PSU popped suddenly, PC won't turn on now.

[Mubeen Reminders]

I was watching a movie online and my PC turned off quietly as if the power simply cut and the computer would not simply power on. After trying to switch stuff (PSU switch, re-inserting cables etc.) for a while I decided to change kettle leads for some reason.

I plugged in the new kettle lead and a spark of light came from the PSU as I plugged in it, and I heard a POP sound followed by a burnt smell, not too sure about smoke.

At this point I jumper-wired the PSU and no fans were spun. But I'm worried that my other components may have been affected. I took it to a repair centre and they told me the PSU was not working, and they tested the PC with an old PSU (my PC is high-spec)

I still think the old PSU should have been enough to test the motherboard without the video card, RAM and bluetooth/wireless antenna... but no. When turned on, the PC would stay on for a few seconds and then turn off...

The workers told me they couldn't be sure unless they try it with an appropriate PSU. Also, I'm certain the HDD that was in the PC at the time is not damaged because I'm using it on a different PC just fine.

I've ordered a new PSU...

TLDR;
Could it be that my MOBO or something else has been damaged for the PC not to work properly even with a crap PSU? Or is the HDD being ok a good sign?

 

[Pikker]

Hard to say, I once had to fix someone's computer that had a PSU burn out exactly like yours did, and it was some cheap Chinese $15 throwaway; none of the other components were affected however.

If something does get damaged due to sudden power loss or surge, the MOBO would be my first suspect. HDDs are surprisingly robust and even if the circuit board fries the data can still be recovered by specialists.

 

[Mubeen Reminders]

Hard to say, I once had to fix someone's computer that had a PSU burn out exactly like yours did, and it was some cheap Chinese $15 throwaway; none of the other components were affected however.

If something does get damaged due to sudden power loss or surge, the MOBO would be my first suspect. HDDs are surprisingly robust and even if the circuit board fries the data can still be recovered by specialists.

I suppose what worries me most is the fact that the PSU which was used to test my motherboard (while fairly old and crappy, used for old Lenovo desktops) was bad, shouldn't it have been enough to power the motherboard without the ram and gpu?

 

[Pikker]

Technically yes, it should have, a motherboard with CPU and RAM in it at idle have extremely low power draw. You did say that you tested it without RAM installed, but that may have been part of the problem, there needs to be at least one stick of RAM in the system for it to boot.