damaged video card

[sb14blue]

I recently built my first computer and I bought a second video card so I can have a dual video setup. I followed the directions to setup the second card. When I tried to turn on the computer I had no power. Only the light on the motherboard would turn on. To prevent damaging something, I took the second card out and reversed everything back to its original state. I turned on the computer and everything was fine. From here, I switched cards and made the second card the primary card. Again, everything was fine. Since everything seemed fine, I tried to setup the second card in dual card setup again. This time when I plugged in the 6-pin connector from the PSU, I heard it short and I smelt smoke. Thankfully, when I plugged in the connector, the second card was not connected to the motherboard, so I think the motherboard is fine. Once the smell of smoke was gone, I tried powering the computer with only the original card. Everything seems to power up, but I do not have a video display.

After doing some research, I realized that the 6-pin connector that I plugged into the second card was not a pci-e connector, it was a workstation connector. Unfortunetly, my PSU only comes with one pci-e connector. Oops! I realized a made a costly newbee mistake.

So, where do I go from here? I am sure the second card is toast, but why is my original video card not working? Is it the PSU? If it is the PSU, why is everything else powering up? Could I have damamged the motherboard or original video card even though the second card was not connected to the motherboard when the short happened? Any advice would be most welcomed.

Specs:
550w Coolermaster PSU
Asus A8N SLI Deluxe Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 CPU
2gb Corsair XMS PC3200 RAM
EVGA 6800GS CO SE 256mb
Soundblaster Audigy2

[AND_YOU_ARE]

I just want to verify this. You said your second video card seems to have been fried, and now when you just have one video card in, you don't get any video? You say that everything else has power, but you don't get any video, does the video card fan spin?

Since you just bought the second card, and its dead, you could try to 'exchange' it for a new one. If you can do that, see if that new card works in your PC. If it doesn't then it looks like the PCIE slot might be dead. If you cant 'exchange' the newer fried card for a new one, then find another PCIE card to test your mother board in. I doubt its your PSU, its either both video cards are dead, or the PCIE slot on your motherboard is dead.

Good luck man.

[advancedgeek]

Are you talking about SLI or Crossfire? If so your motherboard needs to have a compatible slot which I assume 2 PCI-E slots. And if you are getting dual video card you would want to upgrade your PSU as 550W might not be enough for the power supply. I recommend you to get around 800W if you are going for SLI.