HELP: Poweresupply just blew up

Hi all, i had a 420w ps which all of a sudden started sparking and then shut down. below is what i have connected.
4 fans
1 vid card
1 sound card
1 sata 250gb hdd
2 dvd drives
1 floppy
1 light

was this too much for it to handle? also, did this fry my mb? i wont know until i get another ps.

 

I've been through a couple of those and would never believe it if I hadn't experienced it first hand. One was one of my own machines that sits directly behind me and had been idle for about 18 hours - running but had been on it since the previous day. I was on my primary machine and all of a sudden behind me - sparks, pops, smoke - sounded like two welders having a fight with their torches. Damndest thing!

Bottom line - its a **** shoot. Could require a new power supply and nothing more. Could also require a new motherboard along with a new PSU and perhaps more. As to what might have caused this - ??????? You would be well advised to visually inspect for any burnt traces on the mainboard and check capacitors re: bulging, then pull and inspect all of your cards.

Most modern machines are supposed to be protected against this either through a fused PSU or a mobo circuit or both. The key words are, "supposed to be ".

 

You did not specify who made your power supply. Was it generic? If you did not set out to buy a high quality power supply, you probably did not get one. If Dell, HP, or Gateway puts a bigger and better power supply in a system, the only thing Joe Consumer will notice is a higher price at the store, and so it won't sell. This is one of the reasons I prefer building from scratch.

If you can use a standard ATX power supply, use this as an opportunity to get a good one, whatever the wattage. Look for a brand like Antec, Enermax, Fortron, or Thermaltake. PC Power and Cooling is also known for quality, but you'll pay the highest price for that.

 

raidmax made the psu. thanks, i'll keep that in mind.

 

raidmax are supposed to be terrible, but i have the following stuff running from a 350W Raidmax PSU.
Radeon 7000 overclocked
Celeron 1.8GHz
256 RAM
CD Burner
2 hard drives
4 fans

 

My Raidmax case came with a Xtreme power supply, and my ATX power supply tester toasted it. I wanted more power anyway, so I ordered a bigger one by Thermaltake.

 

Hi All, just wanted to let everyone know i got my power supply and my system was not damaged, it works fine.


thanks for all your help

 

Good to hear. im awaiting the day when my sizzles n snaps. maybe the it'll catch fire n i'll have an excuse to use a fire extinguisher. oh wait...my hardware will be in the case...nevermind.. PLEASE DONT CATCH FIRE