Burned something out?

zck17

Distinguished
Jul 28, 2011
8
0
18,510
Hello,
a couple days ago my computer shut down and nothing but the internal lighting and fans were still running. the slight smell of burn toast filled my room, and a red like showed up on my xfx hd 4850 graphics card. after contacting xfx I found that any component could be the cause; not just the graphics card. they also stated that there may not be a noticeable burn patch, but merely a broken piece a couple nanometers large. is there any way for me to find out exactly what computer component has broken? or must I issue an RMA for each part paying multiple shipping fees just to find what part?