[Gtx 970]weird burning smell on load

[Msquare]

I have noticed a weird new gpu burning smell when my card goes above 60*C while stress testing or playing games,Its a zotac gtx 970 normal version http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/b3053/zotac-gtx-970.html
Even my mom noticed it,so it wasn't me.My card has a screw missing on a resistor mini heatsink but it still sits flush on top of it and the thermal pad touches it properly,everything else is fine.It won't crash or do anything else but that smell.Could it be due to the missing screw or is it any other issue,i already rma'd it once and received a new card.Or could it be due to a fault in my psu.Its a corsair vs650.I suspect not.

 

[qubit]

Did you get it new and is it still under warranty? If so, RMA it, it's definitely faulty.

 

[dorsetknob]

you say

My card has a screw missing on a resistor mini heatsink but it still sits flush on top of it and the thermal pad touches it properly,everything else is fine.It won't crash or do anything else but that smell.Could it be due to the missing screw or is it any other issue,i already rma'd it once and received a new card

so you received this card as the result of a previous RMA "" with the Screw Missing""

You probably got a "Refurbished Card " as a Warranty replacment
and as Qubit says

is it still under warranty? If so, RMA it, it's definitely faulty.

 

[P4-630]

Could be toxic as well

 

[peche]

Could be toxic as well

Totally agreed, most electric craps vapors when burning / overheating may cause healt issues...
RMA that card, dont think about it twice...

 

[Msquare]

Did you get it new and is it still under warranty? If so, RMA it, it's definitely faulty.

you say


so you received this card as the result of a previous RMA "" with the Screw Missing""

You probably got a "Refurbished Card " as a Warranty replacment
and as Qubit says

Could be toxic as well

Totally agreed, most electric craps vapors when burning / overheating may cause healt issues...
RMA that card, dont think about it twice...

It was a New card,zotac's service center in my region is situated in a warehouse so i saw him pulling it out of a huge pile of gtx 970's ready to be shipped to retailers across the country.Box was sealed.My previous 970 had the same smell when it was new,as this has and once after running it for few days smell reduced by a large margin.Same thing happened with this card.So i guess its a manufacturing default or something.My psu isnt at fault tough.

 

[P4-630]

Still weird that there was a screw missing and that smell

 

[qubit]

It was a New card,zotac's service center in my region is situated in a warehouse so i saw him pulling it out of a huge pile of gtx 970's ready to be shipped to retailers across the country.Box was sealed.My previous 970 had the same smell when it was new,as this has and once after running it for few days smell reduced by a large margin.Same thing happened with this card.So i guess its a manufacturing default or something.My psu isnt at fault tough.

If the other one did it too, then is it possible that what seems to you like a "burning" smell, could just be a "hot plastic" smell, perhaps? Certainly new products do give off an odour for a while and the hotter they are the stronger they smell.

I reckon letting someone else have a sniff might help!

 

[MrGenius]

It's what I call that new motherboard smell. Kinda like new car smell. I love the smell of both. Smells like money well spent...usually.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Anything with plastic parts has an off gasing effect once unwrapped. When hot it can smell almost like something burning. I'd stress test it a bit and see if it goes away after a week or so. Do some Furmark and Kombustor tests on it, then throw your most demanding games at it. Build your sessions up from one hour to several hours.

Best to do this with good room ventilation when such parts are new, like an open door on one side of the room, and a box fan blowing out a window on the other side. You can also limit the heat build up of the card by capping the frame rate with a tool like Afterburner or DxTory.

 

[Vayra86]

All cards and newly seated CPU's have a little burn-in period in which they can be a bit smelly. Some more than others. If your previous card was also a Zotac and this one is from the same prod. line then it is no surprise that they both smell when you start using them. But: a LITTLE. If they smell as much that you feel you can't stay in the room, yeah. Something may be wrong.

If you decide to keep it, throw the heaviest stuff at it while you can still RMA it easily, to really make sure there is nothing at fault with the cooling. What Frag Maniac said is also an approach, but I would build up much quicker and end up at something torture-test-ish such as Furmark. Furmark is not something you want to use to bench or stress cards every day, but give it a once-over for about 30 minutes to see how hot things can get. Maybe start with a Unigine Valley bench for an hour or two and then switch to Furmark.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Drink more pineapple juice......or RMA.

 

[R-T-B]

Totally agreed, most electric craps vapors when burning / overheating may cause healt issues...
RMA that card, dont think about it twice...

Actually, all computer electronics vent a (very) small amount of toxic vapors while running. It's why no one has legally been able to use bitcoin miners as furnaces for buildings large scale (don't tell me someone wouldn't have tried it by now, lol). However, when malfunctioning often times the amount of toxic materials released can go up exponentially. What you are smelling is almost certainly carcinogenic compounds and other fun stuff. Yeah RMA it...

 

[Msquare]

Still weird that there was a screw missing and that smell

If the other one did it too, then is it possible that what seems to you like a "burning" smell, could just be a "hot plastic" smell, perhaps? Certainly new products do give off an odour for a while and the hotter they are the stronger they smell.

I reckon letting someone else have a sniff might help!

It's what I call that new motherboard smell. Kinda like new car smell. I love the smell of both. Smells like money well spent...usually.

Anything with plastic parts has an off gasing effect once unwrapped. When hot it can smell almost like something burning. I'd stress test it a bit and see if it goes away after a week or so. Do some Furmark and Kombustor tests on it, then throw your most demanding games at it. Build your sessions up from one hour to several hours.

Best to do this with good room ventilation when such parts are new, like an open door on one side of the room, and a box fan blowing out a window on the other side. You can also limit the heat build up of the card by capping the frame rate with a tool like Afterburner or DxTory.

All cards and newly seated CPU's have a little burn-in period in which they can be a bit smelly. Some more than others. If your previous card was also a Zotac and this one is from the same prod. line then it is no surprise that they both smell when you start using them. But: a LITTLE. If they smell as much that you feel you can't stay in the room, yeah. Something may be wrong.

If you decide to keep it, throw the heaviest stuff at it while you can still RMA it easily, to really make sure there is nothing at fault with the cooling. What Frag Maniac said is also an approach, but I would build up much quicker and end up at something torture-test-ish such as Furmark. Furmark is not something you want to use to bench or stress cards every day, but give it a once-over for about 30 minutes to see how hot things can get. Maybe start with a Unigine Valley bench for an hour or two and then switch to Furmark.

Drink more pineapple juice......or RMA.

Actually, all computer electronics vent a (very) small amount of toxic vapors while running. It's why no one has legally been able to use bitcoin miners as furnaces for buildings large scale (don't tell me someone wouldn't have tried it by now, lol). However, when malfunctioning often times the amount of toxic materials released can go up exponentially. What you are smelling is almost certainly carcinogenic compounds and other fun stuff. Yeah RMA it...

After quite some stress testing on furmark,running bioshock etc on it smell has gradually reduced,altough while overclocking it intensifies a bit but overall works fine,i ran far cry 4,bioshock infinite on it at ultra for quite some time and fps's were fine.It has a 5year warranty so nothing much to worry about.

 

[R-T-B]

May have just melted something plastic on it, and it'll go away with time.

 

[Msquare]

May have just melted something plastic on it, and it'll go away with time.

Smell has reduced quite a bit.