PSUs outlast their processors. Unless you've gotten a cheap PSU, or a second hand one, worrying about popped capacitors is a waste of time.

 

[erocker]

Before Odor from old PSU is no longer there.

If you are saying the old PSU didn't smell and the new PSU does smell, return the new PSU and get something else.

 

[T-Bob]

If you are in the market for a new PSU, here is a good unit and deal in the link below. The only catch is that it only carries a 1-year warranty instead of 5 - 7 years.

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=120-G1-0750-RX