Snap, Crackle, POP! Now nothing.

[TedKord]

This morning before work, I went to move some files from my HD to my 8GB flash drive.
When I hit the power on button on my PC, I heard a loud pop, followed by a very slight and brief burning smell. And nothing otherwise. It's about 2-years old, no problems before.
Homebuilt.

Now, hit the power switch, and it's like it's not plugged in. No fans spin up, the PSU doesn't start, nothing. However, the network LED and the CMOS LED are lit. TV

I had a CompUSA PS tester that I picked up at Microcenter just because it was cheap. When I plugged in the PS 24-pin to it, the only light that lit was +5VSB. However, I'm not sure I know how to use the tester. Do I only need to plug that in, or do I then need to plug in the other connectors (HD, SATA, etc...)

The only work I've done recently on it was replacing an IDE DVD burner with an SATA burner, but the power wasn't connected to it because I didn't have the converter. The SATA data cable was connected to it and to the MB.

Here's what I've got in the box:

MSI P6N-SLI
C2D E6400 O/C to 2800MHz
4X1GB Corsair XMS2 PC26400 at stock
Geforce 7950GX2
PCI TV tuner
I'm not sure of the PS brand/model - NZXT 500W or somesuch, I believe - blue LED inside

I've never changed out a PS before (never had a failure in 3-4 home builds). How can I be sure it's the problem? Am I using the tester correctly? Should the +5VSB light only?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[robisbell]

blown PSu, and hope that nothing else was taken out when the PSU committed suicide.

 

[jackschmittusa]

The tester should have shown all of the rails active, not just the +5v line (exception is the -5v, which is no longer used, often not even present). You need not plug in the other connections for the basic psu test.

Hopefully, when you put the psu close to your nose and take a good sniff, you'll smell burned electronics. Otherwise, the burning smell when it failed is another component.

 

[bruceb]

Your power supply has a 2 year warranty so you may still be covered by it.

Link to your pc make: http://www.nzxt.com/products/pp500/

Then again, since it died, you might want a better one such as PC Power & Cooling .. there are about 5 others that are also rated very well ... Others will chime in with their brand suggestions.

 

[TedKord]

Thanks for the help, guys. Ordered the 600W OCZ SteathXtream from Newegg, threw it in and she fired right up. Luckily, the PSU didn't take anything else with it.

On another note, the current PSU was NOT the NZXT model I mentioned. It was an Aspire ATX-AS500W. I'm a little cheesed about this - it's not the unit I ordered with the PC. I ordered a PC from cyberpower on 8/22/06, and immediately swapped most of it out. I kept the graphics card which was a definite upgrade from the old AGP card I had been running (A Radeon 9600 Pro, IIRC), and the ram (which I added to). But I ordered the NZXT PSU as their recommended upgrade, and assumed it was what was in there. It wasn't.

Otherwise, the PC has been great. All other components are as ordered. So, I wonder if the Aspire is a better PSU, or not? I'll look into it, then they may get a slightly irritated e-mail - which they will probably all have a good laugh over...