Quick answer about "dead" HD

[CrimandEvil]

I had a cheap PSU short out and die and now the 80gig HD won't even show up in the bios of my test PC. I came to the conclusion that the HD is dead, does that sound right?

 

[Ice Czar]

entirely possible
try it in a few other computers \ with different cables

 

[CrimandEvil]

I did, that's the test PC. Both BIOS don't see the drive and I just found out that the warrenty ran out last month on the 20th.

 

[Ice Czar]

the circuit board is probably toast (IC chips gates are melted)
another IDENTICAL circuit board off ebay would probably revive it
but keep in mind that we are talking the exact same model not just the family model

example
WD400BB-00CAA0
WD400BB-00DEA0
not the same thing but look identical
lots of little upgrades to components and even HDD architecture happen inside the basic model

 

[CrimandEvil]

Would it be easier to just get a new one and then later try to revive it? Would I be able to retrive data off of it after being revived?
Kind of the same drive but this one has the 8mb cache and warrenty.