How to Test On/Off Switch on Build?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
B

BigTyto

Honorable
Jun 9, 2013
8
0
10,510
I'm a newbie and building a computer from scratch to learn more about that part of computing. I'm looking to make dumb mistakes and learn from them.

My problem:

The on/off switch on one case doesn't light up my motherboard. The reset button does, briefly, cause the motherboard and power supply to light up.

To test this more precisely, I have two setups. Each has a motherboard, the same power supply, and a different case with its power switch 2-pin connector attached to a motherboard. The first setup, clicking the on/off switch doesn't work. The second setup, clicking the on/off switch lights up the motherboard and power supply but only briefly, like pressing the reset button.

My question: is this normal behavior for an on/off switch? Or can I go ahead with the rest of my build?

Put another way, can I assume the problem is the on/off switch on the first setup? I do not have the CPU, graphics card, wifi, memory, and other parts connected.

Here is my first setup:

MB Gigabyte GA Z77X UPS
PSU Raidmax RX 530SS
Case NZXT CA PH410 B3

Here is my second setup:

MB Intel DZ77GA 70K
PSU Raidmax RX 530SS
Case Thermalia V3

My second and last question: I have Intel i5 3570K CPU. Is this CPU compatible with either or both motherboards? I ask because a sales guy at Microcenter told me today my CPU won't work with the gigabyte board. Curious if that's actually true. From what I can tell, it will work. But I'd like to know from real experts.

Thanks in advance for any ideas/help!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Don't try and power it on until all of the components are installed. Make sure the switch on the back of the psu is on. First, take off all of the connectors from the motherboard. Use a skinny screw driver to jump the power pins. If it fires up, you either made a mistake placing the connectors or the button/wire is bad.

Your 3570k is compatible with either board as they are both Z77 based.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Curious, why would you try turning something on that isn't even built yet?
A switch is simply a contacter, there can't really be anything that goes wrong with it. Most likely, Motherboards don't (can't) be powered without a CPU or RAM, that's why it isn't doing anything. Perhaps one of the boards try's to power and then terminates whilst the other doesn't even in the first place.


As for your motherboards, if they are both z77 chipsets and LGA1155 Sockets then the 3750k is compatible, I see no reason not to use it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks, guys, for the z77 chipset question. A sales guy wrong, who would've thought that could happen?

@maestro To be sure I understand, you're saying I should connect the PSU to the motherboard, turn on the PSU, then jump the power pins? And, if they fire up, then there is a problem? That's what I see with both boards: no connections but the PSU, jump the pins, the board and PSU flash briefly like reset.

@Necr0v I had the first motherboard fully connected, bolted in, all parts tight, only to find clicking the on/off switch had no effect. Rather than chase every possible connection, in the event that was the problem, I thought it would be better to start with the absolute basics, which is a board, a PSU, and the on/off connector with the PSU and on/off connector plugged in. Everything else, even the CPU stripped off. Part of this is lack of knowledge: it may be RAM and other elements have to be connected for power to be sustained. Let me know if that's what you mean. That's my initial question.

Appreciate your help guys!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Ah k, that makes a little more sense then!

Well, as Maestro said then! So jumping the power pins does power both briefly, whilst using the switch nothing on one of them?

Do you have a multimeter? Set it to resistance and check for continuity between the wires coming from the switch. Toggle the switch to check it changes states (0,1), if it does then it's not that!

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
@Necr0v Yes jumping the power pins for the first setup does power briefly while (whilst!) using the power connector to the motherboard does nothing. I do have a multimeter and will check tomorrow evening when I have a moment next.

Can you also confirm that, to sustain power, other parts of the computer must be installed? I'd be curious to hear if that is true.

Thx!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Right, well that could definitely be your problem then!
Yes you'll need at least your CPU installed to successfully run POST, along with some RAM. If you have a motherboard speaker installed you'll be able to listen to the different beeps associated with the problem (no CPU or no RAM). Once you have both those installed it should boot to BIOS and you'll be away.

Good luck!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Okay, if people are still interested to help. I tested with the Gigabyte board, PSU connected, on/off switch connected, CPU and RAM installed. I still only got a quick light up of the board and PSU fan, nothing else. I did isolate the on/off switch on the NZXT board, that it does not work, by testing also with the on/off switch on the low rent case (which did light up the motherboard).

Any ideas what to test next, to get BIOS booted? The two-digit number display doesn't even complete a number before it stops working, same as the PSU fan, a few lights, and the beep from the motherboard. On/off lights up like reset, not a sustained power up and boot.

At the least, if there are online guides to this part of the process, stuff you recommend, I'd be grateful. This is a learning experience as much as a project.

Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Turns out it was a GUI error, as in Gross User Incompetence. Somehow we missed the CPU power plug/cord. 😎 I ordered a new case and will return the one with the defective on/off switch. Now I only need to learn how to read the little two-character display on the motherboard. But using reset, we got the motherboard to run indefinitely with power and thus eliminate any number of possible reasons for our problem.

Appreciate all your help!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Haha. It's very easily done, I must admit I have done it a couple of times. In the haste/excitement of assembly it always seems to be missed!

So does this mean you're right to go? Or are you still getting error messages/no bios/boot?

Happy to help!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It appears the BIOS boots up, a bunch of numbers run on the little display on the motherboard, the fan on the PSU runs. Nothing crashes. When we get the replacement case, I plan to formally add in the video card and monitor and drives. At that point, I expect we'll be able to see the BIOS on the monitor and work with it. If not, I'll be back.

I appreciate your help and the link. Part of what I'm doing is documenting great resources as we go along, as part of writing an article. So definitely the link makes a big difference.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi,

To follow up. Once we had a case with a functional on/off switch and connected up both power plugs (CPU and motherboard), our computer build went perfectly. Everything worked first try, amazingly. The only other issue we had proved rather funny. In the midst of testing I had found rubbery crap on the CPU and cleaned it off. Once we had the computer running, however, we got memory crashes. In looking at the Gigabyte BIOS we noticed the CPU temp was high. Research online mentioned thermal paste. Apparently I had removed some of the thermal paste. Once we re-applied paste, the memory errors went away and the CPU runs fine.

Thanks again Necr0v, maestro0428, and kansasboy001 for you help getting this done!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey Necr0v, maestro0428, and kansasboy001, aside from thanking you again for all your help, here's the article I wrote up about our experiences, including a plug for Tom's Hardware forums:

https://www.helpkidscode.com/how-to-build-a-computer/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom