My PC is giving an electrical burning type smell. I have the side off and can't see anything wrong but should this part be hot its not comfortable to keep my finger on it for more than 15 seconds?
Power supply? Unplug it and sniff out the source of the smell.
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There are several chips that can get uncomfortably hot on some boards, without it normally being a problem, re-post the photo elsewhere ...
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But no part of your PC should be too hot to touch in normal circumstances. Can you fix the link and then we might make better-informed comment.
Nick
It is not uncommon for CPU chips to run at 50C or more..
Burt burning smells take more than that. Usually a capacitor disintegrating and one across the power rails.
It is most likely to be the power supply (that's the metal box where the power cable comes in.) In most desktop PCs this is a standard component that you can replace for yourself if you have minimal DIY skills and a cross-head screwdriver.
If the burning smell is not coming from the PSU then it could be some part of the motherboard or video card overheating. This could be because of a stalled cooling fan. Clean the cruft off of all of the fans and check that they spin. Make sure that the fan in the PSU is running.
Changing a cooling fan is relatively easy to do unless it's the one in the PSU or the one cooling the CPU. The PSU is a disposable part and I wouldn't advise trying to repair it. Replacing a fan may be quite easy but the other components of the PSU will have been thoroughly cooked and will be likely to fail. Changing the CPU fan is also possible but quite fiddly and you need to do some studying before attempting it.
Mike
Some Intel 'northbridge' chipsets are rated to run up to 100°C (that's the chip surface, heatsink needs to be lower or it can't do its job) I've certainly fitted extra fans to some rather than relying on passive cooling.
For sure, I don't find that too hot to touch for 15 seconds, but then I am an ex chemist :) But if the OP can touch his CPU then something is seriously wrong with the heatsink and fan.
I'm guessing it might be the southbridge, that's often pretty warm. Or a fanless video card.
Agreed in general. Burning smells can be just due to dust, some PC insides are pretty rank. But they shouldn't arise suddenly and from no apparent cause. However we are only guessing until we get a viewable picture.
Nick
too hot to touch. There's probably a fault somewhere else that results in more power dissipation in the chip that's under that cooler. That doesn't really help to pin it down much.
See if the burning smell is in the PSU. If it is then replace it immediately before it wrecks the motherboard. Hold you hand near various parts of the motherboard and see whether you can feel where the heat is coming from. Look at the mobo in a bright light and see whether you can see any burnt areas.
But before you do any of this, back up your data.
I'd turn it off sharpish!
Those heatsinks look like the north/southbridge chips, they can get uncomfortably hot, but there looks to be plenty of dust on the circular heatsink(?) in the background, what is the type of motherboard (probably the sicker that ends with "...E/S" in your photo.
I'd give it a blow-out with compressed air, hoovering it is not a brilliant idea because it can generate static.
comfortable
Perhaps the current warm weather is revealing cooling problems that were not apparent during cooler weather? My PCs are currently spinning their fans more noisily than usual due to the temperatures. Also, some PCs have cases and ducting designed to direct cooling air over the components that need the most cooling, so operating a PC with its case open might worsen existing problems.
I have given it a good clean out, I only noticed all the dust build up next to the hot thing when I looked at the picture I posted! That was all from/on the video card. All four fans are working normally, and the smell das died down, certainly can't pinpoint where it is coming from.
Mike
Hopefully your data's backed up, if not thats the first thing to do. Pointing a deskfan up close at the mobo should help it last long enough to do the backup. Probably.
Some chips/heatsinks do run that hot, 15 second touch is around the
60-65C mark. That's not enough to burn anything.NT
I agree - take it outside and blast it with an airline. You won't believe how much dust and fluff will explode from every corner.
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