[SOLVED] PC powers on only when the 6-pin power cable is disconnected from the SSD or HDD

[HogPosh]

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if anyone can shed light on this PSU behavior. I built my sister a new computer but decided to use her old PSU, which I had installed only 3 years ago.

Her old system:
Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI mITX
AMD A6-6400K APU
16 GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Corsair CS450M PSU
CM MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO
Gigabyte Radeon RX 470 G1 Gaming 4GB
500GB HDD

New system:
Gigabyte B450I Aorus Pro WIFI AM4 mITX
AMD Ryzen 2600
G.Skill TridentZ 16 GB DDR4 3200
Corsair CS450M PSU (reused)
CM MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO (reused)
Gigabyte Radeon RX 470 G1 Gaming 4GB (reused)
ADATA Ultimate SU650 480 GB SSD + 500GB HDD (reused)

The old system was working just fine but the new system wouldn't POST. The LEDs and fans would turn on for one second and then shut off. I bought a new PSU for the new system and everything worked afterwards.

I decided to put the old system back together with the original Corsair CS450M PSU but I used a brand new PNY CS900 240GB SSD. Again, it exhibited the same behavior as when I transferred it to the new system. The paperclip test showed that the PSU has power. After some trial and error, I found out that if I disconnected the 6-pin power connector from the SSD, the old system would POST. I tried to use a brand new 6-pin connector to no avail. And I moved it to other 6-pin ports on the PSU without success.

Any suggestions?

 

[taeioum]

I'm not sure about what 6-pin connector you are supposedly connecting to the SSD. Are you talking about the data (SATA) or power cable?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Are you using original modular cables for your PSU?
Because if not, then those can be incompatible between different PSU models (even from same manufacturer).

 

[HogPosh]

I'm not sure about what 6-pin connector you are supposedly connecting to the SSD. Are you talking about the data (SATA) or power cable?

Hi,
I meant the power cable for the SSD that connects to the PSU with 6 pins. I edited the information in the original post to make this clearer.

 

[taeioum]

Hey,

I think you mean the data cable (which has 7 pins). The SATA power cable (sometimes called Molex, from the old connector) is wider and has 15 pins.

Regardless of which cable you mean, disconnecting either of those two cables should make the SSD unusable. If your computer doesn't boot with both cables attached, I'd say there's something wrong with the SSD. All you can do is change the SATA data cable, plug the motherboard end of the cable into a different port, or try using a different power cable. If you only change the drive but use the same cables and connectors, the drive must be to blame.

 

[HogPosh]

Hey,

I think you mean the data cable (which has 7 pins). The SATA power cable (sometimes called Molex, from the old connector) is wider and has 15 pins.

Regardless of which cable you mean, disconnecting either of those two cables should make the SSD unusable. If your computer doesn't boot with both cables attached, I'd say there's something wrong with the SSD. All you can do is change the SATA data cable, plug the motherboard end of the cable into a different port, or try using a different power cable. If you only change the drive but use the same cables and connectors, the drive must be to blame.

Hi,
Sorry about the confusion. I think it's called 6-pin to SSD/HDD SATA power cable.

 

[HogPosh]

Are you using original modular cables for your PSU?
Because if not, then those can be incompatible between different PSU models (even from same manufacturer).

Hi,
The 6-pin to SSD/HDD SATA power cable belongs to the Corsair CS450M PSU, which has been used in the original PC for the past 3 years without any issues. But when I tried to use this PSU and cable in the new system, it only turned on momentarily. A new PSU for the new system solved the problem.

However, now I wonder why putting the Corsair CS450M back into the old system with the same cable still exhibits this shutdown behavior? Swapping the original 6-pin SATA power cable for another cable didn't work.

I do have a new PSU I just bought so I will change it out and see what happens. I predict that the new PSU will work. But that still doesn't explain the strange behavior of the old PSU.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Do not use cables from different model PSU. You can damage your hardware this way.
What do you think will happen, if your HDD receives 12V instead of 5V with incompatible cable?
HDD dies instantly.

 

[HogPosh]

Do not use cables from different model PSU. You can damage your hardware this way.
What do you think will happen, if your HDD receives 12V instead of 5V with incompatible cable?
HDD dies instantly.

Thanks for the advice. I just thought all cables were the same as long as the ports were compatible.

 

[HogPosh]

Hi everyone,

I bought a new PSU last week and installed it just this morning. PC turn on without a hitch and installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 onto the new SSD.

Here is the final "new" old system:

Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI mITX
AMD A6-6400K APU
16 GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Stock CPU cooler from A8-6600K (a bit beefier than the stock A6-6400K cooler)
Gigabyte Radeon RX 550 2GB
PNY CS900 240GB SSD (new)
Rosewill Hive 550W Modular Bronze PSU (new)
Cooler Master Elite 110 case (new)

I'm giving this PC to my neighbor to use as a HTPC. However, I'm still perplexed about the odd behavior of the Corsair CS450M. Before changing to the new PSU, I gave it another shot and connected the power cable to the SSD. And again, the system turned on for 1 second before turning off. I plan to keep this PSU for a future build and test it again when the opportunity arises..

Thanks for all of the responses and advice.