Short Circuit/Surge..?

[MjClarke1]

So my brothers computer may or may not have had a short circuit/surge.. he wants to know if that did happen will his video card be fryed too?

Im building his new computer, So he wants to know if he will be fucked and forced to get another card in the process?

 

[frozenrat]

If you're building his computer, you should have the ability to tell if a cards board is fried or not.

Are any capacitors on it blown? IE The tops on them busted open?

Just run it in another machine, if it works, it works.

 

[MjClarke1]

Thanks I kinda figured, I've never fryed a board before so I dont really know exactly what to look for, other than obvious signs as you mentioned.


Thanks..

 

[Ramuthra]

if the psu did its job and tripped than all other components should be fine, if not KABOOM

 

[frozenrat]

if the psu did its job and tripped than all other components should be fine, if not KABOOM

PSU's won't stop an electric surge,You must be thinking of a UPS.
(No, not the delivery company.)

 

[Ramuthra]

psu contain a fuse, that'd trip in the event of a power surge or otherwise

 

[frozenrat]

psu contain a fuse, that'd trip in the event of a power surge or otherwise

Perhaps it will stop the PSU from delivering power, but the electric force is so strong it can just travel through the PSU without the PSU actually gathering and sending power to the motherboard.

It'll just use it like lightning travels down a lightning rod.

 

[Ramuthra]

a fuse literally destroys the wire in between it and the computer, thats gonna have to be one hell of a Ducking charge too bridge that gap

 

[frozenrat]

a fuse literally destroys the wire in between it and the computer, thats gonna have to be one hell of a Ducking charge too bridge that gap

Good point I suppose, I hadn't completely though about what a fuse's job is, I just thought you were saying the PSU would simply not function.

 

[Rishwin]

If there is a power surge and you have a DECENT PSU, the fuse will blow and the PSU will sacrifice itself to save the other components.

First telltale sign - does it smell burnt? If not, then it's prolly good.

 

[MasterBubba]

Smell the computer. Im not kidding, if it has a slight Chinese food or like a burnt cookie smell something in there is fried. Processors explode when they are fried, so if you didnt hear a big bang, your motherboard is not completely destroyed. The first thing to go is usually your RAM, so check that. Graphics processors are usually the next to go, and then your Harddrive. The cheapest and safest thing to do is buy a surge supressor.

 

[yjlasher22]

PSU's won't stop an electric surge,You must be thinking of a UPS.
(No, not the delivery company.)

UPS stands for uninteruptable power supply, basically gives your around 15 mins to shut down your com in case of blackout. thats not relavant... anyway, you could get a surge protector or suppressor. if you want to check for signs just use a testpen and test the wires.