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If it was a poorly made PSU and replaced with an identical poorly made PSU, I would expect the same outcome. If you used a quality PSU and it created sparks, I might venture that either your wall voltage is outside of the PSU's ability to compensate for or you have your ATX 12V and PCI connectors reversed. There may be other reasons but those are the first that come to mind.
What brand and model PSU do you have there?