Power Problem?

[pizzawednesday7]

Hey, so I just finished putting my first system together and I can't get it to power on and it's scaring me a little. As soon as I plug the power supply in the fans like twitch and the mouse light goes on and off, like it has power but only for little seconds then nothing. I'm sure I probably messed something up but I unplugged it quick, any advice? Do you think I hurt anything with the power being like that? Thanks, Oh the power supply is an Ultra 650W, i dunno if that would be helpful or not?

 

[kubes]

can you please list all the specs of your computer please.

When you say plug your power supply in, do you mean into the wall or motherboard?

 

[pizzawednesday7]

Sure, thanks. The motherboards a Gigabyte GA-EP45/UD3R, the cpus an intel e6600. The graphics cards an old gforce 7300 GS i'm using just for a little while. When i plug the power supply into the wall it starts the fans twitching and stuff, even without trying to turn the power on to the computer, like i don't have to hit the button. Thanks for your help

 

[pizzawednesday7]

i already have the power supply plugged into the motherboard and drives and fans and stuff though. if thats what you were asking.

 

[pizzawednesday7]

ok. i sorta figured out the problem. i plugged it into the wall instead of the power strip which was pretty full already and it powered on, not used to using a decent psu i guess. my cpu cooler isn't working and my monitor doesn't think it's connected so i'll have to see. thanks for mentioning the wall though, got me thinking about it

 

[kubes]

well first i'd try flipping the switch on the psu to off first. Then plug it into the wall and see if it still is causing the power surge. If it still does that, it might be that your case buttons are not properly plugged into the motherboard. Might need to take another look at this. The manuel from the motherboard should details exactly where each connectors should be plugged into what pins (power button, reset button, led's...ect).

Does it seem like the computer is just starting all the way up? I would say its fine that the fans sorta turn when plugged in due to some capacitors charging up probally. What scares me is that you said your mouse is turning on. That should not happen unless the motherboard is powering on.

 

[Onus]

Did you mount the mobo on brass standoffs, or screw directly into the case?
If you didn't use the standoffs, use them, and hope nothing fried. If you did, disconnect everything not needed to POST, which basically means just the mobo power connector and the separate CPU power connector.
Check your front panel switches and connectors. Make sure the CMOS reset jumper is NOT in the reset position.

 

[pizzawednesday7]

yea mobo is on the standoffs. power is working fine now. just need to get the monitor to see it's plugged in, not really sure what the problems is there. thanks for the help, i was just freaking out a little and figured i'd ask someone quick.

 

[pizzawednesday7]

dang well it turn on twice and seemed like it was working except i couldn't see anything on the screen but the cpu fan was rubbing against the heatsink so i turned it off to fix it and now it's doing the same thing again. any ideas?

 

[kubes]

This happens occosianally i've noticed. Sometimes the capacitors on units will come precharged from testing and will discharge as soon as you plug them in. This is because they have a way to ground now (third prong on the power cord). It doesn't happen often, but this is just a theory on what caused that.

 

[Onus]

Check the cord on the CPU cooler fan for exposed wire (e.g. a cut) that might be shorting. A short in a 12V+ line would cause that behavior.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The problem with nothing showing up on the monitor is often caused by forgetting to plug in the 8-pin CPU power connector as well as the 24-pin motherboard power connector. The 8-pin CPU power connector is located near the CPU socket.

The problem could also be related to the RAM. What RAM did you get? Have you tried posting with just one stick of RAM installed? You should also manually set the RAM timings and voltage to the manufacturers specs in the BIOS. You might have to press CTRL+F1 in the BIOS to unlock the advanced settings on your Gigabyte board (including the RAM timings).

 

[kubes]

Might also be that the CPU cooler fan isn't properly seated on the board. That also might be the problem. Its getting and then loosing connectivity.

 

[pizzawednesday7]

ok. i'll look at the cooler. i think i'm goign to unplug my motherboard and see if just the fans and stuff will run normally without it. try to isolate the problem or whatever. thanks for the ideas

 

[kubes]

well without the motherboard you'll have to short the psu somehow to get the "on signal". This can easly be done by shorting the green wire with one of the solid black wires with a paperclip. Just touch the two pins together with a paper clip and that should work.

 

[pizzawednesday7]

alrighty, my power problem resolved itself somehow. i've had 5 or so good starts in a row, everything powers on like it should. my cpu fan is still rubbing the heatsink. it's a thermaltake V1, i think i'm going to try to superglue it. my other problem is the monitor, it doesn't think it's hooked up or wahtever? like i should be able to see bios right? any ideas why that's not working out? thanks for all your help. sorry for my new-ness

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Is the 8-pin CPU power connector connector plugged into the motherboard? See my post above. Missing the CPU power connector is easily the #1 new builder mistake.

 

[kubes]

there's an 8 pin power connector located on the bottom left side of the board. its inbetween your two heat sinks that are around the cpu. Most likely you do not have this plugged in.

 

[pizzawednesday7]

yup. thanks, i missed the earlier post about it. ok other than the cpu fan rubbing i'm all set. thanks so much for your help