When Disaster Strikes: What to Do When Your Computer Catches Fire

Imagine this scenario: you’re settling in for a relaxing gaming session, your favorite title is loaded, and suddenly—without warning—your monitor goes black. Before you can process what’s happening, you see sparks flying and flames erupting from your graphics card. This terrifying experience recently happened to me, and I’m here to share my story, along with the steps I plan to take moving forward.

The Incident

I booted up GTTOD on Steam, only to have everything derail within minutes. Just five minutes in, my monitor cut out, and chaos ensued behind my graphics card in the PCIE slot. Recognizing the imminent danger, I quickly switched off the power supply and unplugged everything. The damage was evident, and I documented it for reference.

Here’s a glimpse of the aftermath: View Damage.

My Setup

To provide some context, here are the specs of my gaming rig:

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

Assessing the Damage

Now, the burning question (pun intended) is: what went wrong? With all components still under warranty, I need to analyze the situation carefully. My immediate concern is whether the motherboard or the graphics card was the initial culprit—did one cause the other to fail?

Furthermore, I’m left wondering if there are any additional components that may need replacing beyond the obvious two. As I prepare to navigate the warranty process, I’m seeking advice and insights from those who may have faced a similar situation.

Seeking Guidance

If you have experienced a similar incident or have expertise in PC hardware failures, your input would be invaluable to me. What steps should I take next? Are there specific tests I should perform to determine what’s salvageable? Any recommendations on how to approach the warranty claims efficiently would be greatly appreciated.

As I deal with this unfortunate situation, I want to ensure that I take the right steps to not only address the damages but also to prevent this from ever happening again. Thank you for any help