Question about my exploding PC

[vanpeebles]

Ok, gfx is low power 50w, doesn't need external power cable.
Bequiet BK010 Shadow Rock slim is the CPU cooler, seems good enough for an i7 6700.
Evolve NLE HD Plus is Scans name for the PC.

[Dogg Thang]

And do the drive types seem safe enough to cannibalise?

[vanpeebles]

Two SSDs and a normal SATA, personally I think that the drives would either work, or not work at all. Especially if stuff has been shorted etc.

[Dogg Thang]

Two SSDs and a normal SATA, personally I think that the drives would either work, or not work at all. Especially if stuff has been shorted etc.

They still work fine. I guess I’m just concerned that one of them could be dodgy and I’d be bringing them into another computer where I’d have the same problem.

[vanpeebles]

I've seen drives fry in the past, and you get smoke and sometimes bits glowing. I couldn't see one doing that kind of damage while still running fine.

[Dogg Thang]

I think what I might do is pull out the drives before putting the computer in storage and keep them until I inevitably start running out of space and then use one only when I have to. In the meantime, if the one I'm working on blows up I'll know for sure that it's the electrics in the room.

[Zaki]

I've seen drives fry in the past, and you get smoke and sometimes bits glowing. I couldn't see one doing that kind of damage while still running fine.

Witnessed this when my brother accidentally plugged a PCIe power cable instead of peripheral power cable into his SSD.

I was more angry at myself for letting him do it...

[vanpeebles]

I think what I might do is pull out the drives before putting the computer in storage and keep them until I inevitably start running out of space and then use one only when I have to. In the meantime, if the one I'm working on blows up I'll know for sure that it's the electrics in the room.

What I tend to do is upgrade my drives and then remove and store the old ones as backups.

Maybe it's time for a new pc?

[Dogg Thang]

Witnessed this when my brother accidentally plugged a PCIe power cable instead of peripheral power cable into his SSD.

This is exactly like something I could do. If I do put them into my current computer, I'll be watching a lot of YouTube tutorials. And keeping the fire extinguisher handy.

[MENTION=5011]vanpeebles[/MENTION] A new PC of comparable specs isn't something I'd do right now but I do have a decent enough computer to work on that, now that I'm looking, actually has 64GB of RAM which is often what counts for me when it comes to rendering so, while some other specs aren't as good and the drives aren't as large, I'll just stay on this for the time being. But yeah, I'll store the drives as backups or for adding extra space later.

[vanpeebles]

As far as fault finding goes, I'd check and reconnect all cabling. Double check the 4 pin molex ends, sometimes the pins can work loose, so when you plug them together, the pin pushes out the top slightly. Re-tighten any screws, especially on the motherboard. Also give the pc a shake and see if anything sounds loose (shake shake!!).

[Neon Ignition]

Free bandwidth by deleting GB's of pr0n!

[Dogg Thang]

I spent years gathering that collection!

[MENTION=5011]vanpeebles[/MENTION] - cheers for the advice but I think, after this many blowouts, I wouldn't trust the computer or indeed myself to spot one of those connection faults, especially given people more knowledgeable than me may have missed something.

[vanpeebles]

I spent years gathering that collection!

@vanpeebles - cheers for the advice but I think, after this many blowouts, I wouldn't trust the computer or indeed myself to spot one of those connection faults, especially given people more knowledgeable than me may have missed something.

Bangs fist on table, proper fault detection starts at home! Do not rely on the spotty monkeys at computer shops or pee cee whirled.

[Digfox]

I suspect this thread has come to an end, but there is another angle that no one has suggested if you are really worried. And that's get a qualified electrician to come and test the ring main/wiring your PC was on?

I appreciate that electricians are expensive, and no other failures might indicate the issue was the PC. But sometimes it can be the building. Many years ago I used to work for a very small consultancy in London and the office there were plagued by dirty electrics. Power cuts and other shenanigans used to be common for all the tenants in that building.

Other than that Scan use branded, quality components and the advice of a UPS is sound. I've been running one for years since the old flat we used to live in would get power outages quite often. That said you only need to go on any PC forum to see PSU's giving up the ghost is quite common. Although more often than not these generic, no-name PSUs which are no where near their capacity.

Hopefully still relevant but their used to be a really good site for checking detailed specs on any PSU and confirming which OEM actually made it: http://www.orionpsudb.com/

[Dogg Thang]

that's get a qualified electrician to come and test the ring main/wiring your PC was on?

Yeah, this was something I considered and I actually rang one electrician and talked him through the setup and what was happening. He said it was possible that there was something dodgy in the electrics but he didn't think it sounded like it, just from what else is in the room without experiencing any issues or being affected by the same surge (heating, a pachinko machine mostly). So he reckoned I could have him pull the place apart and find nothing so he didn't recommend it. But that was just one electrician and it doesn't mean he was a good one.