Question My dad put the 6 pin part of a 6+2 cable into a 6 pin header in the psu and the 8 pin part in my gpu while I was gone. What could have broken?

[vincevd]

He says it turned on for about a quarter of a second and then turned off. When I came back I obviously put the cable in the right way again and tried to start it. Motherboard q-leds are all off and the system doesn’t even start. No fans, No lights, nothing. Only rgb lights are on when the psu was on. Already tried changing the psu and still the same. Tried running it without gpu but still wouldn’t start. I ordered a new motherboard now as well. Do you think it is safe to test if my cpu and gpu are still working with the new motherboard or will it break my new one as well? And do you think my ram sticks still work?

Specs:
Dark Rock Pro 4
AMD Ryzen 7 7700x
Nvidia RTX 3080
Corsair RM 750x -> Seasonic TX-1000 (I changed all psu cables before trying the new psu)
Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F gaming wifi
Kingston Fury 2x16gb DDR5

This is my first build and i’m really scared of breaking the new stuff since this has happened. So should I try to test the gpu and cpu on the new motherboard? Been stressing about this since yesterday, all help is appreciated.

 

[helpstar]

why do you think your dad messed it up? it´s not meant that way, but if it fits, it shouldn´t damage anything. Are you sure all power connections are plugged in?

take some pictures of your build´s connections and upload to imgur.com or similar, post the link in here

did you plug in both motherboard plugs into the PSU?
20pin plus 10pin plug

 

[vincevd]

Yeah both the 10-pin and 20-pin are in the psu and cpu power is also connected. Took the whole mobo out of the case and tried starting with only cpu and ram. Reseated the ram beforehand since it wasnt seated properly. Also we werent using the right ram slots so I fixed that aswell (does that break anything?) Tried shorting the powerswitch with a screwdriver but nothing happened.

First boot, before the whole cable thing, went fine pc was on and everything just non display since the gpu only had one pcie cable in it instead of the required 2 so i know the mobo was working beforehand.

Also he said that when he put the cable in that way the red light above the gpu slot was still on so power wasnt even coming through it I think. Is this just bad timing with the mobo? Find it hard to believe since its brand new

Will post images when I’m home

 

[DSzymborski]

I'm a bit confused here. By "6-pin header in the PSU" do you mean the modular port on the PSU side? Modular PSUs do not have standardized pinouts on the side of the cables that plug into the PSU , so it just confuses thing when someone talks about specific X-pin parts on the PSU side because that's effectively meaningless. I know this might sound nitpicky, but it's a safety issue in a hobby that already requires a lot of precision.

 

[vincevd]

No it’s fine I’m new to this stuff so I don’t really know how to name things but I heres a picture to clarify

https://imgur.com/a/aVOlocl

View: https://imgur.com/a/aVOlocl


Had to edit on phone but that side went into the gpu

 

[vincevd]

My cables for trying to test the motherboard:

https://imgur.com/a/Akl9edl

View: https://imgur.com/a/Akl9edl

 

[boju]

Wow, well the peripheral/ sata ports are for hdd/ssds, case fans etc, not for a graphics card.

Not sure what that would do really, both psus have decent short protections and should have prevented pc from powering on if a short was detected. Possibly other cables were touched or moved? Cpu or atx, partially plugged when you got to it?

Trying piece by piece might be the only way forward. Hopefully motherboard replacement is the end of it.

 

[vincevd]

Yep that’s what I said. I knew there were 3 pcie slots so it would fit on my old psu but he got ahead of me. Got my new motherboard today and will move everything over tomorrow. Ill test my gpu on my old motherboard out of case because I dont mind it dying on me in case the gpu is dead.

Also no other cables were moved, I tried the whole thing in case with my new psu and I know for sure I put in alle the cables correctly.

Hopefully it will only be about 250 for the motherboard and not anything more but I’ve kinda lost hope these past two days

 

[Misgar]

When I saw your photo with the 6-pin PCI-E connector plugged into your PSU and a floating 2-way connector dangling in the breeze, I shouted "Oh no! That's wrong". Despite the fact it fits, that's not the way it's supposed to work.

You've got the lead connected the wrong way round. The 8-pin connector should plug into the PSU and the other end with 6-way and 2-way connectors should plug into a 6-way or 8-way port on a GPU.

I cannot tell what damage (if any) you've done, but stop whatever you're doing and unplug that cable if it's still connected to the PSU. Go on line and search for a guide on what each cable does before continuing. At the very least you'll need to connect the 24-way ATX, 4 or 8-way EPS, PCI-e GPU and SATA power leads (for disk drives).

https://www.buildcomputers.net/power-supply-connectors.html

If your GPU has two 6/8-pin PCIe power connectors, then it needs both 6/8pin cables in order to work. A red light will probably illuminate on the GPU, if either of these cables is not plugged in.

 

[boju]

Yep that’s what I said. I knew there were 3 pcie slots so it would fit on my old psu but he got ahead of me. Got my new motherboard today and will move everything over tomorrow. Ill test my gpu on my old motherboard out of case because I dont mind it dying on me in case the gpu is dead.

Also no other cables were moved, I tried the whole thing in case with my new psu and I know for sure I put in alle the cables correctly.

Hopefully it will only be about 250 for the motherboard and not anything more but I’ve kinda lost hope these past two days

Yeah it's looking like the motherboard if igpu doesn't work. Strange how that would be the situation though since the graphics card was at the pointy end of the short. There's no chance case power button was disconnected or psu on switch to off position? Huhuh moment but we've all been there at some stage lol.

 

[vincevd]

When I saw your photo with the 6-pin PCI-E connector plugged into your PSU and a floating 2-way connector dangling in the breeze, I shouted "Oh no! That's wrong". Despite the fact it fits, that's not the way it's supposed to work.

You've got the lead connected the wrong way round. The 8-pin connector should plug into the PSU and the other end with 6-way and 2-way connectors should plug into a 6-way or 8-way port on a GPU.

I cannot tell what damage (if any) you've done, but stop whatever you're doing and unplug that cable if it's still connected to the PSU. Go on line and search for a guide on what each cable does before continuing. At the very least you'll need to connect the 24-way ATX, 4 or 8-way EPS, PCI-e GPU and SATA power leads (for disk drives).

https://www.buildcomputers.net/power-supply-connectors.html

If your GPU has two 6/8-pin PCIe power connectors, then it needs both 6/8pin cables in order to work. A red light will probably illuminate on the GPU, if either of this cables is not plugged in.

Yeah I did research for my first build and I know where the power cables go. The picture was an reenactment that psu wasnt plugged into anything. I just want to know what I have broken and if it can potentially kill my new stuff

 

[vincevd]

Yeah it's looking like the motherboard if igpu doesn't work. Strange how that would be the situation though since the graphics card was at the pointy end of the short. There's no chance case power button was disconnected or psu on switch to off position? Huhuh moment but we've all been there at some stage lol.

Yeah since there was a molex cable connected to the front panel and the psu to power it I thought it might be the front panel of the case that gave out but jump starting doesnt work either. Double.. Triple checked if the psu was on and everything connected

 

[Misgar]

If the photo re-enactment shows how the GPU cable was connected, you probably shorted out the +12V and 0V rails in the GPU. If you're lucky, the PSU's OCP (over current protection) would have kicked in, a fraction of a second after switch on. There's no telling if you killed the 3080 at this point without further (risky) testing.

You MIGHT be extremely lucky and find nothing has died. Equally well, you may have fried the GPU, motherboard and possibly the PSU too.

The GPU draws up to 75W from the PCIe bus, the remainder comes from the 6/8-way PCI-E power leads.

Your 7700X CPU has an iGPU (integrated graphics processor).
Unplug the 3080 GPU which might be dead.
Connector your monitor to a graphics port on the motherboard.
Check all PSU cables thoroughly.
Switch on the computer and pray that "magic smoke" does not appear.

If the BIOS screen appears, breathe a big sigh of relief. Part of the computer might be OK.
You could put the 3080 back in, but be prepared to be disappointed.
If it's badly damaged, the 3080 could take out the rest of the system.

 

[vincevd]

If the photo re-enactment shows how the GPU cable was connected, you probably shorted out the +12V and 0V rails in the GPU. If you're lucky, the PSU's OCP (over current protection) would have kicked in, a fraction of a second after switch on. There's no telling if you killed the 3080 at this point without further (risky) testing.

You MIGHT be extremely lucky and find nothing had died. Equally well, you may have fried the GPU, motherboard and possibly the PSU too.

The GPU draws up to 75W from the PCIe bus, the remainder comes from the 6/8-way PCI-E power leads.

Your 7700X CPU has an iGPU (integrated graphics processor).
Unplug the 3080 GPU which might be dead.
Connector your monitor to a graphics port on the motherboard.
Check all PSU cables thoroughly.
Switch on the computer and pray that "magic smoke" does not appear.

If the BIOS screen appears, breathe a big sigh of relief. Part of the computer might be OK.
You could put the 3080 back in, but be prepared to be disappointed.
If it's badly damaged, the 3080 could take out the rest of the system.

Thank you, I already tested the motherboard without gpu by jump starting it out of case but no luck, its dead.

Will test the gpu on my old motherboard in case it takes everything with it.

I read that cpu’s almost never take something with it so im comfortable testing it in my new motherboard

 

[Misgar]

If you want to kill your 7700X and motherboard, don't bother updating your BIOS to the latest version (with the 1.30V limit).

Overclock the CPU manually all-core and set the voltage to 1.5V.

Run Prime95 and wait until the CPU starts to melt the AM5 socket. When this happens you need a new motherboard.

It is possible for your CPU to destroy other components under certain circumstances.

Take care.

 

[Karadjgne]

Simple test if you still have the RMx. Plug the pcie in backwards, and jumper the 24pin to turn the psu on. Using a multimeter, test the 8 end pins for voltage. IF (clip facing upwards, pins facing you) the 3x pins on the Left of the Bottom row show 12v+, that's correctly wired, even with the cable backwards. A 6+2pin pcie has 3x 12v+ and 5 GND. IF Any of the pins on the Top row or the Right Bottom pin shows 12v+, then the wiring is incorrect, and 2 possible scenarios.

The RMx has some of the best protective circuitry in the business, Jon made sure of that, so it's entirely possible the SCP, OPP or OCP kicked in prior to any damage to the gpu. If they weren't fast enough to trip, it's also possible the gpu is essentially toast as you put 12v+ in backwards via the ground plane.

If the power was good, just backwards wired, then you have a different issue.

 

[vincevd]

Simple test if you still have the RMx. Plug the pcie in backwards, and jumper the 24pin to turn the psu on. Using a multimeter, test the 8 end pins for voltage. IF (clip facing upwards, pins facing you) the 3x pins on the Left of the Bottom row show 12v+, that's correctly wired, even with the cable backwards. A 6+2pin pcie has 3x 12v+ and 5 GND. IF Any of the pins on the Top row or the Right Bottom pin shows 12v+, then the wiring is incorrect, and 2 possible scenarios.

The RMx has some of the best protective circuitry in the business, Jon made sure of that, so it's entirely possible the SCP, OPP or OCP kicked in prior to any damage to the gpu. If they weren't fast enough to trip, it's also possible the gpu is essentially toast as you put 12v+ in backwards via the ground plane.

If the power was good, just backwards wired, then you have a different issue.

I see what you mean though I do not have a lot of experience with electricity and I also dont have the tools to check the voltage. I can take it to a shop and explain this to them maybe and see what results from it. But is there even a chance my gpu is NOT fried when my motherboard is. I mean the mobo probably got fried through the pcie port right?

Also I don’t see any physical damage to the gpu nor the mobo and my dad said there was no smoke when it turned off

Also, if SCP, OPP, OCP kicked in before damage, the power led would still turn on for a split second right because that’s what he said happened

 

[Misgar]

I would expect the GPU card would be the first thing to die, because it was the first board in the chain. Your motherboard is more likely to have survived.

Only careful testing will reveal which parts have died and what has survived. There's also the concern that faulty items could destroy perfectly good replacement parts. Only you can decide if it's a risk worth taking. "Roll another cheese down the hill".

Did you take advantage of the optional insurance provided by some computer parts suppliers? It adds to the cost of the computer but gives peace of mind if you're a complete beginner.

 

[vincevd]

I would expect the GPU card would be the first thing to die, because it was the first board in the chain. Your motherboard is more likely to have survived.

Only careful testing will reveal which parts have died and what has survived. There's also the concern that faulty items could destroy perfectly good replacement parts. Only you can decide if it's a risk worth taking. "Roll another cheese down the hill".

Did you take advantage of the optional insurance provided by some computer parts suppliers? It adds to the cost of the computer but gives peace of mind if you're a complete beginner.

Alright, I’m pretty sure my motherboard is gone though since it wont turn on no matter what I do, no qleds either only rgb lights.

Yeah I’m just gonna test with parts from my old pc that I can afford losing

They didnt have such an option but we bought it with credit card maybe its insured that way?

 

[vincevd]

If possible, could you maybe take a look at this? I found an overview of all the pinouts etc in the RMx models https://pc-mods.com/blogs/psu-pinout-repository/corsair-psu-type-4-cables-pinout

Maybe this can give more insight? I don’t really know how to read it though

 

[Misgar]

Credit cards insurance usually takes over if the shop you bought the item from refuses to refund your money. Normally, you are only entitled to a refund if you can prove the goods were of faulty manufacture, or not of "merchantable quality".

If you return a kit of damaged parts to the shop, they may send them off to a third party test facility or the original manufacturer for diagnosis. If their tests conclude beyond a reasonable doubt you caused the damage, they may refuse to pay up.

If you bought an expensive glass vase and dropped it on the floor, do you think the shop would refund your money? Ditto the credit card company?

 

[vincevd]

Credit cards insurance usually takes over if the shop you bought the item from refuses to refund your money. Normally, you are only entitled to a refund if you can prove the goods were of faulty manufacture, or not of "merchantable quality".

If you return a kit of damaged parts to the shop, they may send them off to a third party test facility or the original manufacturer for diagnosis. If their tests conclude beyond a reasonable doubt you caused the damage, they may refuse to pay up.

If you bought an expensive glass vase and dropped it on the floor, do you think the shop would refund your money? Ditto the credit card company?

Yeah you’re right. It seems then that it will be an expensive mistake

 

[sarcophagus_macabre]

If possible, could you maybe take a look at this? I found an overview of all the pinouts etc in the RMx models https://pc-mods.com/blogs/psu-pinout-repository/corsair-psu-type-4-cables-pinout

Maybe this can give more insight? I don’t really know how to read it though

It shows that it put 5V to ground on the GPU...

 

[vincevd]

It shows that it put 5V to ground on the GPU...

GG. Would 5V be enough to break it though? And is there a possibility the psu prevented damage?

 

[DSzymborski]

I would still contact your credit card company and ask. Not for a reversal of the charge, but most credit companies have some form of short-term purchase protection that protects your property from damage or theft caused by third parties. It doesn't have to be criminal. Your father, a third party, appears to have damaged your property with an action that you were unaware of ahead of time, and did not authorize him to do.

The worst they can say is no, and you're no worse off.