HELP, computer abruptly shutdown with loud popping noises
 

So my computer was running fine for the last few weeks after installing a new nvidia 9600gso video card.

Intel Pentium D
Intel 945G chipset
Asus p5ld2-vm Motherboard (http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s...nufacture=ASUS)
nVidia 9600gso
400w Power supply
2x 1GB DDR2-667 pc5300 Ram
Windows 7

Anyways, I've been delayed and haven't gotten around to getting a new Power supply especially with the increased holiday expenditure. So I was gaming and it suddenly shutdown with loud popping noises.

I'm assuming the Power Supply was over worked since the new video card required more power than the 400w could supply.

Plugged in a new Power supply at 350w to the basics (onboard graphics, hdd, cdrom etc).

The fans on the CPU turn on, lights flash, hard drives run, cd rom drive works, but no BEEPS that occur during the boot neither does the OS load. However it did load once initially, it had all these vertical distortion lines across it and the mouse / keyboard didn't respond. I'm assuming it's a fried motherboard, however I hope it's something I can fix without costing me a new motherboard..

What should I do now?

-reset cmos by removing the mobo battery temporarily?
-how do i test the cpu?

if u heard poping noises, most likely something fried, and it sounds like capacitors. look for anything thats physically burnt

UPDATE1

took a look at my motherboard for leaking/bulging/popped capacitors, none seen which is good.

I then removed a stick of ram, powered it on, and it powers up fine, typing this on said PC as we speak. Put the stick of ram back in the same slot (1 of 4 slots) and it didn't start up.

So far, Power Supply is fried and my kingston 1gb memory stick is fried as well.

What a great christmas "gift".

Good thing there's boxing day sales on right now.

Anything else I should check for damage?

Before you buy new RAM, have you determined it is indeed that stick of RAM causing problems?

Try removing the "good stick" and replace with the "bad stick" in the same slot.
Then try just the "good stick" into the "bad stick's' slot.

Its still possible that its the motherboard causing problems. Could be a bad ram slot or it could be a problem with the board running 2 sticks of ram (dual channel). Power interruptions and surges can cause weird things.
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on a semi-related note, i once bought ram at futureshop for my computer. for months, i couldn't figure out what was wrong with my computer, as it'd have a mind of it's own and restart anytime. one day, i removed the ram and things were ok again.

god damn ram!

Update2:
After pulling out the ram and reinstalling it again, computer booted fine. Turns out I put it in the wrong memory channel and it wasn't corresponding (I have 2 dual channel slots for ram).

So turns out only my PSU is fried. Walked into ncix aberdeen last night at 8pm and got out within 20 minutes with a nrew 450w power supply for $31

All good now, thanks for the insight guys!
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