power connection burning

i was working on my pc and noticed a smell of slight burning, checked pc no overheating or anything so left it, came back half hour later and smell was a lot stronger so switched pc off, i checked power cable connection and it was starting to melt at the pc connection socket. i dont know if this is anything to do with it but i have just started using a power saver where when you switch off pc it switches off all other things connected to pc. the pc is a year old and has 2 gig memory 250 gig HD.

 

Sounds to me like an extremely dangerous power supply man. Probably be best off to just replace it.

 

the existing power supply is 450W do i have to buy the same wattage or can i increase it to 500-600, and do i have to do anything else to pc when i install it.

 

You can get any wattage you like as long as its not too low (over 90% of all PCs that aren't top end gaming rigs will require a 300W PSU at most). It's important you buy a quality unit though, I currently recommend either an Antec Earthwatts 380W or Corsair CX 400W PSU. You'd be wise to throw away the power cable for the unit as well, and use the one that comes with the new PSU.

 

You can buy anything. Just stay 450w or over. You don't need to do anything to the PSU besides replug everything.

 

You can buy anything?
A Power supply?
Come on now, you know that's terrible advice.

 

i know cheap usually means not as good but at the moment i cannot afford £50+ and the exact same one(winpower) that is in my pc is £15 total on ebay. i would like to know if it is an okey make or is it just cheap rubbish.

 

It is cheap, dangerous rubbish. The Corsair CX 400W is around £43-£45 from most decent stores.

 

i got a new psu and everything is ok. so thnx for all your help

 

What did you buy, out of interest?

 

cant remember name exactly but it wasnt winpower it cost £25 from pc shop. this one has 2 fans instead of last which only had 1

 

Well, enjoy when your PC goes bang in a few months...

 

just a note.check your power connections thoroughly.a loose connection arcing will cause heat.a burnt connection may not necessarilly be the power supply.it can be a short to ground downstream of the supply or,as i stated earlier,a loose connection.cheers.

 

thanks.but too late now bought another unit.will keep in mind for future ref.

 

do you work for one of these company's you seem to be pushing me to buy one of theirs. if it goes bang in a couple of months i will get my money back as the new unit is guaranteed. i said thank you for help, not everyone has £45 to go spend.

 

You don't get the point. When cheap PSUs go off, they can destroy several (or almost all) of your components, which costs far more than a decent PSU. They can also catch fire, which is a serious hazard.
I say this from my personal experience (components, a £25 PSU cost me £200), and the experience of someone else - who if they'd not been there to spot the issue, would have had his house burned down.
You have been warned.
It should be obvious I don't work for a PSU manufacturer as I offered you a choice.
Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, Zalman, any of those four are safe bets.

 

Haha man, I didn't quite think it through when I wrote it. Anyhow, most sites have warranties on their PSU's.

 

Not the point, read what I wrote above.

 

the power supply didnt go off, it was over heating at pc connection and when i look at it it looks like what aldan said a bad connection so arcing.and i think this thread should now be closed as it has been solved.