Gateway Parts

New power supply killed WHAT?

With computer's original parts, power supply somehow sparked and died (presumed it was a motherboard problem). Got new power supply, computer broke again (power supply not ruined). Did the new power supply fry the motherboard or graphics card? I just want to know, of the two, which is more likely?

Public Comments

1. the old power supply could have shorted the motherboard or the entire system when it sparked, the new one probably didn't since it still works.
2. Yes, it is very possible not only to fry the motherboard, but the cpu, the memory and the video card too. The reason why is because when a large capacitor in the power supply blows it has an "instantaneous" INFINITE current peak. This is called a "spike." That is usually enough to burn out or severely damage other components, the motherboard being the primary one to go.
3. It is entirely probable that your PSU fried the MB/RAM/CPU.