Odd smell from PC

[jdelrio22]

So I have narrowed the culprit of an odd smell to my pc.

While the machine was running the comp. didn't show any symptoms but I haven't been able to narrow down where the smell is coming from.

What are some key spots/components I should be checking?

All the fans were running when I popped the case open and i'm inclined to think it might even be the PSU.

 

[NesuD]

Most often something in a PC giving off a smell is usually some portion of a pcb getting to hot. Most often that is the power supply but it could be almost anything with a significant amount of power going thru it. Motherboard, Vid card those types of things. Look very carefully at the various PCBs for spots of discoloration that would indicate high heat conditions. It is usually easiest to spot by looking at the back side of the boards. As long as the board isn't black you should be able to spot something. Could be a fan but usually they will stop turning (bearings gone bad) or be turning very slow. If fans look ok I would check them off the list.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Is it a slight burning or acidic smell? It is possible that it could be electrolytic capacitors that are leaking fluid which is then getting cooked (and possibly causing a localized short). Look for any "tin can" capacitors which have black/burn marks around the base, sides, or top. Like this:

Or this:

Or this:

 

[Magusigne]

Yeah..I'd say its your CAPS.

Possibly your PSU

 

[jdelrio22]

Thank god that it wasn't any on the mobo but I have not been able to get a good look at the ones on the PSU. I am going to pull it out tonight to hopefully get a closer look.

 

[jdelrio22]

So this evening I was pulling out the PSU from the comp and I can't really tell if there is something inside of it that may have cause the smell. I did however notice that the AC7 fan was loose, I tightened it but now I am beginning to wonder if the smell could have come from the CPU rather than the PSU.

The smell was like burnt ham almost. The comp. had been running and didn't show signs of overheating so when I shut it off I didn't get a bluescreen and the processes as far as windows was concerned seemed fine.

Would it be a good idea to perhaps just pop off that AC7 cooler and reapply the arctic compound on the cpu again?

PS: I didn't find capacitors showing the signs as described above - ty for the pics they were most helpful.