The Shrine

Haha...ok, remember the PC where I replaced the mobo and CPU and it was overheating?

Well, last night while burning a DVD-R, the PC just shut off (I was downstairs at the time). It wouldn't turn back on. So I borrowed a 650watt PSU from a friend, hooked it all up. I pulled out everything but 1 stick of RAM and the CPU. I took the RAM out and reseated it also. When I started the PC everything started spinning, lights started flasting and.........the RAM started to smoke. So I shut it off and pulled the RAM out. It singed a few of the connectors and left a black mark on the RAM slot.

Now the PC won't boot at all. I put the other stick of good RAM in the same slot and hit the power button. A few of the mobo lights flash for a second, the fan begins to spin, and then it all dies.

So, does it sound like my PSU died and fried my mobo last night? I'm thinking it's time for a major overhaul of the whole system.

Mr. Praline: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO POLLY!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!

(Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)

Mr. Praline: Now that's what I call a dead parrot.

Can't tell what fried what... I mean you said you put in a friend's PSU and it caused the ram to smoke... so who knows.

Aside from trying to get RMAs on the stuff you have... yeah, chuck it all and build a new box.

Yeah, I'm in the price and rebuild stage now.

I'm not sure why the new PSU would cause the RAM to smoke. Wattage wise, it was a 650 versus my original 600. I had the voltage set correctly. And his PSU was a BFG Tech, which is supposed to be a good brand (from what I've read). It beats the brand of my PSU, for sure.

Ah well.

The power supply may not have been what caused the damage to the memory... probably the new PSU just showed you the smoke but didn't cause it.

Newegg.com is always the best place to look for parts, I wish I needed an upgrade

In terms of computers, any part that comes in contact with something that is smoking is dead. Both the RAM and motherboard were fried, so they are both dead.

Also, the power supply should be set to the right voltage. (Most of them have a 110/220V switch.) It is possible you accidentally set the voltage too high and fried the thing.

Nah, it was set to the correct voltage. That was the first thing I checked before I hit the power button.

My guess is that the 1st PSU fried the mobo (and more?) and the 2nd PSU, as you said Tessian, highlighted a problem when the smoke appeared.

The good news is that my primary HDD is ok. I put it into my brother's PC and am burning a couple DVDs of stuff as a backup for the rebuild.