My GPU started a fire...Twice

[Blob 7]

Hi,

 

This topic is just to share my experience with cheap PCI-E graphics cards in a Windows Server.

I dont actually blame Emby, but just my wallet

I think this issue started for me when GPU transcoding was added in the server.

 

One day 2 years ago when I started to play a stream remote it suddenly stopped, and the server was not responding any more.

When I came home and opened the door, smoke came out of the house.

That time my server was located in a small room with lots of flammable materials - not doing that again....

The fire had not been able to come outside the server cabinet. The reason was the voltage connectors in the PCI-E socket.

 

It has just happened again  when playing a stream.

Was burned in the voltage connectors in the PCI-E socket. The Card was really pushed all the way down in the socket!

 

I'm not going to try a more expensive card with external voltage supply.

So now I just have the PCI-E card pulled out to I need console access.

 

Scarry stuff...

[Luke 42077]

Good info. FYI i renamed the topic so that people don't get the wrong impression. Thanks !

[Waldonnis 148]

The title reminded me of an article recently that exclaimed that Kodi could kill you.  Turns out they were talking about the terrible power supplies that come with some of the cheap Android-based boxes that some folks sell as "Kodi boxes", and how some have caused fires.  Gotta love what passes for journalism these days 

 

I've had chipset meltdowns, popped capacitors, and even a board that turned into a large pool of molten solder in one section (it was one of our experimental board designs, not a production model thankfully), but the power contacts in a PCI-E socket as a fire source isn't something I've seen before.  Wacky.  Glad it didn't get a chance to spread and that nobody got hurt.

[Guest asrequested]

This is why I like to use hardware that exceeds my needs... Well, part of the reason

[dcrdev 255]

See it's stuff like this that makes me question whether I've made the right call on my build.

 

So all the core components of my server are high end parts - 80 plus platinum psu, ecc memory, server grade motherboard etc... But unfortunately I'm always building these things in janky cases, this leads me to using somewhat questionable connectors to glue everything together.

 

This time round I built my system with an itx motherboard, I wanted to utilise nvme storage for my boot drive but the only board with the chipset I needed that also supported pcie over m.2, had an 2230 form factor slot. Sadly 2230 never took off and they don't manufacture ssds in that size. So I was left trying to hunt down a m.2 pcie extender, but generally speaking all m.2 extenders are sata only. I managed to find some obscure manufacturer in china who made such a cable, but the pcb was still slightly too long (2240)  - I ended up cutting it to size myself.

 

It all works and everything, but it gets really bloody hot - so hot it burns the skin to touch. The cable is connected via to pcbs - one end goes in the m.2 slot, the other houses the nvme drive - this end has a massive capacitor on it for some reason. Hopefully I don't return home one day to find out my apartment has burned down!

[mastrmind11 722]

See it's stuff like this that makes me question whether I've made the right call on my build.

 

So all the core components of my server are high end parts - 80 plus platinum psu, ecc memory, server grade motherboard etc... But unfortunately I'm always building these things in janky cases, this leads me to using somewhat questionable connectors to glue everything together.

 

This time round I built my system with an itx motherboard, I wanted to utilise nvme storage for my boot drive but the only board with the chipset I needed that also supported pcie over m.2, had an 2230 form factor slot. Sadly 2230 never took off and they don't manufacture ssds in that size. So I was left trying to hunt down a m.2 pcie extender, but generally speaking all m.2 extenders are sata only. I managed to find some obscure manufacturer in china who made such a cable, but the pcb was still slightly too long (2240)  - I ended up cutting it to size myself.

 

It all works and everything, but it gets really bloody hot - so hot it burns the skin to touch. The cable is connected via to pcbs - one end goes in the m.2 slot, the other houses the nvme drive - this end has a massive capacitor on it for some reason. Hopefully I don't return home one day to find out my apartment has burned down!

wtf are you guys serving that it generates this much heat?  I've still got a 6 drive NAS w/ ECC & ZFS on a Celeron w/ a basic garbage 60W PSU for 6+ years, and aside from shit Seagate drives failing I've never been concerned.

[dcrdev 255]

Well * the key there is your running a Celeron - probably < 35w tdp, right?

 

But for me the system is relatively cool - it's just the nvme drive that's concerning and nvme is generally quite hot anyway, but it seems to be exacerbated by the dodgy cable. I have the same drive in my workstation - runs at 50c according to infared, on my server on the other hand 70c+ .

[Guest asrequested]

My threadripper at full throttle runs at about 65C. The new board I have has heat spreaders for the M.2 drives. Lots of air flowing through and pretty quiet, considering what's in there.

[tdiguy 99]

Dam i think i would have a fire detection thing on that network closet after the first time to automatically cut power. I wish i could remember exactly what its called but i have 1 above my boiler.

[clarkss12 304]

Are great big energy eating servers necessary today, when very low powered devices can perform the same function?

[Guest asrequested]

Are great big energy eating servers necessary today, when very low powered devices can perform the same function?

 

[tdiguy 99]

doofus, you should run a miner on that rig you have during low periods of activity with that threadripper.

[Waldonnis 148]

Are great big energy eating servers necessary today, when very low powered devices can perform the same function?

 

Of course they're necessary!

 

[Tur0k 148]

Man, that is nuts. I have been running an AMD Sempron X6 1090T overclocked, an ATI 6850, 8GB of RAM, 2 SSDs, and 4 HDDs 24x7 for the last 5 years, the only thing I have to do is blow it out every 4 months.

 

 

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[Guest asrequested]

Man, that is nuts. I have been running an AMD Sempron X6 1090T overclocked, an ATI 6850, 8GB of RAM, 2 SSDs, and 4 HDDs 24x7 for the last 5 years, the only thing I have to do is blow it out every 4 months.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Wait! Do you mean blow the dust out or the flames? Lol

Edited December 11, 2017 by Doofus

[Tur0k 148]

Wait! Do you mean blow the dust out or the flames? Lol

Hehe

 

 

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