Question Upgrading gaming pc

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Jan 26, 2023
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Okay so what troubleshooting steps should I try?

I have tried resetting CMOS.

Tried with and without GPU. With both VGA and HDMI.

Should I disconnect everything and try reconnecting?
 
Youre saying everything powers up, lights and fans come on but theres no display at all?

You can try clrcmos, it wont hurt anything.

You installed the motherboard on standoffs in the right places?

Yes check every connection of every port, and double check the manual to make sure youre using the right ones. Double check the case to (HDD LED etc) motherboard connections are right too.

If still no luck try 1 stick of ram and only the OS drive and CPU fan attached and try to get to BIOS.

Check the CPU socket for any bent pins.
 
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Youre saying everything powers up, lights and fans come on but theres no display at all?

You can try clrcmos, it wont hurt anything.

You installed the motherboard on standoffs in the right places?

Yes check every connection of every port, and double check the manual to make sure youre using the right ones. Double check the case to (HDD LED etc) motherboard connections are right too.

If still no luck try 1 stick of ram and only the OS drive and CPU fan attached and try to get to BIOS.

Check the CPU socket for any bent pins.

So reconnected everything - did try without GPU and tried to get to BIOS and nothing.

Here are pictures of the connections https://ibb.co/album/gSLwQY.
 
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Connections look good to me, hard to say with the case stuff, but I trust you checked the manual.



You cant get any kind of display without a GPU, not even BIOS because you dont have integrated graphics on that CPU.
I did ClRCMOS and messed around with the fitting of the ram, eventually got to the bios.

So I am putting everything together. The only thing is the front case fan has a molex cable, I have a a molex splitter to a 6 pin.

I am trying to wire in the cd/DVD drive too. Using a Sata/Molex power cable.

I am not sure where to plug the 6 pin cable in though?

Does that even make any sense?🤦

Here's a picture:
https://ibb.co/XVJ0MjN
 
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Jan 26, 2023
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I wouldnt use any cables that didnt come in the box of the PSU. If you need MOLEX then get a SATA to MOLEX adaptor and use that on your DVD and whatever else you have for power.


So this is the cable that came with PSU. The one circled. Is that the one I should use for connecting a front casing fan and DVD drive to the power supply?

Also, I am getting the CPU over temperature error. However, I remember a little bit of thermal paste came off the CPU. Would I need to apply more?
 

Looks like you should have 2 MOLEX cables with that PSU, sorry should have noticed that earlier. Those should power anything that needs 4pin MOLEX.

You shouldnt be getting over temp errors, so definitely order thermal paste and a cleaning kit or some 99% alcohol to get rid of the old stuff. Arctic MX4 or 6 is fine, so are a lot of others.


I use coffee filters to clean up the paste, leaves minimal fluff.
 
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So I took off the fan from the CPU.

Should the thermal paste not spread when pc is turned on and it's heated enough?

This is what the CPU and cooler look like.

This is the thermal paste that was already on the CPU and cooler when I got it.
 
The stock paste is fine but not great, and really if you removed it after using it you should replace it. It should heat up and spread a little though.

Double check you popped the push pins right through so the cooler is tight down to the CPU as well. I havent used an Intel stock cooler in a bit but sometimes they used to be a bit difficult to pop in.
 
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Okay. I'm ordering some thermal paste tonight.

I am still really confused with these molex cables.

The CD/Disk drive has SATA ports.

In which instance do I need to use the molex cables?
 
Jan 26, 2023
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You said you had fans that need Molex and something about the case front panel too?

The SATA cables carry power as well, that's why they can have adapters or actual plugs for MOLEX on them. I suggested the adapters because they work with the cables supplied with your PSU.
The front case fan needed molex. But I am going to order different fans tonight. Any suggestions?
 
Am I understanding correctly that nothing is happening (aside from maybe fans spinning) when you power on the PC?

Assuming everything is plugged in correctly and you've checked and rechecked all your connections, I'd take the entire thing out of the case, reconnect everything outside of the case and see if you can power it on, just like this.

The screws you have connecting your motherboard to your case don't appear to be insulated, which could be causing a short and thus the behavior you're seeing here. I've seen this many times before, most recently on a computer a friend built that exhibited the same symptoms you're describing (Power, fans spin,but no display or the appearance of any other life).

Once you've got it out of the case, you can carefully jump the two power pins with a flathead screwdriver to get the machine to start.
 

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