When Gaming Turns Dangerous: My Computer Fire Incident

Recently, I faced an unexpected and shocking situation while gaming—my computer literally caught fire. I was engrossed in playing GTTOD on Steam when, just five minutes in, my monitor suddenly went black. To my horror, I saw sparks flying and flames igniting behind my graphics card, specifically near the PCIe slot. In a rush, I quickly turned off the power supply unit (PSU) and unplugged everything.

To illustrate the gravity of the situation, I’ve documented the aftermath in photos, which you can view here: Damage Images.

My System Specifications

• Motherboard: MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC
• Graphics Card: Sapphire Pulse Vega 56
• Processor: Ryzen 2600
• RAM: G.Skill Trident Z 3200MHz CL14
• Power Supply: EVGA G3 750W
• Operating System: Windows 10

Seeking Insights and Guidance

I’m reaching out to the community to gain some insights on what might have gone wrong. All my components are still under warranty, which is somewhat of a silver lining. From my initial assessment, I suspect that both the motherboard and graphics card may be damaged. However, I’m uncertain whether the motherboard failed, causing the GPU to fry, or if the graphics card malfunctioned first.

If anyone has experienced a similar incident or has expertise in troubleshooting such emergencies, I would greatly appreciate your input. Additionally, could there be other components needing replacement beyond the GPU and motherboard?

Before delving into the often tedious warranty process, I hope to gather advice that could help me understand this electrical catastrophe better.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide, as I navigate through this challenging experience.