Question New built PC will not boot (CPU light on MSI motherboard)

Aug 2, 2019
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Hello, this is my first time building my own gaming PC from scratch. I've taken IT classes and networking classes before in school and I don't consider myself to be unknowing when it comes to computer hardware and software, yet when I decide to drop tons of money and build something for once, I butcher it up somehow.

Problem: Pressing power button on PC turns on motherboard lights for less than a second and then powers off. CPU light on motherboard flashes and then is killed with the rest of the PC.

Solutions tried: 1.) I had to buy different RAM because the RAM I had before was the incorrect MHz and was not compatible with the motherboard.
2.) Took out all hard drives and put one stick of RAM in to minimally run (GPU was still in but I don't think that was the problem since the same problem occurred with CPU light)
3.) Crying and screaming in frustration at the expensive paper weight on my table

Notes: Motherboard pins seem to be weird to me, not sure if they are bent or not since they all look the same. When I put in the connections for the power supply some stuff took some effort to plug in but i'm positive every motherboard needs a little pressure put on it to plug them in securely. I dropped the CPU in nicely with the arrow in the correct corner and when closing the lever on the cpu holder, it seemed a bit off to me with the noise and resistance but I assume it was just the metal of the hinge making the noise.

Specs: Motherboard- MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk
RAM- Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8 GB DDR4 2666MHz v3.31
CPU- Intel i5 9600k
GPU- ASUS Nvidia GTX 1060
Case- Cooler Master HAF XB EVO (Case has special hot swap feature for hard drives, heard somewhere on Youtube that it can damage something if not installed correctly?)
Power Supply- EVGA 650 w
CPU Fan - Arctic Freezer 34 eSports duo
 
The speed of the RAM should not matter for compatibility. As long as it is the correct form factor and version any ram should work.

The ATX power for the motherboard is always a pain in the neck to put in. Also, the CPU retention arms need a decent amount of force and sometimes make noise when putting them in.

Try taking everything out of the case, setting the motherboard on a cardboard box, putting the CPU in again, mounting the cooler, plugging in one ram stick, and connecting all the necessary power supply leads and booting up the PC.
 
Aug 2, 2019
12
3
25
The speed of the RAM should not matter for compatibility. As long as it is the correct form factor and version any ram should work.

The ATX power for the motherboard is always a pain in the neck to put in. Also, the CPU retention arms need a decent amount of force and sometimes make noise when putting them in.

Try taking everything out of the case, setting the motherboard on a cardboard box, putting the CPU in again, mounting the cooler, plugging in one ram stick, and connecting all the necessary power supply leads and booting up the PC.

CPU light still shows when turning on and system shuts down
 
Last edited:
Aug 2, 2019
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Should I go to Micro center and see if they can solve it? My only guess right now to change the CPU for a known working one and then change the motherboard possibly to a known good one.
 
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Aug 2, 2019
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For some reason when I try booting without anything in the ram slots my pc boots but still no display but it dosent go into a restart loop for me or show any cpu lights
 
Aug 2, 2019
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I tried no ram yesterday and I believe it was the same issue with the same lights. I was told by msi customer service that my ram version wasn’t compatible on my new ram but I feel like that’s some malarkey.
 
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Aug 2, 2019
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I tried no ram yesterday and I believe it was the same issue with the same lights. I was told by msi customer service that my ram version wasn’t compatible on my new ram but I feel like that’s some malarkey.
It is, I suspected the issue for me was ram so I bought compeltely new ddr4 sticks and getting the exact same issue. Sad that they tell customers that
 
Aug 2, 2019
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Okay so I solved the problem and like most things it’s small and silly but I’m glad it is over.

Overview: My computer case has adapter cables for my fans to connect directly to the power supply. I connected those to the power supply because I figured it needed it and it was not mandatory to run the fans (it basically runs the fans at full speed at all times). I knew my fans needed to be connected to the motherboard so using a cable which happened to be the ones I used to power the fans to the system fan spot on the motherboard. This connector seemed weird to me and should have been my cause for concern because it was a floppy disk power connector and I was applying it to my system fans controller. This caused my motherboard to short and shut off to prevent damage. I spent 40 dollars to be realize I’m kind of a moron for not realizing that I put the wrong connection on my motherboard. :/