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Graphics card explosion!

LOLZpersonok
By LOLZpersonok
in Graphics Cards
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I was about to sit down at my Xbox to start playing some games. I have a computer set up next to it so that I could check email or watch YouTube videos while playing games. When I went to plug the monitor into the wall (an old Panasonic PanaSync E70i CRT monitor) there was a really big spark from the power socket, and the repulsive smell of static electricity came out of the area. Keep in mind that the computer was not plugged into the wall, but was connected to the monitor. But, because I'm an idiot, I plugged the monitor back into the wall and everything was fine after that. I turned on the computer to see if the monitor still worked, but there was no display. I got rid of the monitor, and connected a new one. I turned the computer back on, and still got no display.

 

I took the computer out and opened it up. The smell of static was strong inside the computer, and that's when I realized that the smell didn't come from the monitor or the wall, it came from the computer. I looked at the graphics card and found that a resistor right beside the VGA port connector on the board had exploded and left a big burn mark on the PCB and as a consequence the GPU is toast, but fortunately the rest of the computer is fine. Amazing, right? But I'm confused as to how it happened. The computer wasn't plugged into the wall when it happened, only the monitor was. The spark came from the monitor's power cable.

 

My only guess is that it was caused by the monitor sending a surge to the GPU through the VGA connection, that's my only guess. I'm in the middle of making a video, so if you want to see some imagery, you'll have to wait for that. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what happened? It was a cheap computer that is perhaps not really worth anything so it's not really a loss, but I want to understand the cause behind this exciting (but not in a good way) event.

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the  CRT monitor prob has a short circuit and sent a huge current to the GPU

 

 

killing it in the process

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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the surge travelled through the vga cable and probably blew a fuse

That's what I'm thinking, because the computer wasn't plugged into the wall. It had to have been the monitor's fault. That's okay, the monitor's going to be recycled now, regardless of whether or not it works. I don't trust it to be connected to anymore computers.

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oh god

get the fire extinguisher

what gpu?

you could sue them

The GPU was a pretty cheapy one, although somewhat recent. It was an AMD Radeon R5 230, or an AMD Radeon HD 6450, one of those two. Windows reported it as both. I don't think it was the GPU's fault, considering the fact that the monitor was old and probably sent a surge through the VGA cable. That might explain why the resistor/transistor/fuse/whatever it is right beside the VGA connector exploded.

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The smell of static was strong inside the computer

 

If you can smell electrons then you should probably report yourself to the government for research purposes because that's impossible for everyone else on this planet.

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If you can smell electrons then you should probably report yourself to the government for research purposes because that's impossible for everyone else on this planet.

You know what static smells like, right? Electric heat? Cheap electronics? It's hard to describe...It smells electrical. I know it's a common smell, and I know it comes from electronics. Apparently it's a smell caused by gases produced by sparks.

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You know what static smells like, right? Electric heat? Cheap electronics? It's hard to describe...It smells electrical. I know it's a common smell, and I know it comes from electronics. Apparently it's a smell caused by gases produced by sparks.

ok...so you're smelling melted plastic or blown caps?

because its not possible to smell electricity

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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ok...so you're smelling melted plastic or blown caps?

because its not possible to smell electricity

 

I actually like that burning plastic smell my PC used to have... IDK why.  Something melted, I never figured out what though.

 

Note:  it was a really mild odor.

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ok...so you're smelling melted plastic or blown caps?

because its not possible to smell electricity

I know it's not the electricity I'm smelling, it's hard to describe (because it's not quite like burnt plastic), but you know what I'm talking about. That smell was strong from the computer.

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