PSU testing...

Hello,
I just recently purchased a few components from NewEgg for an overhaul. I could not afford a PSU but I have one I purchased about a year ago. It is a Thermaltake 430W PSU. I sent it to a friend who didn't need it and now it is back in my possession. I put the PSU into a HP and put some DDR in it recently and smelled burnt plastic. The ram was hot to touch. It didn't seat very well.

I'd like to get some advice on a cheap way to test this PSU out. Would it harm my current configuration if I were to put it in and try to power on? It's an old Compaq Evo. I know a multimeter would do the trick but I do not have one and I am already overspent.

My new parts consist of:

ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 LGA 775 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157115

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115037

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231098

Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007

The used PSU I will be trying to use:

Thermaltake 430W PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153023

I could not afford any more than this and I will be able to use my BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC and a cheap PCI SB Audigy SE with this board and that will do me for a while. I am crossing my fingers with this PSU and look forward to hearing any of your thoughts for it thank you. The parts are in the mail so I am pretty excited.

Forgot to mention I still don't have SATA HDDs yet so this will have either a 60Gig or 160Gig HDD. I know i'm cutting it steep already on the PSU but this is my only option.

Wow that was a darn quick reply (=. Do you think I could put two older HDDs in there instead of the one? Thank you for the reply btw.

:Evongugg I'm going to be in need of a quick fix. Do you know of a cheap rout I could take? I'm thinking i'm going to have to sell some crap on cl.

if I were to get my hands on a multimeter, would I be able to see if it were healthy? I thought the PSU has to be connected to the rig in order to see certain things. Sorry for my ignorance here. I got 3 days to figure this out.
Thanks again all..

EDIT: Just found this on criagslist http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817103013
Is this one decent enough to pwer me up? If so this might mean business. (= Thanks


My budget is beyond spent and the parts are already in the mail. These purchases are perfect for my current situation if I only knew if my PSU were in working order. My wife is already sighing from my behavior. (= At any rate all I am concerned about is the PSU. Would it hurt to toss it in this thing im on right now to see if it powers on? I can take out the vga card and the ram and toss in some other ram and check it that way. Thanks again for your replies.

Slomo: This board is a huge upgrade already for me and was not meant to be a permanent solution. It will allow me to purchase a PCI express later on and let me keep my current 6800. I am not hot on the line of new components like a lot of people. My last card was an FX5500 and thhat was less than 3 months ago I am on an old compaq evo right now and can't wait to see how this C2D performs.

This board has AGP I can't afford to get a PCIe vga card. I wasn't trying to be rude. If that is how I came across, I apologize. I edited thhe post above. If anyone could tell me if that PSU is powerworthy enough to power my build I'd appreciate it. Thank again for your replies.