Power supply spark...fried mobo?

Question

Hey my frieed with a K8N Neo is having a problem..everything was working fine in his pc for 11 months...one day his powersupply sparked and the computer would not boot. No lights, no fans, nothing.
So he set in a replacement for a power supply and recived a new one. After plugging in everything the computer would still do nothing, no lights fans etc. Do you think the motherboard is fried? I've checked all the jumpers and they are fine.
His specs are:
Athlon 64 3200
MSI K8N Platinum
X-Infinity case
512 Geil Ram
Thermaltake 420W purepower (W0009R)
120 GB Hard drive
Thanks

Answer 1

Gildan,
You asked the following:
btw, how do u do (4)? (which was how to read voltages on motherboard with  voltage multimeter (VMM).
Fiirst thing to do is to read and understand following thoroughly:
VMM USAGE INFORMATION
Many troubleshooting procedures require that you measure voltage and resistance. You take these measurements by using a handheld Digital Multi-Meter (DMM). The meter can be an analog device (using an actual meter) or a digital-readout device. The DMM has a pair of wires called test leads or probes. The test leads make the connections so that you can take readings. Depending on the meter's setting, the probes measure electrical resistance, direct-current (DC) voltage, or alternating-current (AC) voltage.
Usually, each system-unit measurement setting has several ranges of operation. DC voltage, for example, usually can be read in several scales, to a maximum of 200 millivolts (mv), 2v, 20v, 200v, and 1,000v. Because computers use both +5 and +12v for various operations, you should use the 20v maximum scale for making your measurements. Making these measurements on the 200mv or 2v scale could "peg the meter" and possibly damage it because the voltage would be much higher than expected. Using the 200v or 1,000v scale works, but the readings at 5v and 12v are so small in proportion to the maximum that accuracy is low.
If you are taking a measurement and are unsure of the actual voltage, start at the highest scale and work your way down. Most of the better meters have autoranging capability: The meter automatically selects the best range for any measurement. This type of meter is much easier to operate. You just set the meter to the type of reading you want, such as DC volts, and attach the probes to the signal source. The meter selects the correct voltage range and displays the value. Because of their design, these types of meters always have a digital display rather than a meter needle.
CAUTION: Whenever using a multimeter to test any voltage that could potentially be 110v or above, always use one hand to do the testing, not two. Either clip one lead to one of the sources and probe with the other, or hold both leads in one hand.
If you are holding a lead in each hand and accidentally slip, you can very easily become a circuit, allowing power to conduct or flow through you. When the power is flowing from arm to arm, the path of the current is directly across the heart. Hearts have a tendency to quit working when subjected to high voltages. They're funny that way.
I prefer the small digital meters; you can buy them for only slightly more than the analog style, and they're extremely accurate, as well as much safer for digital circuits. Some of these meters are not much bigger than a cassette tape; they fit in a shirt pocket. Radio Shack sells a good unit (made for Radio Shack by Beckman) in the $25 price range; the meter is a half-inch thick, weighs 3 1/2 ounces, and is digital and autoranging as well. This type of meter works well for most, if not all, PC troubleshooting and test uses.
CAUTION: You should be aware that many analog meters can be dangerous to digital circuits. These meters use a 9v battery to power the meter for resistance measurements. If you use this type of meter to measure resistance on some digital circuits, you can damage the electronics, because you essentially are injecting 9v into the circuit. The digital meters universally run on 3 to 5v or less.
Now that you have a nice shiny DIGITAL VMM make sure that you read its manual to understand out it works. Practice taking reading on household batteires and the likes first. Once you are confident and have confirmed that you have the proper lead in the neg/pos connector of your multimeter you are now ready to take some reading from your motherboard. Remember to always ground yourself first to dissipate static electricity, Put the black lead sensor against the case and then use the red lead sensor to carefully probe various points on your motherboard. Be very careful to only touch one point (soldering point, chipset leg, or a motherboard trace) at a time. You want to absolutely avoid short circuiting two such points. As long as you only touch one single point at a time you will be safe and get good reading were voltage is present. I usually use a gator clip connector to affix the black lead to the case, leaving me one hand for flashlight or magnifying glass and other to handle red VMM lead.
Here is how to get a Vddr reading on a MS-7025 Neo2 platinum: http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=583463
(Put red lead sensor on green dot)
Here is how to get a Vcore reading on a MS-7025 Neo2 platinum: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23902&stc=1
Your Board layout may be slightly different but just keep looking for something similar near your RAM and CPU. Remember to always use only the red lead sensor while being extremely careful to only touch only one spot at a time.
Have fun,