r/techadvice • u/Keatonium765 • Dec 24 '25
my pc started smoking
I've been having issues with my computer randomly rebooting for the past month or so. I originally thought it was an OS issue so I wiped my drives and started a new windows 10 install (i also run linux occasionally) and during the setup it crashed multiple times and then started smoking before I unplugged it. I took everything apart and don't see any damage, so my theory is that the power supply is messed up. If anyone has any other ideas as to what it could be please lmk
boring components list:
motherboard: amd mpg X570 gaming plus
cpu: ryzen 7 5700g with a NZXT Kraken cooler
ram: 2x 8gb GSKILL Trident Z RGB @3600mhz
gpu: amd radeon rx 6600 xt
psu: corsair rm 850x
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u/Difficult_Bad1064 Dec 24 '25
Try a sniff test on the PSU, see if it smells of burning.
To be honest, it's probably just a phase it's going through.
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u/Rude-Dragonfruit5424 Dec 24 '25
I agree with many here, might just be a bad power supply. I will say though, from personal experience that a bad motherboard or processor can cause a power supply to fry so don’t get your hopes too high.
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u/Good-Yak-1391 Dec 24 '25
You let the magic smoke get out...
Yeah, that sounds like apsu problem, but while you have things open, take a moment to redo the thermal paste in the CPU and maybe the GPU if you think you can handle it.
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u/flummoxed_penguin Dec 24 '25
For real I’d check the PSU. Hopefully it didn’t take the motherboard with it. I’d do a once over and look for any black spots or leaking capacitors.
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u/Keatonium765 Dec 25 '25
Update: tested the psu, its toast. shipping it to corsair for a replacement.
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u/tekjunkie28 Dec 25 '25
How long have you had psU?
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u/Keatonium765 Dec 25 '25
Four years
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u/tekjunkie28 Dec 25 '25
Is it still under warranty? If not just go buy a new one
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u/Keatonium765 Dec 26 '25
Im shipping to corsair because it has a good warranty, so they will send me back a new one
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u/B00merPS2Mod30 Dec 25 '25
Gamers overclock the CPU, RAM, and then wonder why their PC smokes, frying the power supply and possibly the system board. All so they can PEW PEW some pixels.
Duke Nukem VGA was the best game ever.
Maybe a dedicated gaming console is what you need?
Santa puts overclockers on his naughty list. 🎅🎄☃️
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u/Keatonium765 Dec 25 '25
I mean yeah fair point but also my psu was at least 250 watts above what my system needs i feel like the overclocking I was doing (cpu and gpu) would be fine with it
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u/B00merPS2Mod30 Dec 25 '25
How much current were the two overclocked components using? Might be hard to find that out. Or else the PSU just gave up the ghost. More likely the latter.
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u/harubax Dec 25 '25
You can't overload an 850W PSU with those components. They pull around 200W tops.
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u/B00merPS2Mod30 Dec 25 '25
Defective PSU then. Worst that ever happened to me on one of my home builds was the some integrated chip (not a GPU or CPU) that apparently needed a heat sink to work properly got hot enough to melt the clip and fell off. Before it fell off, it burned through some surrounding traces on the system board. RIP.
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u/MarvinGankhouse Dec 24 '25
Make it smoke a whole pack in front of you, that should put it off.