Buddy's PSU blew

[Milliron1]

I've built about four PC's now, including the one I'm on right now. Four years ago I built my buddy one and put in a 450w Xclio PSU. Last week he called and said his box began to crackle/pop and smoke came out the back, so I am assuming that the PSU blew. It now no longer turns on.

He's coming down this weekend and I am rebuilding his computer (it was time anyway). However he has a newer GPU and 1 TB HDD that he'd like to try to save.

I've had PSU's fail, just not so dramatically (my old Sparkle one day just didn't turn on anymore). How likely is it that the GPU or HDD are fried? We're tossing everything else internally. If they aren't completely fried what kind of damage can these units sustain from the PSU blowing up? How might it manifest itself?

I'm trying to get a head start on any problems before I start building. Thanks for any help.

[David M]

There is not anyway to tell with absolute certainty if there is any damage until you replace the old PSU with a new high quality PSU and then try booting the computer.

Which graphics card does he plan on using? This will largely determine the power of the new PSU.

PSU guide....
What Power Supply should I get? How many Watts? Who made it? Guide Inside.

[Milliron1]

I don't recall exactly. I know it's an NVidia GeForce, it wasn't the original card I put in. Probably a 2-series. I already have a 650 watt Corsair ready to go for him.

We're ripping it all out as the computer is four years old and rebuilding nearly from scratch.

[David M]

A 650 watt Corsair is an excellent choice. I hope it still works.

[Nikon]

its possible if the old psu that went out was a single rail psu (these dont have OCP) that it could have sent a massive spike of power through the whole system ruining everything, this is unlikely though, and a short circut would be the most likely cause of this kind of failure. however, as said above, there is no way to know until you try a new unit.

[rwest]

I think some one said at the Xcilio power supplies aren't that great unless you purchase from the better line. I think its 'Greater or Great Power'.

As far as what component/s can go out with a psu; I had one take out mb, but never anything else. But a spike is still current and will take the path of least resistance. Just about everything can be suspect with a no boot after a surge.

I currently have my sister-in-laws pc coming to me this weekend with a similiar issue. Of course hers didn't give off any scary pops, noises, or smoke. They just had a brown out at the house and now her unit doesn't turn on.

If a working psu doesn't boot it, see if it will access bios. If so; then I woud test the ram, video card, hdd, cd or dvd, and motherboard seperatly. I would do it in that order also. This will be relevant to which is easiest to access and test. In refference to which is most liklely to be the problem: MB, ram, vid card, hdd, cd or dvd. Lastly; remember, just because you find the ram is shot, it doesn't mean the other components didn't suffer any damage.

If all components check out, then try reloading the OS. I've seen this happen after a psu fail. Windows for some reason doesn't recover from not being shutdown properly.

Like I told my sister inlaw; If a psu doesn't fix it, be prepared to at least buy a MB and maybe another conmponent too. But most likely if it's not the psu, then your probably looking at a new MB. Thats just my experience.
Good luck!