burning smell from PC

Hairy_Bizrat · Aug 12, 2016

Hi all

so I've noticed a burning smell from my PC for a while now but I only used it to store movies and data so I didn't really investigate. Now my son is using it for games so I'm looking into it. I thought maybe it was the GPU so I picked up a used GTX 480 and replaced the power supply and I can still smell a burning smell. CPU temp is around 40 degrees celcuis and GPU is 50 celceuis . So I thought maybe the case (I don't like the case) is not letting enough air flow, so I left the side panel off and temps didn't drop by much and I still smell it. so that leaves me with thinking it was dust burning or CPU or motherboard.
I downloaded HWINFO64 monitoring software and it didn't report anything unusual except one of my 2TB drives shows over 50 degrees when the others (I have 5 total) show 30 and says the drive is reporting a warning. so I'm thinking maybe this drive is failing and causing the odor?

I scanned all drives with wndows disk checker and it reports no issues on nay drives.

Only other thing it could be I think is I need better cooling?

updating info

thanks for replying
see attached screenshots from HDtune. The suspect drive is always 50 degrees and others are 35-37. I'm hoping the burning is the drive and not motherboard or CPU. I will try to disconnect the drive for a few days maybe?

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
AMD FX-6300
Vishera 32nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
BIOSTAR Group A960G+ (CPU 1)
Graphics
EVGA Nvidia GTX 480
Storage
60GB SAMSUNG MCCOE64G5MPQ-0VA03 ATA Device (SSD)
1TB Seagate ST1000DM003-1ER162 ATA Device (SATA)
PSU (new yesterday) LEPA MX-F1 600W ATX 12V White Power Supply
Optical Drives
No optical disk drives detected
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

SkyNetRising · Aug 12, 2016

Please post full hardware specs (including PSU model) and
HDtune health screenshots of drive that shows warning.

Hairy_Bizrat · Aug 12, 2016

SkyNetRising :

updated my original post with the info you requested, see pic below (looks like pics from dropbox are not showing up)

SkyNetRising · Aug 12, 2016

That screenshot doesn't show health section.
It's easier to upload your screenshot to tinypic.com and use that link than mess with dropbox links.

Hairy_Bizrat · Aug 12, 2016

SkyNetRising :

sorry see below

SkyNetRising · Aug 12, 2016

Your PSU is a really bad choice. Lepa MX-f1 series - tier 4.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

GTX 480 is rather power hungry card. It requires 600W PSU, but your Lepa provides less than 500W though it's advertized as 600W.

SkyNetRising · Aug 12, 2016

And that disk shows pre-failure signs.
2 relocated sectors and 273 pending sectors. Pending sectors need to be resolved.

It's not at critical level yet. But I wouldn't keep anything important on it. Be ready that it may soon fail.

Hairy_Bizrat · Aug 12, 2016

SkyNetRising :

so do you think this drive could be the source of the burning smell? i'll pull it out for a few days to see if the smell goes away

Also, the power supply, I just purchased it yesterday. Is there any other power supplies that you might recommend to me that aren't too expensive? I shop only at www.canadacomputers.com

SkyNetRising · Aug 12, 2016

EVGA Supernova GS would be great
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_1238_443&item_id=083419
Slightly pricey - yes, but really good quality product.

I'm not sure that drive could be source of burning smell. 50C is not enough for anything to burn.
That would require temperature closer to 100C.

Do you get that smell when PC is turned off?
If PC case is opened and you start your PC, can't you locate, where smell is coming from?

Hairy_Bizrat · Aug 12, 2016

SkyNetRising :

This pc has been powered on 24/7 (except power outages) for the past 4 years.
When I power it off and let it sit I don't smell anything
And you can't deterine where the smell is coming from
But you can smell it if your in the room
So I don't know if the case is too hot enough though monitoring tools show nothing really high in temp
Or maybe dust is burning and I should clean it or CPU or motherboard

SkyNetRising · Aug 12, 2016

Well yes - if it's full of dust, you should probably clean it.
Are those heatsinks on motherboard hot? Or CPU heatsink? Does it burn your fingers, if you touch them?

Another thing that could run hot are CPU voltage regulators on motherboard (small boxes near CPU).
Can you touch those?
(before doing that touch and release metal part of PC case to remove any electrostatic charge from yourself)

Hairy_Bizrat · Aug 13, 2016

SkyNetRising :

So I checked the PC this morning and with the case off it doesn't seem to smell too bad at all. So maybe there is no airflow in the case? But I touched the heatsink of the motherboard and its hot enough to burn my finger for sure. Is that normal?

SkyNetRising · Aug 13, 2016

It shouldn't be so hot, that you can burn your fingers.
You could upgrade you system cooler to something more effective like this:

http://www.acousticpc.com/coolink_chip_chilla_northbridge_heatpipe_cooler_with_60mm_quiet_fan.html

Improved case airflow would also help.

Hairy_Bizrat · Aug 15, 2016

SkyNetRising :

I marked this as the solution because I've left both side covers off of my PC for 2 days and I do not smell anything anymore. So I'm thinking the case and lack of airflow is the culprit here

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