Help me physically build my system

[Chaotic]

K so I posted a critique my hardware thread. Long story short I followed everyones advice to the T.

So I got all my stuff in today, and went to work for the first time building my own PC. I'm moderatly mechanically/electrically inclined, so wasn't TOO worried.

Long story short, I got it all together, the mboard light turns on, but the PC doesnt power on. No fans no nothing, just a light on the mboard.

I checked all connections, look good, there is no voltage option on the PS.

I didn't do anything with jumpers, is it possible thats my error? If you search for threads created by me you can see my exact system specs and hardware.

[Vorph]

Did you connect all three power connectors on the motherboard, plus the PCI-E power to the video card?

The only jumper you should ever need to touch is the one to clear the CMOS, which is always a good thing to do before trying to power it up the first time.

[Chaotic]

Yes to the PCIE

I connected the CPU1/CPU2 and the ATX24 (two connections) to the motherboard. What else am I missing?

I also connected the SATA cables to mboard..

[Vorph]

There's the 24-pin ATX, the molex connector between the DIMM slots and the Floppy connector, and the 8-pin ATX12v connector over by the keyboard/mouse plug.

[Chaotic]

What the heck is a molex connector? I see the auxillary connection for graphics power, near the DIM slots, but i'm directly powering the graphics card so I shouldn't need that setup.

I have no floppy. the 8 pin ATX is cpu1/cpu2 interestingly enough my computer reacts the same with or without those connected as I attempted to swap them. I've verified the 24ATX is connected properly by messing with them with power on (stupid i know, but power went off when i unplugged)

[Vorph]

That 4-pin plug that looks like an IDE drive power plug is called molex. The aux graphics power thing isn't optional, even if your card has PCI-E power.

[Chaotic]

well shit, i can't find the pwr3 connection coming off my power supply for the auxillary graphics connection, been looking for past 5 minutes.

What plugs into molex? I thought that was where (according to manual) the CPU fan goes, which I have set up that way. Thats to the top left of the DIMM though.

[Vorph]

Just plug one of the things you'd use for a DVD drive into it.

[Chaotic]

done done done and verified. Still nothing. All things are now properly connected as they should be according to manual and what you just told me. Except I dont see a molex connection..

Unless you're talking about the series of 9 pins with 1 blank and 4 sets of 2 corresponding to the LED lights and power/reset switch. If so, I totally have that installed wrong, however I didn't think it would affect much.

[Chaotic]

nm did some googling, seems molex connections are just the standard 4 pins that i've been using to hook up all fans drives etc. In which case, my comp is fucked :\

[Vorph]

Originally Posted by Chaotic

done done done and verified. Still nothing. All things are now properly connected as they should be according to manual and what you just told me. Except I dont see a molex connection..

See below, that's the molex connector.

Unless you're talking about the series of 9 pins with 1 blank and 4 sets of 2 corresponding to the LED lights and power/reset switch. If so, I totally have that installed wrong, however I didn't think it would affect much.

Er, if the power switch isn't connected right, that's one reason it won't turn on. Make sure it's connected to the red pins right above the molex.

[Chaotic]

Yea, the molex connecter is labeled as auxillary graphics on my mboard.

Fuck @ the power switch not turning comp on. I figured i could directly turn it on from the PS...

The series of 9 pins is the most difficult thing to install on the whole damn computer. I have no space to manuever, the directions are shoddy, and the pins are so small I don't know if I installed them right even if I do manage to get them in. Next on the list.. here goes. Frustration in about 3 minutes, think of me.

[Vorph]

Red is power, blue is reset switch, yellow is HD light, green is power light. (For the lights, + and - matter, but for the switches it shouldn't) And yes, that shit is a major pain in the ass because no one ever bothered to get the case and motherboard manufacturers to agree on a standard header for everyone to use.

[Chaotic]

ok so get this. Now I got it up and running. Catch? It turns off after about 10 seconds. Almost like a loose connection, but nothing is loose. When I moved it initially it turned off. I'm going to double check now but it almost seems like something is shorting.

[Vorph]

The first obvious thing to check is that the cooling fan is working on the cpu, and that it's connected properly so that the motherboard is detecting that it's functional.

After that, try to power it up with 1 DIMM, CPU, and video card as the only things connected.

If none of that works and you can't find any obvious shorts, you may need to call eVGA in the morning. That power off thing was a known issue with some of the 680i's but it was supposed to have been fixed by now. Ham's brother had the same problem, not sure how it was resolved though.

Edit: and clear the CMOS too. It's possible that it could have some bad voltages stored in the BIOS.


I have to head out for the night, I'll check the thread again in the morning.