Slight burnt smell from PC

Gobbling_Monkey

Honorable
Jan 13, 2014
54
0
10,630
Hello. I have a PC I built with i5-4560, 16GB RAM, GTX 960 2GB dual fan, and HDD, and SSD. I currently have a 650 watt EVGA Supernova Gold PSU, and stock cooler on the CPU. I have started to smell a faint burning smell from my PC. I dust my PC pretty often, so I don't think dust can make it smell? It is also on a wooden desk and has nothing blacking its fans. My temps are good with my CPU being ~39C idle and ~55C while playing games and GPU being ~42C idle and ~68C while playing games. I looked inside and all the fans are still spinning, there is not much dust, and nothing seems to look wrong. I read somewhere it could possibly mean my PSU is dying? If my PSU is to die, can it potentially fry my motherboard or catch on fire? Should I replace it? I smelled around my PC and think the smell is between the GPU and PSU. The GPU fans and PSU fans are both facing downwards. There is a PCI USB card and a Wifi card between the GPU and PSU. I think it could be GPU if right below the fans is where it smells the most? My PC seems to function very well without any problems and good temps. What could be causing the smell? Thank you.
 

mrjack2207

Reputable
Jul 29, 2015
406
1
4,860
Have you tried putting new thermal paste on your cpu and cleaning your gpu fans, maybe buy a new psu, try it, and if that doesnt solve it, just return it (get it off amazon so no questions asked returns)

 

Gobbling_Monkey

Honorable
Jan 13, 2014
54
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10,630


Hello and thank you for your reply. I have more info. I smelled around my PC. The smell seems to be coming from between the PSU and GPU, mostly from bottom of GPU fans. There is a wifi card and PCI USB card between them. Could they be damaged due to hot air from the GPU fans? I think the smell is closer to the GPU fans than the PSU, but I am not sure. The PSU is placed on the bottom with fan facing down while the GPU is in the middle with fans also facing downwards. Close to the PSU ports smell too, but I think it could be because air being blown at it from GPU? Does this mean I should replace GPU? I actually plan on installing a CM Hyper 212 EVO tomorrow, but the smell does not seem to come from CPU at all. I dust GPU fans once a month with compressed air. Thank you for your reply.
 

mrjack2207

Reputable
Jul 29, 2015
406
1
4,860
Take the graphics card out and run on integrated graphics, see if smell goes