Windows 7: PSU Smoking and Graphics card not working now

Yesterday my 500w powersupply started smoking up so I went out and bought a Thermaltake Lightpower 700w powersupply. After I finished rewiring my computer I noticed my graphics card wasn't working on my computer so I changed my input from HDMI to VGA to use the integrated graphics card.

I'm not sure what caused the original 500w powersupply to smoke up and why my graphics card doesn't work anymore. I'm unsure whether the graphics card isn't working because i've made a mistake in wiring the connection from my PSU to motherboard or if the PSU killed it.



Yesterday I also received a USB Wireless Receiver for Xbox which I plugged in the top USB slots I never use, could this be a reason for the PSU faulting? Sometimes when I plug in a USB device the metal surrounding the slots spark up a little which is why I mentioned the USB wireless receiver.

Below are the specifications of my system:

AMD Phenom X4 955 Black Edition 3.2ghz
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H
Kingston 2x4GB Ram 1333mhz
(New PSU) Thermaltake Lightpower 700w - (Old PSU) 500w
Sapphire Radeon HD6850 1GB GDDR5 Firmware flashed to HD6870

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Thanks for your help in advance.

Anytime you see sparks it should send up a big red flag of warning: there is something seriously wrong. Shut down the computer.

In your case it sounds like there is a short circuit that is energizing the case. It could also be that your input/output shield is incorrectly attached or missing. In any case it is not recommended to keep using the PC like that. I'm surprised the sparking at the USB port has not already taken out your southbridge controller too.

Can you disassemble and reassemble a PC? (Have you done this before?)
If in doubt please take it to a shop to have it checked out.

A short circuit could be responsible for taking out the power supply, and a failing power supply can take out any and all components connected to it. So all your questions are possible.

Get this taken care of right away.

Thanks for the reply.
I'm currently using my laptop, but I did have my computer on for a few hours with my new power supply when I first got it so i'm hoping I didn't reduce the life expectancy doing so.
While I had it on my integrated graphics wasn't working too well. I couldn't view 1920x1080 resolution and my Windows rating for graphics was 1 so I think something is up with that also. If I consider replacing my components would the case have to be replaced also or is there no way the case could have caused the sparks?

Cheers mate.

Hi. I think your overclocked video card failed and fried the power supply. Sparking to the case is NOT good as TVeblen has explained. Any time you overclock you run the risk of damaging components. You need a new video card.
You need to dismantle and put back together your system to check out the short to the case.