What's this in my GPU?

[auckz]

Im moving my components to a new case and just saw this on my GPU

 

Anyone know what's is this? I live in a tropical country (Brazil) and live really close to the beach.

 

Should I open the gpu (don't have any experience in electronics) and see if the insides also have this?

 

 

[Moonzy]

Is it liquid or solid?

Seems to be corrosion happening judging on the screws

 

Do you happen to use AIO on your CPU?

[Kilrah]

Looks like water, salt crystals and lots of corrosion...

 

What's that card? The PC? Any liquid cooling?

[suedseefrucht]

8 minutes ago, auckz said:

Anyone know what's is this?

No, but that's the graphics card's top side.
So unless you mounted it vertically, it didn't come out of the graphics card, but it dropped on it from above.
1. Turn off your power supply.
2. Do you have a liquid cooler or anything, which could leak?

3. Does your PC have an open top panel?

[auckz]

3 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Is it liquid or solid?

Seems to be corrosion happening judging on the screws

 

Do you happen to use AIO on your CPU?

The white cubes reminds me of salt and the rest is liquid. No, I use air cooler on my CPU

 

2 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Looks like water, salt crystals and lots of corrosion...

 

What's that card? The PC? Any liquid cooling?

Its a msi 2060 super ventus

No liquid cooling, just an air cooled cpu and fans in the front and the back of the case

 

2 minutes ago, suedseefrucht said:

No, but that's the graphics card's top side.
So unless you mounted it vertically, it didn't come out of the graphics card, but it dropped on it from above.
1. Turn off your power supply.
2. Do you have a liquid cooler or anything, which could leak?

3. Does your PC have an open top panel?

No liquid cooler and air cooler in the cpu.

No open top panel, can be from the fact that I live really close to the beach/ocean and I use an AC every night?

[Moonzy]

Just now, auckz said:

The white cubes reminds me of salt and the rest is liquid. No, I use air cooler on my CPU

Yes those indeed look like salt crystals

Have any idea how salt water would end up there?? Perhaps you leave your cold drinks on your PC etc

 

1 minute ago, auckz said:

I use an AC every night?

AC dripping water into your PC?

[auckz]

Just now, Moonzy said:

Yes those indeed look like salt crystals

Have any idea how salt water would end up there?? Perhaps you leave your cold drinks on your PC etc

No and never dropped anything in the PC

 

Just now, Moonzy said:

AC dripping water into your PC?

Also no

[jaslion]

4 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Yes those indeed look like salt crystals

Have any idea how salt water would end up there?? Perhaps you leave your cold drinks on your PC etc

 

AC dripping water into your PC?

This might actually be condensation. I mean the fact that op lives close to the ocean does explain the corrosion being this intense on a not really old card.

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

This might actually be condensation. I mean the fact that op lives close to the ocean does explain the corrosion being this intense on a not really old card.

Condensation on...?

PC normally runs hotter than ambient so there's a high chance condensation is not happening in there

 

I suggest op find the source of the liquid, it seems to be dropping on that spot so you can follow the trail from there (I suggest looking at your CPU cooler and go from there, looks about the right spot)

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

Condensation on...?

Op said they use an ac. So it is entirely possible the ac is blowing directly on the tower causing very slight condensation during the night.

 

Another thing is that these also look like sugar crystals so maybe a soda spill at one time?

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Op said they use an ac. So it is entirely possible the ac is blowing directly on the tower causing very slight condensation during the night.

 

Another thing is that these also look like sugar crystals so maybe a soda spill at one time?

It's still wet so it's an on-going thing

 

Not an expert in crystals so no comment on what exact composition it is, but I know NaCl salt forms square crystals, which is abundant in OP's environment

[auckz]

3 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Condensation on...?

PC normally runs hotter than ambient so there's a high chance condensation is not happening in there

 

I suggest op find the source of the liquid, it seems to be dropping on that spot so you can follow the trail from there (I suggest looking at your CPU cooler and go from there, looks about the right spot)

Just saw and the CPU cooler has the same thing in the exactly spot. Can this be the thermal paste?

 

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Op said they use an ac. So it is entirely possible the ac is blowing directly on the tower causing very slight condensation during the night.

 

Another thing is that these also look like sugar crystals so maybe a soda spill at one time?

The PC stays below a desk so the ac doesn't blow directly

 

This is an old cheap case (Aerocool GT EN58683) and don't see how a drink would get inside

[Moonzy]

4 minutes ago, auckz said:

Can this be the thermal paste?

Most definitely not, follow the trail

[auckz]

3 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Most definitely not, follow the trail

This pc has an intel cooler box, the only place that I saw that has the same thing is in the bottom of it

[Moonzy]

4 minutes ago, auckz said:

This pc has an intel cooler box, the only place that I saw that has the same thing is in the bottom of it

It probably flow along the heatsink, look above the heatsink in your casing, and look past that, see if there's anything under your table or something

 

I can sort of see that if it's oil from thermal pads used on your motherboard, but... I've never seen it leak to that point, and that doesn't explain the salt and corrosion, only explains the wetness

 

It has to come from somewhere

[Montana One-Six]

Looks like salt.

 

Here a possible explanation of how that could happen:

Since you live close to the beach saltwater and salt is very likely in the air in some form aka sea spray.

When your PC is off these saltwater droplets in the air are condensing on metal components (as those loose heat fast which makes them the first things where condensation happens). Now when you turn on your PC the heat that naturally generates makes the water molecules on these components evaporate but the salt stays behind (like boiling saltwater in a pan). When your PC is off again droplets start condensing on these components again, when that happens the salt that is already on there will be dissolved and the water evaporates once the PC is turned on again, which increases the concentration of salt every time that happens. If that happens over an extended period of time you end up with actual visible salt crystals. Also salt can extract water from the air if it is humid enough (since you are from Brazil that is most likely the case) which probably will accelerate the whole thing.

[suedseefrucht]

16 hours ago, auckz said:

?

So to sum things up:
Wipe it off and check your PC for water, before you turn it on.

[Sarra]

Could that be electrolyte from a cap?

 

Only other thing that I could think of is cat piss. Did your kitty get angry at you and pee on your computer?