Computer popped with bad smell

I haven't turned on the computer in about 10 days. I get back, it starts to boot up normally when 10 seconds later, I hear a dull popping sound and it instantly shuts down. Sound came from computer, not monitor.

I open the case and there is no smoke coming from the CPUs or video/sound cards; no smoke anywhere. Smell seems to originate at the power supply. Now when the computer is plugged in, it won't even turn on. But there is a light on the motherboard and it is on, even when the computer is off. As long as there is power going to the computer, the light on the motherboard will be on. Why that is, I have no idea but that's what it used to do even when the computer was functioning properly.

So I got a second opinion, and the smell seems to come from the power supply (which is 3+ years old). Would this seem accurate since nothing was smoking and the light on the motherboard still indicates power getting to the board (hopefully that means that nothing is fried)? The CPUs are not overclocked.

Thanks!

 

Unless you have the proper skills and test equipment, you'll have to defer to someone who does. Diagnosing whether the power supply failed by itself or whether something else died and took the power supply with it, is a job for someone with a good test bench setup.

If you gamble and just replace the power supply, the possibility exists that you will fry the new supply. That mistake could have paid a major portion of the diagnostic bill.

So.....do you feel lucky?

The odds run about like this 80% say power supply failed all alone; 10% say MOBO or other peripheral has shorted and the power supply will only need a fuse replaced after the shorted item is replaced; and 10% say both a peripheral and the power supply have failed. That doesn't leave any room for a simple power surge causing the fuse to blow. You'll never get THAT lucky.

 

I had the same thing happen a while back, I knew the power supply went out so I tried another one I had and found other problems.

I just used the opportunity to upgrade my system with a new MB, new CPU, new memory and a new tower.

I don't know if I needed to replace all of that but I used the outage as an excuse to fully upgrade all but my HDD.

 

You probably have a crispy critter in your PS. Took up residence in the last ten days.

Do the fans run in the PS?

Electronic devices have shut down circuits that cannot be reset until power plugs are physically unplugged. PS's generate several 5 and 12v sources. Your MB light could be on if the PS is making only one of these voltages. I would unplug all plugs including everything that you would unplug if you were going to change out the PS. Let it sit for 10 minutes and plug everything back in.

If not working then, see if you can borrow one from someone to try.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. I replaced the chassis and ps (they didn't have solely an ATX ps) for $40 and everything appears to be alright (knock on wood). The old ps was rated at 250W and the one I have now is 350W. Hopefully this one lasts a bit longer.