PSU popped, now can't even get to POST.

[eskEMO_iwL]

Hi there,

My old setup was:
BFG 650W PSU
AM2 processor
MSI K9N Neov3 motherboard
2x2GB Corsair & 2x1GB Sticks
Nvidia GEForce GTS250
Coolermaster Liquid Cooling
1 SATA HDD
1 IDE HDD

It was a gift from a friend for my birthday last summer. Anyway, I turned on my PC between getting home from work and leaving for school. As soon as I hit the power button, my LED's & fan lights came on and within 2 seconds the PSU (That's where it sounded like it came from) popped/possibly sparked and the system crashed.

My PSU had a capacitor or fuse blow (I assume?) so I was just going to replace it with an Antec or another reliable 600W~ since my PC only uses about 430. I'm a gamer and had a raid to attend last night, so I decided by leaving the dvd-rw+ and my 2nd hard drive unplugged, I should be fine and not run into any wattage problems with my girlfriend's 500W PSU.

I installed the new PSU, but realized it was old enough to not have a 6-pin, so I replaced the GTS250 with her 7800GT and got it all plugged in. When I hit the power button, nothing happened. There aren't any indicators on the K9N Neo v3, so I can't even tell if the motherboard is getting power. I can hear the electricity in her PSU when I switch it on in the back, though.

Now I've tried various things...I've removed all components except for the CPU, motherboard, cooling, and 500W PSU and still get nothing. Should I be leaning towards replacing the motherboard at this point, as well as the PSU? Is there a way to test the motherboard through using a multimeter? I know her PSU isn't bad, because I put it back in her system and that's where I'm posting from now.

Thanks for your time and (hopefully) recommendations!


EDIT: After speaking to a couple colleagues, they've assumed it's the motherboard, but also stated that all hardware attached to the motherboard could have also been surged. Is there a way to test my RAM, graphics card, etc. before deciding on looking for a new motherboard or just building a whole new system?

 

[rolli59]

It is most likely that the motherboard got damaged as well. The easy way to test the other components is if you can install them in another system.

 

[eskEMO_iwL]

Is there a way to test the RAM and Graphics without another system? The other system in my house is outdated, using DDR1 SDRAM (My system uses DDR2) and the PSU in it doesn't have a 6-bit connector for my GTS250. Its motherboard also doesn't support duo-core processors, as far as I can tell.

My 2nd system's motherboard specs.

 

[Paperdoc]

Keep an open mind about your old PSU. You heard a POP and then the machine died. You assumed it was the PSU and replaced that, but that move did NOT solve your problem. The proper conclusion is that some other component was damaged / failed - quite likely the mobo. BUT you now have NO proof that the original problem was a failure in the PSU - you have only your first guess. What you describe can be a mobo failure only, or something else. For example, although capacitor failures can kill a PSU, there also are similar components on the mobo in the voltage regulation section near the CPU. So, look over your mobo and other components for visual signs of failure - a POP probably resulted from some burst, distorted or scorched part. And when you get that changed and working with a known-good PSU, go back to thinking how to check whether the old PSU ever had a failure or not.