New Build, No boot. Symptoms of a bad power supply?

[eljefesabio]

I just put together my very first rig last night. It's a Phenom ii x2 545 on a Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H. The memory is G.Skill ddr2 800 2x2g and I have a HIS H467QS1GH Radeon HD 4670. It's all pretty solid gear EXCEPT for the PSU.

The PSU came with the Codegen Briza 6099 case. Good luck finding this model on newegg, it's a foreign brand and from what I can tell, pretty obscure. I know the PSU is 400W, but I don't know about the voltage or amperage. It feels cheap: light weight, power plug is wobbly.

Now to my real problem. I put my rig together being careful to protect against ESD etc. From what I can tell all the plugs are in the right places. The Gigabyte use both a 2x24 pin and a 2x4 12v. My PSU does have a 2x24 but only has a 2x2 12v.

Upon hitting the power button the only thing I get is a flash from ONE of my LED case fans and then nothing. If I hit the power button after this initial flash nothing happens at all. If I unplug the power cable from PSU (or flip the breaker on my surge protector), plug it back in, and hit the button again I will get the same flash of light from my fan. Same deal as before.

I have checked and rechecked my cables and connections to no avail. I am terrified of DOA, so I am actually hoping that this is a PSU problem. I was planning on getting a new (better) PSU anyway for overclocking. Does this sound like it could be a PSU power problem? Or is it something more sinister?

Thanks!

 

[gracefully]

The motherboard should have a plastic cover for half of the 2x4 12V CPU connector. You must have plugged the 2x2 12V into the unblocked half. If that doesn't work, try to redo everything from scratch. Make sure the CPU is seated properly, check the GPU and memory, etc. I'm inclined to think that it is a PSU issue, although I think it's more the lack of the 2x4 connector than a PSU failure.

 

[eljefesabio]

The motherboard should have a plastic cover for half of the 2x4 12V CPU connector. You must have plugged the 2x2 12V into the unblocked half. If that doesn't work, try to redo everything from scratch. Make sure the CPU is seated properly, check the GPU and memory, etc. I'm inclined to think that it is a PSU issue, although I think it's more the lack of the 2x4 connector than a PSU failure.

Thanks gracefully! I will definitely do the build again from scratch. I don't remember seeing a plastic cover on the 2x4 12v. I think it was all just open. It did have a sort of fool-proof design though, a square peg/round hole kind of thing. I could only put the 2x2 in one place, and that's what I did.

If I redo everything and it still doesn't work, would that warrent buying another PSU? If the 2x2 can only go in one place would that mean that it has to be a different issue altogether? Thanks a lot!

 

[gracefully]

Oh right, the 2x2 connector is notched. In that case, you must have placed it in correctly, since it only goes in one way. It seems that your motherboard wants a proper 2x4 connector. It's probably triggering the protection scheme for overcurrent draw, since that lone 2x2 is probably not supplying enough amps for the CPU. If you can borrow a more recent PSU from someone, I suggest you do that. It would be a waste to find out that it wasn't your PSU that's faulty. Although if that's your only option, you can get a 400W model as well, and definitely one with the 2x4 EPS12V connector.

 

[eljefesabio]

That's good to know gracefully. I really appreciate the help. I think I'll just spring for a new PSU. Like I said earlier, I was planning on getting a better one for overclocking anyway. Do you have any sugestions? This is one of the areas that I haven't done a whole lot of research in. From what I have read, it sounds like I want dual 12v rails and at least 500W? I'd like to spend less than $60, though I might go in the $60-80 range if there was a clear advantage.
Thanks!

 

[gracefully]

You can get PSUs from well-known makers such as Corsair, Thermaltake, Seasonic, Silverstone, OCZ, even Cooler Master.

As long as the PSUs are ATX v2.x compliant, then they have the 8-pin EPS12V connector, as well as the capability of running today's most powerful graphics cards. The spec is usually shown in the box. Great PSUs can go above 100$ easily, so I can't make a good suggestion. I'm not too familiar with PSU makers out there.

 

[eljefesabio]

Alright, I think I'm going to go with the OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V. Right now it's $69.99 on newegg but there is a $25 rebate till the end of the month! With newegg's awesome shipping it should be here by the begining of next week. I will repost when I put it in. Thanks for the help gracefully!

 

[eljefesabio]

Scratch that. I'm getting the OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V. Usualy $99.99 but on sale today at newegg and also has a mail in rebate. $54.99!!! It's got good reviews too. Thanks again gracefully!

 

[gracefully]

That should be plenty enough to run your components. It's 80 PLUS efficiency certified, and it's modular. That helps with cable clutter as you can remove cables you don't need. It doesn't allow the removal of the 24-pin motherboard power because... well, you don't usually remove that.

Looks like a good choice. I would have suggested a Corsair HX620W, but it's $100 strong.

 

[jsc]

Your problem is probably caused by your PSU, but it might not be.

Our standard checklist and troubleshooting thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

 

[eljefesabio]

I got my OCS ModXstream 700W last week and after a bit of tweaking was able to get my rig started! I think not having the 8 pin 12V was probably the issue with the last PSU, though it also might have had something to do the case fan control on the motherboard. Even with the new PSU the system will not start with fan control plugged in. Anyway, no complaints. Everything seems to work fine. Thanks again!

 

[eljefesabio]

Best answer selected by eljefesabio.