PSU and SATA drives for MSI 970A G43 board

[Paulax]

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be getting anywhere building a custom PC around an MSI 970A G43 board.

I did a free council funded course, where we practised building a PC using scrap parts 7-10 years old, and we finally built a PC not from scratch as advertised, but one which already had the motherboard and CPU installed. This hardware (an IBM Intellistation M workstation) was also donated to charity and about 7 years old, but does support SATA. We installed Linux Mint onto it.

I realised I needed to build a PC from scratch, I wanted to use Linux, would have to deal with UEFI BIOS and I'm on a tight budget, so I decided to use an AMD socket AM3 or AM3+ board. This is why I bought the MSI 970A G43 motherboard.

I couldn't afford to buy all the components needed all at once, so I've been buying components for about 6 weeks now. The latest problem is that it seems my new PSU http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Builder-Series-500Watt-500-Watt-500W-ATX-Power-Supply-PSU-SATA-Black-UK-/271717495880?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f439ff448 doesn't seem to be compatible with my motherboard, because it has the usual 4 pin auxiliary connector, as well as a 20+4 pin main connector. Unfortunately, my motherboard has a 24 pin and an 8 pin connector, which I'd never even heard of before! Does this mean this PSU isn't compatible? Can't I use an adaptor? If not, then what would be a cheap but good PSU which is compatible?

After all this, I'm also worried that I'll end up buying a SATA HDD and optical drive which aren't compatible with this board. How can I prevent this?

 

[pcgaming98]

For starters, that's barely a 500W PSU! 22A on the 12V rail means it can only output 264W for your performance components! You'll need a new PSU

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx500

If you were trying to go super duper cheap, that's not an option with the PSU. You want a quality build or else it could fry your components.

Also note you're going to need a discrete GPU for display. The AM3/AM3+ series do not have integrated display components so motherboard video won't work.

 

[Paulax]

I'm afraid I don't really understand the first paragraph at all. I obviously don't know nearly as much about this as you do.

I realised I needed a graphics card not long before the auction ended, so I got one.

I have already been using www.pcpartpicker.com as well.

In a message on eBay from the seller of one of my components, he recommended a CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 as "cheap but good". Would that be OK? Has it got an 8 pin connector? Perhaps it's modular and I can plug in a suitable connector.

I feel I'm getting to the stage where I may as well try plugging the 4 pin plug into the 8 pin connector to see if that gives me any signs of life at all. If not, I could separate the 24 pin connector into 20 and 4 pin connectors, plug the two 4 pin connectors into the 8 pin connector, then get a 20 to 24 pin adaptor for the 20 pin connector. Would that work?

The alternative is that I may not be able to buy all the parts I need for another 4 weeks.

If this doesn't work, I may have to accept that I only know how to build PCs from old parts and try to build a new PC with an old spec.