My power supply unit (PSU) sparked intensely and then emitted smoke while connected to a power bank. It short-circuited and cut off the power in my room. Feeling a bit foolish, I tried plugging it into another outlet, only to hear a loud pop followed by more sparks and a small amount of smoke. I'm really concerned about the fate of my PC, particularly my graphics card since it's my most expensive component. What are the chances my hardware survived this situation?
2 Answers
You won't know for sure until you swap out the PSU. Start by removing the RAM, GPU, and everything else connected to the motherboard. Then, grab a spare PSU and see if the motherboard powers on. Plug in each component one at a time to check if the whole system stays functional.
After the first spark, your chances were about 50%, but after the second incident, they drop significantly, almost to zero for the PSU. It's not a great scenario, to be honest. You should definitely prepare for the worst.
Could you explain why it could be that bad? Are you saying the graphics card is basically done for?
Thanks! I'm planning to get a new PSU soon, any recommendations? And when you say to unplug everything for testing, should I also unplug the CPU cooler or keep it connected while testing?