PSU explosion?

[homesalad]

So here's a fun one. Last night I recently realized my networking had suddenly gone out on my home desktop. Curiously, other machines in the house were able to use the same router/modem combo just fine, so I began to try to diagnose the issue.
After a couple restarts and futzing around... BANG! A pretty loud noise, akin to a car backfiring (but maybe not quite as loud) came from my case, and the screen went blank. I also immediately noticed that distinct electricity/burning scent. This happened during normal operation, and I hadn't changed anything hardware related in weeks, probably months. Now, perhaps not too surprisingly, the machine won't start, and there seems to be no power whatsoever. No LEDs, no response of any kind when the power button is pressed. Also, I can't find any physical signs of damage on the mobo, videocard, or other components - there's no black marks, smoke, fire, etc. At least nothing obvious. Also, for what it's worth, it seems like the burning smell is strongest near the power supply (a crappy, off-brand unit that came with my case, which was pretty cheap to begin with).
So... any obvious diagnosis? Unfortunately, I don't have much for spare parts to swap in. And, of course, I'd rather not go through the hassle of ordering something new, only to have it be the wrong part. No power at all sounds like a power supply issue to me... but what was with the nonfunctional internet issue at first? Any thoughts?

setup:
E7200 @ 3.0 GHz
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G
Arctic Freezer 7 Pro
EVGA 7600 GT
a couple hard drives, etc.

 

[corkyg]

Sounds like you blew a capacitor in the PSU - now dead. Replace it and see if your mobo survived.

As for your Internet connectionproblem, what kind do you have? DSL? Cable?

 

[mpilchfamily]

I agree the PSU blew. Well you learned a leason the hard way. Most, not all, cases that come with a PSU bundled with it have a very crappy PSU. There are some exceptions but if its a cheap case there is no way the PSU will be worth a thing.

Looking at your specs all you need is a nice 380W Antec EarthWatts PSU.

 

[Billb2]

The only way to find out what is still good (mobo, nic, video card, memory, etc) is to test them.

You can do that by swapping in a PSU (new or old), but if it was something other than the PSU itself that caused the PSU to blow in the first place, then that may happen again.

There is no easy/safe way to fix your problem other than the admonishment that "Once burned, is twice shy.".

I wish you good luck and happy hunting.

 

[bruceb]

More likely than not, it was just the power supply that decided to call it quits. Very rare that an accessory will make the power unit fail.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Ah but some times the PSU will take out another system component. The PSU may have gown on its own accord but when it goes with a bang it tends to damage things on its way out.

 

[bruceb]

I do not disagree with that. What I meant was that a failure on a mobo or plug in board, is unlikely to fail the power supply.
It does happen, but it usually the other way around .. Bad power supply damages other parts.

 

[Atheus]

Yep sounds like a capacitor blew in the PSU. Turn it off. Don't turn it back on.

The power supply is definately dead but it may have taken other components with it, especially if it was a cheap one, so replace that first. The motherboard is the most likely thing to go with it, and if it has, it could still take other components out when you start replacing them. Check for blackened/melted headers where the PSU plugs in. Found none? Then you might risk trying the board with an old processor or something... I would probably just bin it...

Once you have a known working board you can test the memory and processor and new PSU without fear of losing them.

Last time this happened to me I lost every component but the video card.

 

[SergeC]

Many other posts explained this well. Consider it a lesson learned, and hope it wasn't an expensive one. A cheap PSU is a terrible idea.