Burning smell when playing games

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bluesh34

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Oct 25, 2013
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When playing WoW with multiple add-ons and Tera, I have noticed a funny smell which I'd say smells like glue and burning plastic.

The CPU temp hasn't risen above 54C, as far as I've noticed. The smell only occurs when the CPU reaches like 50 or 51C.

Also a fuse blew in the power strip I was using recently. It had these 3 things plugged into it:

1. the PC

2. the monitor used by the PC

3. a device consisting of a modem and a router in one (I think that's what it is anyway: it definitely has one of those, as the internet isn't available unless it's on).

I don't know what the amperage of the power strip was and I'm afraid I don't know where it is now. It might have been thrown away.

Here are the PC specs:

Display: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650
8GB RAM (6.5 available)
Processor: AMD FX (tm) - 8120 Eight-Core Processor - 3.1 GHz, 4 Cores, 8 Logical Processors

The PSU has this info written on it:

ATX Switching Power Supply
Model: E-500ATX.
230V
Current 10A
Frequency 50-60Hz
OUTPUT 500W

I'm in the UK and have been in the UK since before the fuse blew and the smell occurred.

I used this estimator, which estimates the PSU Electic Power needed for a given PC:

support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx

I know everything is right unless there is an extra device or two, but I know I got the main stuff right: i.e. processor, VGA card, 2 USB devices and DVD. The Recommended Minimum Power Supply came back as 500W, which is what the PSU's electric power is. An extra device or two does shift it up to 550W, so if there is an extra device or 2 I don't know about, it would be under the minimum.

Does anyone know what the smell might be and what I might do to stop it from happening?

I have noticed similar questions where a recommended solution has been to get a more powerful PSU. I could try this, God permitting, but I'd obviously rather avoid doing so and then finding out the same problem occurs, if possible. That's one reason I posted the question here, but if changing the PSU is a good idea, feel free to say so anyway: I'd like to know what you think, if you feel you know what the answer might be.

If replacing the PSU is the solution, I'd also like to know how to calculate the necessary Electric Power for the PC. Although I know some of the components, as I mentioned above in the section about using the estimator, I'd like to know if I can nail what all the components and devices of the PC are, so I can give the estimator the right info at least (this PC belongs to my father and he may have been given it by someone else, which means it may not be possible to speak to anyone who knows what all the components are).
Is there any way to get round having to know what all the devices and components are? Is there enough info already to be able to safely know a PSU which will be ok?

I have asked this question on superuser.com, but I have been discouraged from asking new questions that arise there, as it isn't supposed to be a forum, but a site that answers questions one at a time, so I thought I'd post here. One of the answers there was that a larger PSU would actually worsen the problem, since it would draw even more current and drawing more current than the power strip could handle was what caused the fuse to blow. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this which you think could help.

Here's a link to the question on superuser, where more information and people's answers are available:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2183792/burning-smell-playing-games.html


 
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bluesh34

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USAFRet: thanks for your answer. I don't know if I am using a surge suppressor. Is this the same thing as a voltage stabiliser? Buying a voltage stabiliser has been suggested on the superuser post, but do you think this could sort the smell out too?
 
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bluesh34

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13thmonkey: thanks for your answer.

The PSU is an ATX Switching Power Supply.

The model is E-500AX.

12V has 27A maximum under 'Yellow', 0.5A under 'Blue'.

Is that what you were asking?
 
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bluesh34

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c12Friedman: thanks.

+3.3V +5V +12V +12V +5VSB
26A 27A 27A 0.5A 2.0A

Edit: the above is wrong. It actually reads as follows:

+3.3V 26A

+5V 27A

+12V 27A

-12V 0.5A

+5VSB 2.0A
 
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C12Friedman

C12Friedman

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Jan 25, 2012
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I'm thinking a quality 400W would power your system but with only 324W available on your 12v rail, your PSU is struggling to keep up. I haven't been able to find anything about the PSU from your description so far. Does you PSU's fan sound loud to you? Like it's working hard?
One other thing you might check is that you have no cables pushing against the back of the CPU area of the motherboard or laying across the graphics card(which may cause some types of cable sleeving to melt - that would smell bad)
 
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C12Friedman

C12Friedman

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Just having re-read this, I've got one thing that should be pointed out about the PSU and power draw - a higher wattage PSU does not necessarily draw more power from the wall than a lower power PSU. That is a function of the PSU's efficiency. Most gold rated 850W PSU's will easily draw less current from the wall than a crappy non-rated 500W while running the same system. Conversely, a low efficiency PSU (of any wattage) can cause strain on the main power - it all depends on how efficiently the mains power is converted into distributed DC power - the system itself will draw the same power regardless of the PSU's efficiency or rated wattage
 
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C12Friedman

C12Friedman

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I 'm missing that, where do you see that? - NM, I caught it, the second +12v is actually -12v and that's how I originally read it so it's -12v at 0.5A (the first 27A listed there is for the +5v) - I hadn't caught that + thing on both...
 
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bluesh34

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Sorry, yeah: my bad. It's

+3.3V 26A

+5V 27A

+12V 27A

-12V 0.5A

+5VSB 2.0A

So can anyone please suggest a decent (preferably good value) PSU that would deal with this? I'm interested to know what the power needed would be too, although I understand it's about the quality of the PSU and not just what it says the power is.

I've found a Corsair CX750M (750W, in case that's not obvious) for £68.98 on PC Partpicker. I might get it if I get some money and it's still available. Should this do the job? Even if it doesn't solve the problem, I'd have learnt something anyway: i.e. that a 750W PSU still isn't enough, or even that the problem isn't the PSU at all.

C12Friedman: yeah, when I play Tera or WoW with multiple add-ons (and maybe sometimes even with just 1 add-on), a fan sounds loud like it's working hard (which must be the PSU fan I suppose) and I get the smell. There was at least one cable quite close to the motherboard (I think and maybe the graphics card too), but they didn't seem melted at all, so I'm feeling the PSU is more likely the problem.

RastislavB: thanks for your response. I must say that being a noob on this, I don't actually know what the ramifications of what you say are. With a degree in maths, I could probably get to grips with it, but the implications of your statements are not immediately obvious to me, except to say that I imagine the main one would be that a better/more powerful PSU is required, as others have said.

If I were to carry on playing games without changing the PSU, what might happen? PSU death? Worse?
 
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C12Friedman

C12Friedman

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The absolute best case you could hope for is that the smell stops and the PSU runs a bit warm (okay, that's closer to wishful thinking). With a PSU of dubious pedigree, there really is no telling just how it will die or if it will want to die alone. I'd say best case (without wishful thinking) is that the fans gets louder and your computer becomes unstable with time.

Although I'd be inclined to say the Corsair CX750 model would work there, it is from Corsair's Builder Series (or entry level) PSU's. The use of 85°C capacitors and a few other cut corners doesn't make it a great bargain (although the price is good) as I've come to believe it's life expectancy is not much more than the warranty period. I'll suggest looking at XFX PSU's (built by SeaSonic) as an option that shouldn't be much more than the Corsair CX models and consistently receive good reviews
 
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Thanatognomonic

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Jumping on this thread late, but it definitely sounds like a PSU related issue.
A quick note for any future builds you may plan:-
Never cheap out on a PSU, it is the only component that CAN destroy your whole computer at once.

Now it sounds like you've got a cheap, tier 4/5 PSU, but without the exact company name/model we don't know for sure. (It's generally displayed on the top right/left of the graph or along the sides of the PSU itself)
Personally, I'd suggest an 80+ Bronze/Silver/Gold PSU from either XFX or Seasonic. These are some of the best, if not THE best PSU manufacturers on the market today

I'd recommend this PSU:-
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $44.99

This is a top-quality PSU, manufactured by seasonic, but branded by XFX. It's a bronze rated PSU, which means that you will ALWAYS get over 80% efficiency. It's also 550W, which will allow you, if you ever plan, to do some over-clocking on your CPU/GPU.
 
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RastislavB

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Yeah sorry about that, I just calculated approximately how much power you need and compared it to what your power supply can deliver. The power needed exceeds the power supply's output if that makes sense. Otherwise that XFX 550W that Thanatognomonic suggested will last you years, you will only think about playing the game and there shall be no more burnt stuff smelling.
 
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bluesh34

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Thanatagnomonic and RastislavB: thanks for the recommendation and info: much appreciated and I'm glad that the PSU you suggested is such good value.

I just unscrewed the side panel of the PC in an effort to find out the brand of the PSU. In doing so, when I pulled the panel off, 1 or more things got disconnected. I was left with a fan which had 2 disconnected plugs on: both the same size, 4 pin, one to go in, one to take in, attached to each other by a thick bunch of wires: yellow, red and green. Also, I noticed a smaller 4 pin in connector from something else. Anyway, I connected the larger 4 pin in (from the fan) into the only thing that it would seem to connect to, which was into a connector from a bunch of wires in the middle. The other 2 (into) connectors don't seem to have any matching connectors to plug into them that I can see. Maybe they do, but I haven't been able to see any so far. The first time I turned the PC on after this, it booted up ok, but now it won't boot up and just says 'Reboot and Select proper Boot Device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key'. Any help to get it up and running again much appreciated.
 
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bluesh34

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Um, ok, but now the fan will be plugged into nothing. Just tried it and it's still giving the message 'Reboot and Select proper Boot Device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key'.

Also I'm noticing the funny smell...
 
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bluesh34

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I just checked all the cables and couldn't find any that seemed loose, except the 3 I already mentioned. I'm sure at least 1 of these was disconnected from where it's supposed to be when I removed the side panel and I don't think it would be too difficult to return things to the state they were before. It's just one of those those things where the solution is there, but I haven't found it yet.

I'm not seeing any point in buying a new PSU if I can't even get the PC to boot up.
 
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RastislavB

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I think it's better to leave it off. Don't worry about the cables, when the new PSU arrives you'll have to connect everything again so just use something else instead of the desktop for now. That error message means that you either unplugged the SATA data cable or the SATA power cable from the hard drive. Don't worry about that either.
 
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bluesh34

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But how will I stand a chance of connecting everything again if I can't even connect 1-3 thing/s which has/have come unstuck? I don''t even know if I'm getting a new PSU yet: WoW with just 1 add-on might be ok with the current PSU, in which case I might not need to buy a new one, but I would need to be able to boot up the PC.
 
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RastislavB

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We can't tell you how to reconnect everything again without pictures of the computer. Can you take pictures of the motherboard, hard drive and then the loose cables? Also take pictures of fans with their connectors and while you're at it can you take a picture of the PSU label? We will help you wire everything back but running that desktop with that power supply is a great risk. Power supplies are the only components of a PC that can take everything with it. It would be sad to see those other quality components go also. We can't stop you from running it like that, we're just advising against it.
 
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