power supply blew up?

[Travis Gray]

So, I was playing some games (on my custom built gaming pc) with my friends when all of the sudden my screen goes black and the my monitor acts like it's not plugged in. So, I check to see if everything is plugged in properly and it is. I try to turn off my computer by pushing the power button and nothing happenens. So, I the turn off my surge protector to turn off my computer. I then give it a few minutes and turned my computer back on, the light popped up for a second and my computer shut down, a minute later I see my power supply go orange while making a grinding sound and after it I hear popping.
First please don't make fun of me, I'm an kinda new to PC building and stuff like that.
Second, what caused it?
Third: is there any way this could've ruined another part of my PC?
Finally, how can I prevent this in the future?

[Geek Squad]

With a power supply being an electronic part it can actually go out at anytime. It could be that some foreign object got into the fins (air holes) and caused a short... which finshed off when you went to turn it on again. The only real way of knowing what exactly is wrong is to hook up another power supply, and see what happens. I do know most computer repair shops will have a spare test power supply laying around they can plug in and see if it is the power supply or something more critical like the mother board.


Geek Squad Agent Danielle S
Badge # 42049
Covert Dispatch Agent
Geek Squad Online Support
Geek Squad Social Media Team
Answered on 1/12/2014

[Frostfire]

Using too small a PSU, can cause that. You should have a 700W or higher PSU, especially when gaming.