dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
16306
zurk
Premium Member
join:2009-11-08
Beverly Hills, CA

zurk

Premium Member

New $2000 gaming computer - caught fire by cheap $50 CoolerMaster PSU.

Click for full size
rear
Click for full size
top
My new $2000 gaming rig and i put a coolermaster PSU i had sitting around into it. Caught fire and toasted my rig after around a week. Flames shot out of the PSU rear before i killed power.
Lesson learned. Never put a $50 PSU into a $2000 computer. Now im getting a seasonic 650W gold.
Model is RS-460-PSAR-13. Worst PSU ever. looks like it caught fire around the fuse area which is somewhat ironic.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone

Premium Member

$30 budget build PSU installed into a $2,000 gaming rig.

Makes total sense.

Hey, at least now we know who not to take advice from on the forums whenever build suggestion threads pop up

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron

Premium Member

said by Ghastlyone:

Hey, at least now we know who not to take advice from on the forums whenever build suggestion threads pop up

If anything there's a lesson learned there. I think the OP will be preachin' the gospel of "not cheaping out on your PSU" when advice gets solicited.

EQ

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone

Premium Member

said by El Quintron:

said by Ghastlyone:

Hey, at least now we know who not to take advice from on the forums whenever build suggestion threads pop up

If anything there's a lesson learned there. I think the OP will be preachin' the gospel of "not cheaping out on your PSU" when advice gets solicited.

EQ

Let's hope so.

El Quintron
Cancel Culture Ambassador
Premium Member
join:2008-04-28
Tronna

El Quintron

Premium Member

No kidding,

Blockgorilla
Sarcasm is my native tongue
join:2010-02-11
Wichita, KS

1 recommendation

Blockgorilla to zurk

Member

to zurk
you know, you voided the warranty by cracking open the case on that PSU. Now you'll never get your money back.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212 to zurk

Member

to zurk
What wattage was it ans 80+ or not? What model number too? I can't read it cause of the glare. > .

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone

Premium Member

said by me1212:

What wattage was it ans 80+ or not? What model number too? I can't read it cause of the glare. > .

It's not an 80+ rated PSU.

TRU
join:2005-07-21
Michigan

3 edits

TRU to Ghastlyone

Member

to Ghastlyone
said by Ghastlyone:

$30 budget build PSU installed into a $2,000 gaming rig.

Makes total sense.

Not to pour salt in the wound here because usually 1 person saying something obvious like this has no need for an echo... but this was exactly my thought!

Most of the people here, atleast the regulars, who give advice on PC builds for people, usually warn builders: "Don't SKIMP or CHEAP out on a PSU. Just don't do it! Ever!"

Parts that are NEVER wise to skimp out on:
(1) PSU
(2) CPU cooler (especially if overclocking)
(3) SSD's (these are awesome. If you can afford one. It is ALWAYS a good choice to do so because SSD's offer the greatest boost to performance, sometimes more so than any other upgrade you can buy these days. BUT people sometimes try and cut corners to save a few hundred dollars on these and instead end up with an unreliable, foreign paper weight.

BY FAR though, PSU is without a doubt the single most critical device in your system. DO NOT BUY A CHEAP PSU!
zurk
Premium Member
join:2009-11-08
Beverly Hills, CA

zurk to Blockgorilla

Premium Member

to Blockgorilla
ya well i'll be sure to claim on my ONE YEAR PSU warranty 3 years later...NOT.

model is »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 17171046
Cooler Master Elite Power - 460W Power Supply

Xioden
Premium Member
join:2008-06-10
Monticello, NY

Xioden

Premium Member

"New"
asdfdfdfdfdf
Premium Member
join:2012-05-09

asdfdfdfdfdf to zurk

Premium Member

to zurk
You all are being pretty vicious.
Sorry to hear about your bad luck zurk. Hope everything else is ok.
It is a good reminder that such things are less likely to happen with quality supplies.
That's a solytech build with 27A 12v so, with a 2k gaming setup, your graphics cards may have pushed it over the edge. A supply of that quality isn't meant to be pushed near its limits.

Savious
Premium Member
join:2012-03-05
Billings, MT

Savious

Premium Member

said by asdfdfdfdfdf:

You all are being pretty vicious.
Sorry to hear about your bad luck zurk.

No doubt. Thanks for the warning.

Tirael
BOHICA
Premium Member
join:2009-03-18
Sacramento, CA

Tirael to asdfdfdfdfdf

Premium Member

to asdfdfdfdfdf
said by asdfdfdfdfdf:

You all are being pretty vicious.

This isn't about being vicious. If you frequent these forums (or any DSLR forums), there are plenty of places where people can ask about these kinds of things (and plenty of places with advice already about these things). Putting a $50 PSU inside an alleged "$2000 computer" is like sticking a bomb inside a box and kicking it down a hill. You are just asking for trouble.
IamGimli (banned)
join:2004-02-28
Canada

IamGimli (banned) to zurk

Member

to zurk
Doesn't really sound like a poor quality PSU problem but more of a grossly underpowered PSU problem.

$2k machine one would assume is equipped with a couple of high-end (i.e. power-hungry) graphics cards, multiple disk drives, etc. 460W of power supply would be overloaded most of the time.

Even the 650W you're replacing it with is on the low end. On that kind of machine I wouldn't be comfortable below 800W.

EUS
Kill cancer
Premium Member
join:2002-09-10
canada

EUS to zurk

Premium Member

to zurk
Lucky you caught it before the fire spread.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy to zurk

MVM

to zurk
I guess the real question is what did it take with it? That is the main reason you don't skip on the PSU, it connects to everything.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212 to Ghastlyone

Member

to Ghastlyone
...
...
...
I dont mean to sound like a jerk, but if you spending $2000 on a pc there is no excuse to not get at least 80+silver and a good brand. Most likely gold or platinum.

The Flash
Premium Member
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON

The Flash to IamGimli

Premium Member

to IamGimli
said by IamGimli:

Doesn't really sound like a poor quality PSU problem but more of a grossly underpowered PSU problem.

$2k machine one would assume is equipped with a couple of high-end (i.e. power-hungry) graphics cards, multiple disk drives, etc. 460W of power supply would be overloaded most of the time.

Even the 650W you're replacing it with is on the low end. On that kind of machine I wouldn't be comfortable below 800W.

He hasn't posted specs but SeaSonic is anything but low end.

TigerLord

join:2002-06-09
Canada

TigerLord

Seasonic is the best PSU brand there is.

An overloaded PSU would simply trip, it shouldn't cause a fire. I've built close to 200 systems in the past decade, I've seen sparks and smoke, but never an actual fire.

This is wild.

Savious
Premium Member
join:2012-03-05
Billings, MT

2 recommendations

Savious to Tirael

Premium Member

to Tirael
said by Tirael:

said by asdfdfdfdfdf:

You all are being pretty vicious.

This isn't about being vicious. If you frequent these forums (or any DSLR forums), there are plenty of places where people can ask about these kinds of things (and plenty of places with advice already about these things). Putting a $50 PSU inside an alleged "$2000 computer" is like sticking a bomb inside a box and kicking it down a hill. You are just asking for trouble.

The thing is he wasn't whining or crying, he was just saying "hey, I f'd up, be warned"

Then everyone jumps down his throat. The guy is already out a ton of cash. There is no reason for everyone to be a dick about it.

Ghastlyone
Premium Member
join:2009-01-07
Nashville, TN

Ghastlyone to zurk

Premium Member

to zurk
Kind of OT, but just recently I installed a GTX 650 into a my old HP desktop with a Seasonic 80+ Bronze 350w PSU. Nothing is overclocked, no extra system fans. Nothing.

The PC wouldn't even power on at all with that video card installed. Which surprised me. I ended buying a Corsair CX 500 and everything runs great.
IamGimli (banned)
join:2004-02-28
Canada

IamGimli (banned) to The Flash

Member

to The Flash
said by The Flash:

He hasn't posted specs but SeaSonic is anything but low end.

I made no statement on the quality of the PSU. A 650W PSU of any brand will be on the low end for his requirements as it just doesn't supply enough power and will be running at near (or past) 100% load most of the time.
IamGimli

IamGimli (banned) to TigerLord

Member

to TigerLord
said by TigerLord:

An overloaded PSU would simply trip, it shouldn't cause a fire. I've built close to 200 systems in the past decade, I've seen sparks and smoke, but never an actual fire.

It depends how much it's overloaded by. Slight overloads will just trip a breaker or fuse. A large overload and components will get damaged before the fuse/breaker has time to flip and damaged components can cause a wide variety of issues, including fire.

The Flash
Premium Member
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON

The Flash to IamGimli

Premium Member

to IamGimli
And a lot of times, brands like Seasonic over provision their PSUs. But no point guessing what needs cause we don't know at this point.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

4 edits

Anonymous_

Premium Member

Click for full size
said by The Flash:

And a lot of times, brands like Seasonic over provision their PSUs. But no point guessing what needs cause we don't know at this point.

that is why you buy a power supply with a continuous rating

and not a peak power rating

it also looks like he had a short circuit between the Hot(120VAC) and the chassis ground.

see that the metal is metaled that takes a lot of power to do so.

you can also see the solder that fell off as well (that may have caused the short)

you can also see it's round ball shape as well. which means it was heated resonantly since the other solder is flat
asdfdfdfdfdf
Premium Member
join:2012-05-09

asdfdfdfdfdf to zurk

Premium Member

to zurk
Zurk if you have any doubts about the size of power supply you should get post back with details about your graphics card setup(number cards, graphics chip).

monchis
Premium Member
join:2002-12-09
00000

monchis to EUS

Premium Member

to EUS
said by EUS:

Lucky you caught it before the fire spread.

This!

neonhomer
Dearborn 5-2750
Premium Member
join:2004-01-27
Edgewater, FL

neonhomer to zurk

Premium Member

to zurk
That supply looks like it had an arc between phase and ground. Quite possibly a improper cut component, and it poked through the insulation and arced.

Where did you buy it from? I was reading the reviews on NewEgg, and one person posted about a "burned" supply, and NewEgg seemed very interested in getting their hands on pictures of the damage...

cyrus360
Getting Freaky With It
Premium Member
join:2003-02-16
Sedro Woolley, WA

cyrus360 to zurk

Premium Member

to zurk
That's crazy stuff. Thankfully nothing else caught fire or anyone got hurt.

I did overkill on my PSU. I went for the Corsair 1200AX model. No issues with it at all so far. I really like the sleeved connectors and the fact that it's modular.

Hopefully the next one brings you better luck.

I don't know if Coolermaster might reimburse you for any damages. I had a Corsair liquid cooler fail and I was reading on the forums, several of them had burst on people and Corsair was reimbursing some of them.