Can my Power Supply Unit (PSU) burn my Motherboard?

[SatishJain]

Hey! I am about to buy an AMD Sapphire HD7770 1Gb GDDR5 Graphics card.
It requires a 450w PSU as per the website, I have a 500W PSU (Brand: Mercury).
Will adding the Graphics card effect the PSU and in turn burn my whole motherboard down?
or does the PSU have some protection like a fuse?

 

[DRH1469]

It should not, although it might be a bit underpowed. I would recommend upgrading your PSU aswell

 

[SatishJain]

It should not, although it might be a bit underpowed. I would recommend upgrading your PSU aswell

So, A cheap PSU will not burn and take other components with it?

 

[CGurrell]

It should not, although it might be a bit underpowed. I would recommend upgrading your PSU aswell

So, A cheap PSU will not burn and take other components with it?

Yes it will! Cheap PSUs normally don't have good overcurrent protection, if they have any at all (overcurrent protection: when the PSU will shut off due to too much power being drawn from it. PSU will shut off to protect system).

The brand Mercury isn't even listed here http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html, so it's safe to assume that your PSU is not a very good model and should be replaced immediately. Anything Tier 2 class B or higher on that list, with around 450W for your current setup, should be fine. If you plan to upgrade your specs in the future (new GPU/multiple GPU setup/overclocking) then a Tier 2B or higher unit of 750W or higher should be fine.