what does a pop sound mean coming from a computer? [HELP!!]

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BBnet3000

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 29, 2003
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cliffs:

1) build computer
2) turn computer on
3) monitor doesnt get signal
4) 10 seconds later, loud "pop", like those champage popper things. smell of burning, assumed from power supply

so wtf
 
BBnet3000 said:
cliffs:

1) build computer
2) turn computer on
3) monitor doesnt get signal
4) 10 seconds later, loud "pop", like those champage popper things. smell of burning, assumed from power supply

so wtf
Click to expand...

That usually means somethings messed up. And/or Burning.

If it came from the power supply, i strongly suggest replacing it, but If it came from something else, replace that. Basically, Replace whatever went "pop," and hope nothing else is screwed up.

Edit: If I am wrong, somebody please correct me, but the "pop" could also have been a capacitor somewhere, but most likely, from the PS. If it is from the power supply, then replace that pronto, as obviously something in it has died.
 
acetic said:
That usually means somethings messed up. And/or Burning.

If it came from the power supply, i strongly suggest replacing it, but If it came from something else, replace that. Basically, Replace whatever went "pop," and hope nothing else is screwed up.
Click to expand...
but we dont know what went pop
 
Specs of System incl. power supply probably would have been helpful info too ;)
 
Just like they are saying, I think it sounds like a capacitor blew as well. Probably in the power supply. Still, motherboards often have quite a lot of those, so take a look there as well. The PSU does have the largest and most heavily hit capacitors though. Just to be on the safe side, unplug and wait until you can borrow another PSU to try before doing anything more. I don't think that it would work enough to run a high voltage through or anything, but, better safe than standing in from of a molten puddle of metal (ok, exagerating there, but that CPU can't take much.) d-:
 
MSI "K8T NEO2-FIR" VIA K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 939 CPU –RETAIL $120.00

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor – Retail $175.00

Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 – OEM $160.00

Seagate 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST3120026AS, OEM $91.00

NEC 8X Black Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Model ND-2510A BLK, OEM BULK $64.00

SAMSUNG 16X DVD Drive Black, Model TS-H352A/WBGH, OEM $24.99

ENERMAX Noisetaker AX Series 420W Power supply, Model "EG425AX-VE SFMA/420W" –RETAIL $85.00

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK -OEM $197.00
 
When capacitors go "pop" they usually split along the sides. Sometimes the insides come out, which looks like a tiny rolled up ribbon. Look around for something like that.
 
Sometimes they just leak that goo stuff, so also look for that.
 
haha, I love the suggestion of "look for ribbons or goo". Hah!

Now, for the ON topic part of the post (huzzah!): I had a client who gave a very similar description of a problem, except she said it was more of a gunshot sound... anyway, the point is a capacitor (presumably in the PSU) blew, which also blew a cap on the mobo, frying said mobo/psu. Do you have any other computers around the house that you can test some of the parts on? (e.g. test new psu in spare computer and vice versa)
 
insanarchist said:
haha, I love the suggestion of "look for ribbons or goo". Hah!

Now, for the ON topic part of the post (huzzah!): I had a client who gave a very similar description of a problem, except she said it was more of a gunshot sound... anyway, the point is a capacitor (presumably in the PSU) blew, which also blew a cap on the mobo, frying said mobo/psu. Do you have any other computers around the house that you can test some of the parts on? (e.g. test new psu in spare computer and vice versa)
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no other computers, this is at my friends house. i would say gunshot to be a pretty good description. it was startlingly loud, especially since i was trying to figure out why the monitor wasnt turning on at the time. i can still hear it, over and over again in my head. in fact, its giving me a headache.

im pretty sure all the caps on the mobo are alright. im also pretty sure that i could smell the smell coming from the psu, although the whole comp smells cause it all just came out of a fedex package, and the burning smell had dissipated. it could also be my mind is playing tricks on me, etc. hard to tell.

i guess the psu will be RMAed (the enermax i mentioned earlier in the thread), and we will take it from there
 
Yeah, I'd just RMA the psu and, in the mean time, try to get a different psu from a friend or something just to test out and make sure everything else is alright (just so you don't wait a week or 2 for the PSU only to find you need to send something else back!)
 
Well, remember, its also possible that you blew a cap on your mobo too.

If you blew one of the big ones in your PSU, it would probably have sounded louder than a gunshot though... those things are LOUD.

But yeah, just scour your parts to see if you can see one thats toast. If not, then its probably in your PSU. Or like what insanarchist said, it could be both. Good luck though!
 
Correct. And understand that the reason we tell you to look for these is because this way you can find out ahead of time just what is most likely messed up. Then you know what to be prepared to test and/or replace earlier in the game. Shipping takes so long... *sigh*
 
MSI "K8T NEO2-FIR" VIA K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 939 CPU –RETAIL $120.00
AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor – Retail $175.00
Click to expand...
anyone else notice that these don't work together??? not to be mean or anything, but does the processor chip cover ALL the holes in the socket?? you listed a 939 motherboard, and what I can only guess is a 754 processor.... could cause some wierd stuff
 
what does a pop sound mean coming from a computer? [HELP!!]
Click to expand...

I have to nominate this for funniest title ever, I nearly spit up my soda

All you can do is get another power supply and try it. Just pray to Jebus that the old power supply didn't take out any other components.
 
AMV said:
anyone else notice that these don't work together??? not to be mean or anything, but does the processor chip cover ALL the holes in the socket?? you listed a 939 motherboard, and what I can only guess is a 754 processor.... could cause some wierd stuff
Click to expand...

I'm hoping to hear that he mistyped the CPU and/or Mobo...

Any update? Visual inspection turn anything up?
 
make visual inspections on the cables ... two open wires with live current touching each other will produce a popping sound ... a long shot ... check the standoffs?
 
Resistors can also make those pop sounds if you blew one of those, which is probably better than blowing a capacitor. Just check your boards for black residue that is usually shaped like a little explosion, heh. This happend to me in a guitar amp I used to have. I happend because of a power surge. Also, don't PSU's have fuses, make sure something to this effect didn't blow as well before you start sending things back...and make sure you're sending the right stuff back...as said earlier, shipping takes soooooo long.
 
PSUs do have fuses, but, unfortunately, it's still more than possible for enough power to get through to ruin things. More likely though, it was a failing in one of the internal components so that the fuses were doing their job just fine and the input was what it should be, but it wasn't being processed correctly. Unfortunately, the way fuses work is they allow a certain amount of power to get through, then the metal melts inside them preventing any more. In the meantime, that certain amount still got through (so maybe a REALLY big surge -- such as lightning -- could still do immense damage despite having fuses.)

Still, I'm agreeing with the people worried about CPU type differences. If you managed to put the wrong CPU type into the wrong slot, it would run higher voltages through parts of the chip that weren't intended for it potentially. I've never heard of a CPU popping, but, still... Ok, it probably wasn't that, but, it would make it harder to diagnose the real problem later since the system wouldn't work anyway if it were a wrong combination, regardless of the PSU and it would explain why it didn't even come on for a second.
 
Didn't they just put out a s939 AMD64 3000+? If so, I don't think he messed up, so that shouldn't be the problem...then again, I'm retarded and sometimes just dream up these things.
 
if they did put out that chip, not bothering to look, it probably would not cost that little, esp the way 939 has been, otherwise I am sending this new 754 back and swollowing the restocking fee.
 
There was just an announcement of a 3000+ 939 proc that costs under $200 I believe (thought it was $189 list). It may have 512KB of cache, that's the part that I'm not sure about... In any case it's pretty damn hard to put a proc into the wrong socket without knowing something's off. (wrong way maybe, but wrong socket...? how would you get the HS on without suspecting something is up?)

Here's hoping it isn't an id 10 T problem :p

EDIT - Monarch Computer has the 90NM 939 300+ on sale for $190. Got that from Pricewatch. :) Check it out.
 
your right about 939 3000+ chips, sorry about it, but man 250 USD, I'll hang onto 754 thanks.
 
Nazo said:
Sometimes they just leak that goo stuff, so also look for that.
Click to expand...
AND sometimes they have a broken casing so look for a capacitor that is broken :D

imo, i think its the psu, try swapping parts?
 
We all really do. I was just making sure that he would actually be able to turn it on to tell later. ^_^
 
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