# Consequences of a power supply burnout?



## Dropsonic

Hey guys.

A few days back, my power supply decided to " give up ". While playing some computer games, i suddenly saw a spark coming from my power supply, followed by a " BST " sound, resulting in a smell that i cannot describe, and my computer powering off. It was a 4 year old power supply, so i wasn't really that surprised.


Now, back in the beginning of February, i ordered a new graphics card, and a new PSU. Yeah, the stuff hasn't arrived yet, but it's coming on tuesday.
Anyways, i'm now worried about the consequences. Could this " burnout " do anything to damage my current Motherboard/Ram/CPU?

Thanks!


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## tremmor

Yes.  buy a good power supply. it will shut you down.

it can easily destroy your hardware.


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## Dropsonic

Yeah, the PSU i ordered is a Corsair 750W, and from what i read, most people would suggest that one.

I'm just worried about my other current hardware parts.


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## Gabe63

It could go either way, the only way to tell is to put the new PSU in. I had a PSU take out my MOBO and GPU, that sucked.


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## Twist86

Well in essence when the PSU died it *could* kill everything its hooked up to. Especially if its because you overloaded it. For example a crappy 500w PSU that you get from a "retail store" computer prebuilt wont give out the amps of a corsair 500w PSU will. Big difference in the quality and efficiency/clean of the power.

Only way to find out if there is any damage is hook it up and see if it boots up. I never had a corsair die on me yet...my 400w Corsair is almost 6 years old and still in use


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## tremmor

sparks coming from a power supply. 
get rid of it.


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## bomberboysk

Depends on how the power supply fails. Multiple ways of failing, multiple ways of causing death. Either a unit can die peacefully at startup, and doesnt break anything. Lets say a PSU blows and sends out a voltage spike, that is far more likely to damage components. Next there is the psu getting weaker and weaker and giving lower and lower voltages, this can cause data corruption on the hard drives and such if run for a long time, but otherwise it wont do as much damage as a "catastrophic" failure. Reasons such as these should be noted as why NOT to purchase a cheap or off brand unit.


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## linkin

well the "bzzt" sound and burning smell indicates it failed pretty badly, maybe catastrophically. when my cheap unit "died" it constantly shut off under load. (games like cod4 and crysis shut off 5-20 min into the game.)


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## Dropsonic

Alright guys. Thanks for the answers. I'll try to plug the new PSU into my mobo, and we'll see what happens next


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## Dropsonic

Quick question.

If my Mobo was damaged by my old PSU, and i connected my new one to it. Is it possible that things could backfire, and possibly damage my new PSU?


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## linkin

I don't think so, but i'm no expect on powersupplies and how they fail.


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## sniperchang

Probably not. Someone will have to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure a well designed PSU usually have good short circuit protection and such.


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## bomberboysk

sniperchang said:


> Probably not. Someone will have to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure a well designed PSU usually have good short circuit protection and such.



Well designed, yes. Cheap units, no. Not to mention, even with short circuit protection, theres the chance of it overvolting long enough to damage something. Only real way to tell is to test the hardware.


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## BigSteve702

first thing i'd do, before purchasing a new power supply, is making quick use of a cheap one. if you have any power supply laying around the house that works, plug ONLY the 24 pin and 4/8 pin to your motherboard, and make sure you still get the post beep. that way you at least know your motherboard didnt get cooked, and its still worth it to get a new power supply. imagine spending a good bit on a decent power supply, going through the work of putting it in, and findout out your motherboard got taken out by the old one


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## Bob Jeffery

I don't see a problem with hooking it up, the worst thing that could happen is a short circuit, and most psus just cut off when that happens, and you have to flip the switch on the back to get it to cut back on. Pretty much a circuit breaker.


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## Okedokey

bomberboysk said:


> Well designed, yes. Cheap units, no. Not to mention, even with short circuit protection, theres the chance of it overvolting long enough to damage something. Only real way to tell is to test the hardware.



+1

can we sticky this and get everyone who recommends a Rosewill to pay this guy $5?


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