Weird CHEMICAL smell coming from PC.

Milos_10

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Jan 9, 2017
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When im doing intensive tasks such as gaming this horrible smell somes from pc.when pc is sitting idle or is lightly used i feel nothing.
What caused this is it the PSU the Mobo or something else?
P.S temps are perfrctly fine on CPU and GPU.And i sniffed around and i suspect the smell is coming from Left corner of my case ,not sure if it is PSU or Mobo cuz they are close and my psu is in top of the case.
 
Perhaps you should take everything out of the case (put the motherboard on a non-conductive surface like cardboard), and get the PSU as far away from everything as the cables will allow. Then you may be able to better isolate where the smell is coming from when under load.
 
If it were a leaking capacitor on the motherboard or inside the PSU, you could be smelling the electrolyte leaking out. Look carefully at all capacitors on the motherboard for signs of the tops bulging or leaking. It isn't really safe to open up a PSU to inspect the capacitors, because even unplugged it contains high voltage. I guess you could try to look in through the vent holes with a flashlight, but you wouldn't be able to see everything clearly.
 

Milos_10

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Jan 9, 2017
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So i removed psu from pc and sniffed inside of case some more and i couldnt smell anything.then i sniffed the psu while it was out of the case and i felt some smell.why is smell increasimg as workload gets bigger such as gaming?
 
As the workload increases, the PSU is working harder to output the power the components (CPU, GPU, cooling fans, etc.) are demanding. Try running a stress test or play a demanding game with the PSU still outside of the case. Then you can isolate for sure that it is the PSU that is causing the smell. A PSU that is in good working order should only give off an odor for the first few days of use as the solvents used in the manufacturing process "burn off". My guess is you have a leaking capacitor inside the PSU, but as I said earlier, it isn't safe to open up a PSU, even when unplugged.
 

Supahos

Expert
Ambassador
Absolutely yes. When a PSU dies especially a not top of the line one, it can take any part on the computer with it. Could hurt nothing else if it fails just the wrong way spectacularly it technically could catch on fire. Or just fry any part connected to it or the motherboard (read every part in your oc)