Front panel connectors necessary for boot?

[Guest]

I am building a computer and all of the parts have arrived expect for the case which wont come for awhile. I thought I would test everything out before the case arrived to make sure it all worked. However the computer will not boot and will not give me any of the beeping errors which I read about in the trouble shooting guide on this site. I'm kind of worried since this is my first build... But before I do any more trouble shooting my question is if I need to have the motherboard connected to the front panel's power switch for it to turn on?

 

[IntelTurtleFan]

You do not necessarily need it. I boot my PC without the front power plugged in. Do you have all the power connected to the mobo including the 4 or 8 pin?
What mobo do you have?

 

[USAFRet]

Without the front panel ON switch, how are you causing it to try to turn on?

 

[Guest]

Yes I have the 8 pin connector for the cpu connected. I used the paper clip test on the psu and it worked. Right now it is just the cpu in the motherboard, but nothing happens when I turn it on not even the error beeps. The mobo is a MSI Z97 PC Mate

 

[Guest]

Without the front panel ON switch, how are you causing it to try to turn on?

I don't have a front panel switch because I don't have the case yet. I've just been using the I/O switch on the PSU

 

[USAFRet]

Without the front panel ON switch, how are you causing it to try to turn on?

I don't have a front panel switch because I don't have the case yet. I've just been using the I/O switch on the PSU

Right. That won't work.
You have to simulate the action of the front panel button.
PSU switch ON
Momentarily short the relevant pins that would normally go to the front panel button.