Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

Computer just shorted

Last response: in Components
Share
June 6, 2013 7:13:39 AM

hi guys,this is my first post and i wasn't sure where else to turn. i recently bought a new XFX AMD HD 7870 graphics card for my pc and it installed fine and everything and after about ten mins of gaming there was a loud crack and the pc turned off. When i turned it back on again, there was some sparks in the case and the whole house shorted. i do not know what to do, i have a (peak) 550W psu and a healthy fan that has worked for over a year with no problem. can anyone help? cheers, YarManYak ps. i have checked the capacitors and they are not blown and there is a strong smell of burning

More about : computer shorted

June 6, 2013 7:33:57 AM

It's probably the psu. Smell the back where the fan is and see if it smells burnt. Pray it didnt take out your new card and mobo/cpu/ram.

m
0
l
June 6, 2013 7:49:19 AM

Hi,

I'm thinking you had a bad brand psu and hopefully it didn't kill anything in the computer.

What brand is it ?

What your full computer specs ?
m
0
l
Related resources

Best solution

June 6, 2013 8:05:42 AM

If it actually says it was peak rated for 550 W it is a bad brand, and doesn't have the actual capacity to run a 7870. Peak ratings are deceptive marking, most units that can do 550 W peak can only do it for a few seconds and have continuous ratings closer to 450 W.

If something smells burnt, open up the case and use your noise to find what went, the upside of catastrophic electronic failures is that they are easy to sniff out, the downside is that they tend to be rather expensive.
Share
June 6, 2013 8:15:24 AM

thanks guys for the suggestions. I have taken out the graphics card and when i plugged the pc back in, it wasnt even on and the PSU was smoking so i think ive found the cause. Is there anyway to check if the card is broken without plugging it in? my exact pc is actually this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIBOX-ZETA-X5-AMD-BULLDOZER-F...
m
0
l
June 6, 2013 9:20:41 AM

YarManYak said:
thanks guys for the suggestions. I have taken out the graphics card and when i plugged the pc back in, it wasnt even on and the PSU was smoking so i think ive found the cause. Is there anyway to check if the card is broken without plugging it in? my exact pc is actually this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIBOX-ZETA-X5-AMD-BULLDOZER-F...


Get the new psu, install, and you'll find out. That's all you can do unless you visibly see some blown capacitors or burnt chips on the card.

m
0
l
June 6, 2013 9:22:07 AM

Get a decent psu. Antec, XFX, Corsair, etc. Make sure it at least 80+ bronze rated, cause if it can't even meet that requirement, its junk.

A good quality 500-600 will work.
m
0
l
June 6, 2013 9:52:58 AM

cheers guys. I have decided to go for a corsair cxm600 modular. thansk for all the help
m
0
l
!