Maximum PC

Earlier, I was surfing the web, and suddenly a horrible noise erupted from my machine. I assumed it was coming from my DVD drive, and I ejected the disc. That wasn't it, so I immediately shut down the machine. I could smell a sort of hair-dryer hot burning smell coming from the case. When I cracked it open, apparently my cable management had left something to be desired, and the fan cable from the 120mm fan on my Hyper 212+ came loose and interfered with the fan itself. I wasn't running Speed Fan at the time, because I wasn't running a load--just simple web surfing--so I have no idea how high the temperature spiked. It couldn't have been more than 20-30 seconds, and nothing beeped, nor did I get any errors. I opened the case, rerouted the cables, made sure everything was tied down properly, and fired it back up. Everything appears to be working. I am concerned about my main proc, though, because the temp went high enough that I could smell it. Now, I haven't overclocked my Phenom x4 955 yet, and I do have that Hyper 212+ strapped to it, as well as a 200mm fan right up above it in the top of my HAF 912. My core temps are always below 40C, so this machine hasn't been pressed hard yet. I built it in February, so it's not very old yet, either. It's my first built-from-scratch, so I've taken it very slow, just to be sure I didn't mess anything up (my wife wanted a new washer and dryer, but I built a PC instead; so if I fry it, she'll fry me). Should I be concerned? What should I look for to gauge if there's any permanent damage? I considered pulling the HSF off, cleaning, and reapplying Arctic Silver. Too much? Am I just freaking out because it's my baby?

Thanks!

1st, Welcome to the forums!

the CPU would clock down if overtemp. the fact that no errors were thrown means there was nothing it couldnt handle temp wise. I wouldnt worry about it.

the smell was not the CPU. if it were it would be dead. it was probalbly melted plastic from the friction of cable hitting the fan. check the fan blades and the cable in question for scoring/abrasion/melting.

Thank you so much. That's a major load off. Lesson learned: double check the cables and cable ties!