Loud buzzing sound, almost like an old fridge.

[Smelly_]

Hey Anandtech.

When I walked into my room this morning I could smell a distinct, yet faint, burning smell. I thought nothing of it.

However, I proceeded to attempt to turn on my PC & was greeted with a buzzing noise coming from my PC & the fans spinning up. The computer did POST. I'd been having a few problems with the bearings on one of the case fans but nothing serious and was planning to replace said fan in a few months (I don't believe this is a temp related issue at all).

I've assumed that it's the Powersupply, I say this because it's the lowest quality component & has a few decent load components on the system. The faint burning smell also adds to the case, as I'm unaware of any component that could have such an effect (especially when the computer was off).

Specs: PSU: XILENCE 580w (Dual rail @ 20a each rail)
http://www.xilence.net/en/products/power-supplies/red-wing-series/product/241747.html
Motherboard: Asus M4N68T-M LEv2
GFX Card: GTX 560
CPU: Phenom 955 X4 stock 3.2ghz
RAM: 4gb Mushkin DDR3

What does Anandtech think, what course of action should I take?

I'm mainly looking for theoretical statements here(yes, I know that's annoying - my apologies), PSUs are the one of the two components I'm quite useless with & won't be able to test it as I'm unfamiliar & don't have the means to test it.

To give you an example, the computer sounded almost like the PSU in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cu1c0N9zNs&feature=related but was only on for seconds so didn't do any squealing/other things.

Thanks a ton for any help in this thread, it is much appreciated.

Just to reiterate, the buzzing sound wasn't like a dodgey fan - it was far lower in pitch.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Pull that power supply immediately before you take out the whole system or cause a fire. Electronics that smell like burning are not a good thing.

Set the power supply in a seperate room. After a couple days give it a sniff check. Then you will know for sure if it was the culprit for the burning smell. You can also remove and inspect the motherboard. Sometimes motherboards go out in a blaze of glory too.

 

[Smelly_]

Pull that power supply immediately before you take out the whole system or cause a fire. Electronics that smell like burning are not a good thing.

Set the power supply in a seperate room. After a couple days give it a sniff check. Then you will know for sure if it was the culprit for the burning smell. You can also remove and inspect the motherboard. Sometimes motherboards go out in a blaze of glory too.

I'm most likely going to take it to my local computer shop, as regarding PSUs I'm somewhat useless in terms of troubleshooting. I'm not planning to turn on the computer until it's been taken down there.

I've had a look at the motherboard Capacitors & from an initial look, there doesn't appear to be a bulging/leaking one on the motherboard.

Personally, I'm somewhat hoping this is the PSU. It hasn't blown yet (just, if this is the source of the buzzing, it's starting to) & it's better this happen with warning so that it can be fixed than suddenly blow & take everything with it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've come out of my bedroom into the living room, and smelled something, kind of metallic, like someone left a pot on the stove too long and it boiled dry. At least, that's what I smelled. I don't know for certain if it was one of my PCs or one of my neighbors, but the smell faded after a few hours.

Both of my main Q9300 @ 3.0 rigs are crunching DC 24/7, along with GTX460 1GB OC cards (one in each machine). So there's a lot of power being used.

Both machines are powered by an Antec EarthWatts 650W (Delta) unit. So far, no errors in crunching, no crashes, no power-downs, nothing of the sort.

So for the time being, I'm just going to continue to use my systems. If they fail later on, then I'll try to figure out what went wrong (and probably just upgrade).

 

[Atheus]

Capacitors

^ This one. Probably. They have a distinctive smell - they can slowly burst and leak - or they can just go bang. I've seen one go and did actually smoke. Surprised the machine POSTs...

Personally, I'm somewhat hoping this is the PSU.

If you've checked the mobo, the only other place with big elecrolyitic capacitors is the PSU, so that's where my money is.

it's the lowest quality component & has a few decent load components on the system.

Wrong way round! The PSU is very important. You're lucky you didn't fry your whole machine. You can't got wrong getting a good/new PSU if you have on old and possibly dodgy one. Don't go to the local shop if you can help it - try online. I don't know anything about US stores but I know it's cheaper and easier to get cumputer components online almost everywhere in the world. Read a few reviews and search a comparison website for a good price on something stable.

Pull that power supply immediately before you take out the whole system or cause a fire. Electronics that smell like burning are not a good thing.

Yea please do this...

 

[Smelly_]

^ This one. Probably. They have a distinctive smell - they can slowly burst and leak - or they can just go bang. I've seen one go and did actually smoke. Surprised the machine POSTs...



If you've checked the mobo, the only other place with big elecrolyitic capacitors is the PSU, so that's where my money is.



Wrong way round! The PSU is very important. You're lucky you didn't fry your whole machine. You can't got wrong getting a good/new PSU if you have on old and possibly dodgy one. Don't go to the local shop if you can help it - try online. I don't know anything about US stores but I know it's cheaper and easier to get cumputer components online almost everywhere in the world. Read a few reviews and search a comparison website for a good price on something stable.



Yea please do this...

Yeah, I know the PSU is a key component - sadly I didn't have the same knowledge of computers a year ago as I have now.

From a quick check on the motherboard last night, I didn't appear to see any obvious burnt out/bulging/whateveryouwanttocallit capacitors on it.

When I walked into my room again this morning, I was greeted with a similar smell (Very faint, like you have to be smelling for it) & the PC has been off + Cables out + PSU off using the switch on it. Seeing as that smell + the sound could have been a coincidence, would you consider it worth turning it on & locating the sound or would it not be worth the risk?

 

[kschaffner]

Couple things to do. Take psu out and use a flash light to see if you see anything. I wouldn't recommend opening one to someone not familiar with them. You can also plug it and listen for the sound/smoke/smell. If nothing there try to test if it powers on with it unplugged from the wall use a paper clip and stick one end into the green cable on the 20/24 pin where it would plug into the mobo and the other to any black. At this point plug the psu in and see what it does. The green wire is a signal on wire and will cause the psu to power up. If you see smoke, hear buzz or smell the burn unplug and replace.