loud bang, system dead - is it PSU or motherboard?

[riz]

Hello,
I'm after a bit of advice. While testing new grafix card ENGTS250 on my aging system I hear loud bang , system dies.
I was trying to run the card on a weak PSU( 350W with 16A 12V rail ) and i think it hit the limit while benchmarking GTA4 game; suspected PSU would be too weak but figured it run two 8600GT in SLi for years before without problems, single card can't hurt.. i was wrong
Since i changed the fuse on the power lead, let it cool a bit - PSU was mega hot. My question is what kind of damage this fine experiment has cost me? Am i looking at replacing just PSU or the motherboard has died too.. and HHDs, CPU,GPU? at the moment i get some sort of life out of it - yellow lights on network cable connector and green light on the motherboard by PCI slot are lit up but pressing power button does nothing. Tried to reset BIOS too - didnt do anything. i would like to find out what components are ok or not, otherwise ordering online bit by bit will cost me a lot in delivery charges. What PSU would you advise for this type of system?

AMD X2 4800+
A8N32-SLI Deluxe
ENGTS250
2 SATA HDDs
DVD Writer
sattelite decoder card

Thanks for any input

[wonkanoby]

sorry as its impossible to say

a psu going bang can just ruin itself

or half the stuff in the box

[riz]

Thanks for reply.
Thinking of ordering new PSU anyway, i'll need it no matter what. Will test the other components on old motherboard i kept from previous upgrade. Well, if motherboard fried it is a nice excuse to get a new one

[Gilly]

I would say something like a 600w ish Corsair unit, would give you future room to upgrade.

And... You could only have a working CPU left after this bang. But at least there are some lights on the motherboard. Just out of intrest, what size fuse was the blown one that you took out? I like using 5A or 3A fuses with PC plug, if something goes wrong you only get about 6A or 10A to the PSU, not like a 13A slow blow where you might get near 25A before it blows.

Limits the amount of welding the PSU does when it melts

[riz]

i've ordered this PSU:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... 23&subcat=

Hoping i won't have to buy more parts. Otherwise there are all sorts of problems with getting new motherboard:
Do I stick with DDR2 motherboard? i would if i knew the memory survuved. If not then DDR3 motherboard seems a better choice. Hmm...

The PSU blew a 5A fuse which i replaced with 13A.. now you got me thinking of welding, I'll swap it back to 5A

[Gilly]

With a bit of luck that PSU should do the trick, however I hope you don't kill the PSU in the process of finding all your stuff is dead

[riz]

will find out tomorrow night when the PSU arrives
If do have to get new motherboard - what is the best chipset for AMDs these days (overclocking and gaming)? i've been using nForce since nforce2 came out. although nforce980a looks good it isn't DDR3 and nvidia is up to old tricks renaming old chips as new technology

[riz]

it was just PSU that broke! very happy

New PSU is ace, modular with braded and heat shrunk cables. Got some cable tidy kits too - the box never looked so nice inside.