A couple of days ago I tried to boot my computer I built about a year ago without the 6 pin PCI-E power plugged in. The point was to see if I could possibly plug the same connector directly into a new, higher powered graphics card I had just purchased. I had heard of people using 500w PSU's to power their 280X cards, even though the mfg. recommends 750w minimum, so I figured hell. Why not test the mobo to see if it will work without the 6 pin adapter plugged in? Without knowing what I was doing, it was an admittedly unwise move, perhaps all the more so given that my PSU at the time didn't even have an 8 pin 12v connector to accomodate the motherboard (MSI 990FXA-GD65).
The PC half booted. All the fans spun at a very low velocity, including the PSU fan. I believe I powered down the PC by switching the PSU off. After that, I plugged the 6 pin PCI-E connector back where it belonged, and the PC wouldn't boot. It smelled as if the PSU had been burnt out.
A few days later, I replaced the 500w no-name PSU, which had worked fine for almost a year until this stunt, even without an 8pin 12v connector plugged into the appropriate port on the mainboard. The new PSU was an 850w Raidmax Gold cert., which has been rated very highly. I went ahead and plugged the new graphics card, an XFX R9 280x, right in, confident that I had merely fried the PSU. Again, I didn't plug anything into the 6-pin "PWRCONNECT" on the mainboard, reasoning that the modular PCI-E Molex connectors I had plugged into the new graphics card would provide the card with sufficient power. The machine booted fine, but 5 minutes into a game and the PC hard reset.
I replicated this result a few times before assuming it was the new graphics card, which had what seemed evidence of previously caused damage. I re-installed my old, low-powered 6670 graphics card, and once again did not plug in the 6-pin PCI-E power connector. I suppose I reasoned that because my previous PSU didn't have an 8 pin 12v connector, the new 8-pin 12v power would be sufficient. In hindsight, this was just me repeating the same error.
The PC seemed to run stably for a while, even while gaming. It finally randomly crashed and would not boot. Realizing that I'd messed up again, I went ahead and plugged a 6-pin PCI-E modular cable into the "PWRCONNECT" port on the motherboard. Still nothing, it wouldn't even post. I just tried plugging the new PSU and the CPU on the system into another motherboard, with different ram, and I couldn't get the thing to boot, though I cannot be 100% sure if I didn't make some other careless mistake (i.e. plugging the power switch cables into JPF2 the wrong way, etc.)
I have just begun the RMA process for the newer motherboard, and I am planning on shipping out in a couple of hours. My best guess is that some power-related component on it has burned out, but I am still wondering, at this point, if I haven't permanently damaged my CPU and/or brand new PSU, and also what components I have most likely damaged if not. I hadn't even imagined that insufficient power could cause these kinds of problems, but I suppose I've learned a valuable lesson, and that is NOT to try and make do with guesswork when it comes to power management etc.
I am not sure, as of now, if there isn't something wrong with the old mobo. The CMOS battery might be dead after all. From what I've described, do I have good reason to be scared for my CPU, new PSU and/or RAM?
Also, I am unsure whether or not I ought to have plugged in both "PWERCONNECT" power via the mainboard for the new 280X graphics card, as well as the two 6 pin molex conncetions on the card itself. It seems to me that there is a lack of guidelines on the part of the manufacturers for this new issue. That being said, I have the presence of mind to acknowledge that failure to follow the mfg's guidelines in the first place is what got me here.
Thanks for all the help, and sorry for the long message. I would like to start systematically testing the chip and RAM tomorrow to see if I can get them operating, and would very much appreciate any guidance anyone has to offer. At this point, I think the wisest thing to do is to acknowledge that my judgment on these matters is in need of some education.
Best,
James
The PC half booted. All the fans spun at a very low velocity, including the PSU fan. I believe I powered down the PC by switching the PSU off. After that, I plugged the 6 pin PCI-E connector back where it belonged, and the PC wouldn't boot. It smelled as if the PSU had been burnt out.
A few days later, I replaced the 500w no-name PSU, which had worked fine for almost a year until this stunt, even without an 8pin 12v connector plugged into the appropriate port on the mainboard. The new PSU was an 850w Raidmax Gold cert., which has been rated very highly. I went ahead and plugged the new graphics card, an XFX R9 280x, right in, confident that I had merely fried the PSU. Again, I didn't plug anything into the 6-pin "PWRCONNECT" on the mainboard, reasoning that the modular PCI-E Molex connectors I had plugged into the new graphics card would provide the card with sufficient power. The machine booted fine, but 5 minutes into a game and the PC hard reset.
I replicated this result a few times before assuming it was the new graphics card, which had what seemed evidence of previously caused damage. I re-installed my old, low-powered 6670 graphics card, and once again did not plug in the 6-pin PCI-E power connector. I suppose I reasoned that because my previous PSU didn't have an 8 pin 12v connector, the new 8-pin 12v power would be sufficient. In hindsight, this was just me repeating the same error.
The PC seemed to run stably for a while, even while gaming. It finally randomly crashed and would not boot. Realizing that I'd messed up again, I went ahead and plugged a 6-pin PCI-E modular cable into the "PWRCONNECT" port on the motherboard. Still nothing, it wouldn't even post. I just tried plugging the new PSU and the CPU on the system into another motherboard, with different ram, and I couldn't get the thing to boot, though I cannot be 100% sure if I didn't make some other careless mistake (i.e. plugging the power switch cables into JPF2 the wrong way, etc.)
I have just begun the RMA process for the newer motherboard, and I am planning on shipping out in a couple of hours. My best guess is that some power-related component on it has burned out, but I am still wondering, at this point, if I haven't permanently damaged my CPU and/or brand new PSU, and also what components I have most likely damaged if not. I hadn't even imagined that insufficient power could cause these kinds of problems, but I suppose I've learned a valuable lesson, and that is NOT to try and make do with guesswork when it comes to power management etc.
I am not sure, as of now, if there isn't something wrong with the old mobo. The CMOS battery might be dead after all. From what I've described, do I have good reason to be scared for my CPU, new PSU and/or RAM?
Also, I am unsure whether or not I ought to have plugged in both "PWERCONNECT" power via the mainboard for the new 280X graphics card, as well as the two 6 pin molex conncetions on the card itself. It seems to me that there is a lack of guidelines on the part of the manufacturers for this new issue. That being said, I have the presence of mind to acknowledge that failure to follow the mfg's guidelines in the first place is what got me here.
Thanks for all the help, and sorry for the long message. I would like to start systematically testing the chip and RAM tomorrow to see if I can get them operating, and would very much appreciate any guidance anyone has to offer. At this point, I think the wisest thing to do is to acknowledge that my judgment on these matters is in need of some education.
Best,
James
Thanks for the help guys.
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