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.
huge apologies for your post not being answered sooner. Do you still have an issue? I've never heard of sparks being present around a usb port but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Firstly how old is the machine and who built it?