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Boom goes the PSU, please help

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Hey everyone,

So after an unfortunate water cooling accident involving my old 680i board I have rebuilt my computer with an upgraded p45 board by DFI.

The last thing I needed was a graphics card, and I have run my computer for extended periods of time without the GPU just to test the water cooling system for leaks, so it appeared to be stable.

Today I went to best buy (temporary fix if you know what I mean) and bought a radeon HD 4890 PCIex16 graphics card. I plugged it into the motherboard, attached the 2 12v connectors from my PSU and turned on the system. To my excitement, it worked and I entered the BIOS to check settings and temperatures. Upon entering the "PC HEALTH" page to check volts and temps my PSU exploded with a loud sound and a lot of fireworks, followed shortly by a nasty burning electronics smell.

My question is, what could have caused my PSU to do this? It seems like it's related to the graphics card but I don't understand what about that would cause it to go boom.

My PSU is a Silverstone Strider modular 850W

CPU: X6800 core 2 extreme
GPU: Radeon HD 4890
Mobo: DFI LANPARTY UT P45-T3RS
Chasis: Silverstone TJ09
Ram: 2x2gb Corsair DominatorGT(1600mhz 6-6-6-18 DDR3) - oh yeah

Thanks for any help,
I'm going crazy with this fix, first my mobo is dead, then my GPU turns out to be dead, get a new one, PSU explodes 5 minutes into use... this is ridiculous

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Was it most likely just bad timing then?

The order of events led me to believe I might have done something to cause that. It wouldn't have to do with something touching something it shouldn't on my motherboard or video card would it?
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Power supply Master
Graphics card Master

Well, you did mention a "water cooling accident." Had water gotten into the PSU? Are you certain everything else was dried off? Your rig should not have stressed an 850W PSU.

Jonny gave this one a 7.5. When you replace it, a 650W model from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or PC Power & Cooling would be good choices. That's for your current rig; if you planned to add another HD4890 later, get 750W.

It had been several weeks since the water leaked out of the south bridge block and onto the motherboard, and I had run the PSU for many hours beforehand so I doubt there was any water on the PSU. I checked everything for leaks after the PSU died and found nothing.

Is it weird that the PSU died so dramatically or is that fairly normal?
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