PC not starting

Hello.

Friday I added an extra graphic card to support a 3rd monitor, and the problems appeared soon after that. First the PC would suddenly power off in the middle of running. Last night it did that several times. When I tried to restart after a while it would not power on properly (the fan would sound but the computer would not startup). I opened the case and inspected the wires and for some reason it started up that time.

But this morning the computer would not start, even though it was fresh from hours of inactivity. I opened the case and tried starting it up and noticed that the fan for the power supply was on, but the fan for the CPU and a general fan did not turn on, and like before, the hard drive did not start up, the CD rom did not activate or respond to the open/close button, and the floppy disk sound that occurs when my computer normally starts did not sound. I assume this was the same thing that was happened last night when I heard the fan sound but no computer startup.

My mother board is an EPOX (EP-8KDA3I). AMD 64 CPU. 2.5 GB RAM. Video cards are ATI 256MB. The mother board generates the code: F followed by an upside down L. I did not see this code in the user manual though.

I removed the 2nd video card and tried starting up the PC with only 1 monitor but same non-start result.

My guess is the power box is broke. My original power box broke down some months ago and I replaced it with an older 110V box that may have had a bit less power than the original.

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the video card, but I thought I should mention it. I don't remember exactly but I have faint memories of problems before but they were so infrequent that I don't fully remember them (perhpas some sudden shutdowns, or even something similar like fan on but no startup).

I have another power box that has a switch for 115V and 230V. Perhaps I should replace the current one with this one. If so, should I use the 115V or 230V option, or do you recommend something else?

 

I installed the spare power box that I had with 115V. During installation I saw that a pin on the main power supply slot on the mother board was burned:

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/5606/12427436yv3.jpg

Also noticed that there was no connection from my power box to PW12, which on the motherboard manual it says that both PW1 and PW12 should be connected simultaneously or computer won't boot. But my old power box did not even have a PW12 type of connection. The spare power box that I installed today has a PW12 connection though. Although the previous setup did not have a PW12 connected the computer did boot up for some reason, though it seems to me this lack of PW12 may have been a factor for this burnout.

Another problem I saw is that there was a cord from the power box going to a slot for an extra fan, which is designed to supply power for an extra fan not to send power to it.

When I originally installed my motherboard I must not have payed sufficient attention to the manual and copied an older motherboard install that a friend did for me many years back.

So now the computer is powering on. Multiple monitors are working. But reading through my motherboard's manual it says that the board requires a minimum of 250Wats and if you have lots of things connected it may require 300W or greater. My spare power box is only 200Wats. It is working for now but I guess I will need to replace it soon. Is it dangerous to run it on low power? And also, how many watts do you recommend for my setup: 3 monitors, 1 scanner, 1 printer, 2.5 GB ram, 1 CD rom, 1 floppy disk, speakers with sub woofer.

 

Well, I got it to work now, I think. I bought the Antec Ne HE 500 from Fry's for $79 + tax and $20 mail in rebate, which is an excellent deal, even better than deals they have for this model on ebay or froogle. It is 500 Watts, quiet, and it is ATX12V v2.2 and EPS 12 V. But unfortunately the first one I bought did not work and when I took it back they said it had a defect. The second one works fine. I hope it is not a flaw with this model, but from what I hear Antec is a credible power supply maker. It also has advanced cable management system so you only use the cables you need and don't have the clutter of the older power supplies.

 

lol some problems just solve themselves

 

Yes. It looks like the problem is solved.

 

Well, I'm sorry to say, it is still suddenly powering off while in the middle of running. What could be the problem?

I've been getting a lot of errors from Fire Fox suddenly crashing and IE crashing due to adobe flash player errors, usually while I'm running the Youtube player. Could these crashes be related to the power problem?

I also have a 1300VA UPS backing up my power supply. I bought it new a couple of months ago. I don't know if this is possible, but could it be that I have too many components hooked up to the batter backup of it? The UPS comes with slots for power backup (which are backed up by its battery) and slots for simple surge protection with no battery backup. I had my 3 monitors and PC all hooked up to the battery backup. This may be totally off the mark cause I don't know how the UPS operates, but is the problem related to having too many components backed up by the battery, thus draining the battery before it has a chance to recharge? I plugged in only 1 monitor and my PC to the battery portion and the other monitors to the surge portion in case that is the problem.

Or could the UPS be defective?

Or perhaps the burn on the motherboard's PW1 slot has caused some damage which might be causing the sudden shutdown?

 

Hello. My PC is still powering off in the middle of working. It doesn't just turn off, it restarts.

At this point I suspect it is the motherboard. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

I'm thinking about replacing the motherboard but I'm a bit worried if it might be something else, like the video card or something with the case's power on/off system.

Can someone help?