Okay, this is the second time building a computer on my own. The motherboard had a 24-pin socket but I didn't notice that the power supply had a 20-pin connector with an extra 4-pin to go with the 20-pin one. So what I did without knowing the proper connection, I connected the 20-pin to the 240pin socket on the motherboard and the extra 4-pin to the 4-pin socket across from the motherboard. The correct 4-pin was left hanging and wasn't used.

So after all these things were done and I connected the power cable to the PSU and switched it on, I heard some popping sounds and then the computer shut down and I smelled something got burnt. At first I thought it was the motherboard but it turned out it was still working. Now I'm thinking that it might be the power supply that might be broke. I haven't taken it out yet from the computer tower so I'll go to a local computer shop to get this checked out.

If you guys know what happened can you guys tell me?

NOTE: I checked the CPU also but there seems to be nothing burnt there.

If there is a smell then it is the power supply because the mother board don't give out a smell as i know...
so try getting a new one with 24-PIN and take care while plugging it to the mother board...
if the computer is not responding to your press on the power button then maybe the mother board or the processor is damaged

Its your motherboard, and although your board maybe working your burnt something else best thing to do is take it apart and smell around and you will find it. My board was working as well when I fried the RAM slots last weekend, and as for the power supply you will see more smoke then smell. Hmmm makes me wonder about something I will have to look into when I get my new motherboard this week, I wouldn't doubt you gave your motherboard a electric shock either so make sure you have something to discharged the static electricity from your body when working on the hardware.

Suppose I burnt the processor, I should see a burnt spot on it right? I'd hate to find out it's the chip. So is there a chance it might be the power supply? I haven't taken it out yet but tonight I will with my uncle cuz he knows all that hardware stuff cuz he used to build them.

Is there a chance it might be the RAM that gave out the smell or the optical drives or hard drive? Cuz I asked my uncle and he said those should be fine because they're harder to get burnt.

Anything faulty plugged should be the problem. I'm assuming whatever you plugged the 4-pin into is what popped. I'm guessing since it was in the wrong spot, the power supply gave it too much to handle, therefore making a popping sound. I'm expecting that part of the motherboard to not work while the PSU still works, but i could be wrong.

I doubt it's the RAM, for i doubt that much, if any, power even managed to reach it. Likewise with your drives.

Try using the questionable power supply with a "known" motherboard. A "known" motherboard would be a motherboard that fits PSU and known to be in working condition. This will tell you if the power supply is bad. Or you can get really cheap PSU tester on the net these days (gawd, I paid over $200 back in the day).

Once you eliminate PSU problem, then move on to CPU, RAM then MB etc.

The burning smell you percieved would most likely be because one thing or the other went bad in there. there might have been some sort of short circuiting in your computer that caused the short circuiting and made one of your components to sstop working.

If you are using an AMD microprocessor, and there is any over heating in there, the possibility of your processor being able to withstand the heat is on the lower side, but if you are using an Intel processor, you have a better chance that it aint your processor that went bad.



if any of the numerous components on the motherbaord gets burnt, it would still give out the same burning smell as any other burnt electrical device. it is wrong of you to say that.

I would suggest that you check your processor, motherboard and memory to know whether they are bad or not.

Put on your motherboard; with the ram and the CPU removed and listen for beeps. If you hear them, then most likely your mobo is good. Put in the ram and listen for beeps again. If no beeps this time, I think your mobo is good. Put in your processor now with a PSU you confirmed to be good and working fine and try to power your PC again. Remember to remove the heatsinnk from the processor and feel its top. If you feel any heat emanating from the processor, the probability is that your processor is still good. This does not mean though that you mobo is good if the procesor produces heat. This simply means that the mobo was able to supply power to the CPU that made it produce the heat.

Then for the memory. check them to know the chips are heating up abnormally or whether they are just warming up. If excessive heat is felt, go and buy another memory module. If this is not the case, your rams are likely still good.

Then consider changing your PSU as this is most likely what got burnt. You can check whether your PSU is still good by shorting the green and the black connector in the PSU. It has to be the black connector immediately next to the green one. If the fan turns on, then the PSU is ok.

Try these troubleshooting techniques and you would most likely not spend your money on calling a system techie.

From what I've read, AMD's handle more heat. The magazine said something like Intel's should go over 125 F and AMD's shouldn't be over 140 F.

Thank you all for the help and suggestions. It turns out that the PSU was the one that got burnt. I took it to a local computer shop and they tested it and they told me it was dead. So I just got a new one (450w) for only $25 at the same store.