Heard a pop.

[Etwas]

I was building my new pc not too long ago. While I was testing my fans to see if they would start spinning. I heard a pop from the inside of the case. There may have also been a little bit of smoke and a burn smell after the pop, both dissipated within seconds. The fan kept spinning and the RAM was even still lit and moving about. I honestly dont know what to make of this. I’m hoping that everything is fine though.

[Bruce]

electrical pops and the magic white smoke are not good signs.
something has shorted and died.
could be power supply or motherboard.
did you have the PC on while you were testing the fans?

[Etwas]

Yeah the pc was running. I just wanted to see if they would turn on. I did plan on testing the psu though, but it got too late and I went to bed.

[Bruce]

chances are excellant it’ll be the PSU, getting your hands on another one from another PC would be great to verify that theory.

[Etwas]

Well from what I see, the PSU is working perfectly fine. The motherboard still lights up upon flipping the PSU switch. It still lights up when turning it on, and the RAM still lights up and moves as well. I did some further testing and the fans are even spinning and lighting up.
I’m not really sure what’s wrong. (If there even is any problem)
I have heard of peoples pcs smoking upon powering up for the first time but it later worked absolutely fine. Maybe this is a situation as such? This is my first PC build so I am hoping that nothing was damaged and hoping is as they appear… perfectly fine.
But out of caution, besides the smoke what are some other warning signs that I have a bad psu? Will it still power on?

[phillpower2]

The pop may have been a capacitor on the MB.

Post the brand and model name or number for the CPU, MB, the RAM (including the amount) add on video card if one is used and the PSU (power supply unit) providing these details will enable folk to better assist you.

[Etwas]

CPU: Ryzen 7 2700x
MOBO: Gigabyte Aorus X570 Master
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200MHz 32gb (4x8)
PSU: Thermaltake Smart Series 700W Powersupply

[Etwas]

Upon further research I think it may have been a blown capacitor. Looking at the capacitors, I found no visible damage, but I am not an expert so I am not sure. I might take my mobo to a technician so they can diagnose the problem.

[phillpower2]

There is no video card on the list.

I’m not really sure what’s wrong. (If there even is any problem)

Upon further research I think it may have been a blown capacitor.

I mentioned a possible blown cap in my reply #6 so not sure why you needed to do any research :unsure:

Are you actually looking for help with something here, you mention in your OP that things are running but you do not mention any display at all.

[Bruce]

that mobo, as almost all do these days, uses solid capacitors, so very unlikely to be those unless the board had a massive over-current which would come from a dodgy PSU.

I’ve never heard of or witness a new PC, be it the PSU or mobo, popping on first use - it just doesn’t happen without a reason, and that reason is something dying - especially if you saw/smelt the white smoke as well !!!

it is not unheard of for a faulty PSU to still provide power on certain rails. so yes, your RAM and fans etc could very well still work.

as phillpower2 has said, you don’t mention if you have actually tried to use the PC, that is, boot up and install Windows.

[Etwas]

No I haven’t tried to boot it up. Right after I heard the pop I shut down the system. I didn’t want to continue with the build until I figured out what the problem so I could try to come up with solutions.

[Etwas]

Oh and when I said running I meant everything looked right. It looked as if nothing happened at all. Ram was still lit up as well as the fans and mobo its self. But the pop and the smoke was still very concerning.

[Bruce]

whatever has popped has already happened, the weakest component has already been taken out and the circuit broken so you can turn it on and try moving forward.

if you see/smell more smoke - turn it off and take it in.

[Etwas]

Yeah… I had turned it on a few times today. Absolutely no problems… So I will try to continue with the build.

[Bruce]

it will be interesting to find out what that pop was - time will tell!
good luck with the rest of the build.