Discovered missing insulator on CPU/GPU PSU cable after troubleshooting completely dead PC after installing new GPU

[JeighNeither]

Hi all, long time lurker, first time posting.

 

So, I'm poor like nearly everyone else, & I had to do my new PC build in two parts; I basically built the entire PC w/o the GPU because I didn't have the funds yet.  Everything posted beautifully, even the rgb, but when I finally got my new GPU today, the PC wouldn't post.  There isn't even a decoding light on the mobo.  So I initially thought I'd joggled something loose, but as I went down the checklist, everything was in place.  Since there's no debugging light, I assumed it was a PSU issue & when I started digging around I noticed that a metal insulator on the PSU/CPU cable is missing.  This has to be the issue right?  I don't think it's just a sensor, but then why was it running fine before the GPU installation?  I'm perplexed.  This was a hard fought for day, & it's turning out to be very disappointing.  Since the PC was fine before, this was the last thing I expected after the build went so smoothly.  Anyway, that's my story.  I probably am using some wrong terminology, so feel free to correct me.  Any advice on how to move forward is appreciated!  Thanks!

[Poinkachu]

5 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

Hi all, long time lurker, first time posting.

 

So, I'm poor like nearly everyone else, & I had to do my new PC build in two parts; I basically built the entire PC w/o the GPU because I didn't have the funds yet.  Everything posted beautifully, even the rgb, but when I finally got my new GPU today, the PC wouldn't post.  There isn't even a decoding light on the mobo.  So I initially thought I'd joggled something lose, but as I went down the checklist, everything was in place.  Since there's no debugging light, I assumed it was a PSU & when I started digging around I noticed that a metal insulator on the PSU/CPU cable is missing.  This has to be the issue right?  But why was it running fine before the GPU installation?  I'm perplexed.  This was a hard fought for day, & it's turned out to be very disappointing.  Since the PC was fine before, this was the last thing I expected after the build went so smoothly.  Anyway, that's my story.  I probably am using some wrong terminology, so feel free to correct me.  Any advice on how to move forward is appreciated!  Thanks!

Take a pic of this allegedly missing piece so people know for sure which part you're referring to.

Also the model and brand of your PSU.

In fact, your whole spec.

[JeighNeither]

[JeighNeither]

Corsair RM850 80plus gold, MSI MPG Mobo ,13700k, 32g Dominator, 980 Pro & a 4080 12gb

"Allegedly"?  Do people come here making stuff up to troll the forum? haha

 

 

[CommanderAlex]

31 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

Hi all, long time lurker, first time posting.

 

So, I'm poor like nearly everyone else, & I had to do my new PC build in two parts; I basically built the entire PC w/o the GPU because I didn't have the funds yet.  Everything posted beautifully, even the rgb, but when I finally got my new GPU today, the PC wouldn't post.  There isn't even a decoding light on the mobo.  So I initially thought I'd joggled something lose, but as I went down the checklist, everything was in place.  Since there's no debugging light, I assumed it was a PSU & when I started digging around I noticed that a metal insulator on the PSU/CPU cable is missing.  This has to be the issue right?  But why was it running fine before the GPU installation?  I'm perplexed.  This was a hard fought for day, & it's turned out to be very disappointing.  Since the PC was fine before, this was the last thing I expected after the build went so smoothly.  Anyway, that's my story.  I probably am using some wrong terminology, so feel free to correct me.  Any advice on how to move forward is appreciated!  Thanks!

 

3 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

Corsair RM850, MPG Mobo ,13700k & a 4080 12gb

"Allegedly"?  Do people come here making stuff up to troll the forum? haha

 

 

Is the other end of the connector still attached to the pin on the motherboard?? There definitely should be a ground on that pin. 

[JeighNeither]

4 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

 

Is the other end of the connector still attached to the pin on the motherboard?? There definitely should be a ground on that pin. 

Yeah, since it had been running fine & after I'd double checked everything I decided to start at the psu & work backwards, & that was the very first thing I found.  The power was disconnected & I'm wearing my anti-static bracelette of course, but yeah, that's what I'm thinking too.  I have another 850 PSU, but it's not white, nor fully modular so I didn't use it.  Should I swap it out & see if that works?  I'm not really sure how to go forward.  Thanks for your help. 

[Poinkachu]

24 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

Corsair RM850, MPG Mobo ,13700k & a 4080 12gb

"Allegedly"?  Do people come here making stuff up to troll the forum? haha

 

 

Because sometimes people say something is missing when it's not supposed to exist anyway. Plus my wording is weird sometimes.

Don't take it to heart. (Basically since you said Metal Insulator, which confused the heck out of me.  "Metal Pin" is the more fitting one for your case)

 

Is that pic GPU side or PSU side ?

Is there writing on the side of the connector ? like "Type 3" or "Type 4"

 

NVM, just checked my spare cables, there should be a pin in that empty housing.

[CommanderAlex]

21 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

Yeah, since it had been running fine & after I'd double checked everything I decided to start at the psu & work backwards, & that was the very first thing I found.  The power was disconnected & I'm wearing my anti-static bracelette of course, but yeah, that's what I'm thinking too.  I have another 850 PSU, but it's not white, nor fully modular so I didn't use it.  Should I swap it out & see if that works?  I'm not really sure how to go forward.  Thanks for your help. 

Definitely swap it out just to confirm it is in fact the cable is bad (the missing ground pin). Also, be sure to swap ALL power cables when switching power supplies as you can blow up components if you try and mix/match cables. 

[JeighNeither]

20 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Because sometimes people say something is missing when it's not supposed to exist anyway. Plus my wording is weird sometimes.

Don't take it to heart. (Basically since you said Metal Insulator, which confused the heck out of me.  "Metal Pin" is the more fitting one for your case)

 

Is that pic GPU side or PSU side ?

Is there writing on the side of the connector ? like "Type 3" or "Type 4"

 

NVM, just checked my spare cables, there should be a pin in that empty housing.

oh no worries, you're wording wasn't weird, I completely understood what you were talking about, I was the one using wrong terminology, but it was still funny.  I had also researched a bit, & knew about sensors, but I didn't think they were used at the PSU itself.  Do you think I've broken anything?  Or will a new powersupply fix things?  I guess it was working fine before because it didn't need much power w/just the CPU & cooling alone?

[Gorgon]

3 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

oh no worries, you're wording wasn't weird, I completely understood what you were talking about, I was the one using wrong terminology, but it was still funny.  I had also researched a bit, & knew about sensors, but I didn't think they were used at the PSU itself.  Do you think I've broken anything?  Or will a new powersupply fix things?  I guess it was working fine before because it didn't need much power w/just the CPU & cooling alone?

 

41 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

If that's the Power Supply end of Corsair type4 GPU cable then it is normal for there to be no pin there

[JeighNeither]

5 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

Definitely swap it out just to confirm it is in fact the cable is bad (the missing ground pin). Also, be sure to swap ALL power cables when switching power supplies as you can blow up components if you try and mix/match cables. 

Okay, I hope I didn't break anything.  I'm guessing since it's an underpowered issue (hopefully), that no damage was done to the other components, but I don't know much about electrical.  I put in an RMA w/Corsair, so hopefully that won't take too long.  One PSU is white & the other is black, so I should be able to keep them apart, but I was wondering if they were cross compatible, so thanks for that info. 

[JeighNeither]

1 minute ago, Gorgon said:

 

If that's the Power Supply end of Corsair type4 GPU cable then it is normal for there to be no pin there

It's a new RM850 (not sure of type) & that is the power supply end.  Hmm, that's not been the consensus so far, but do you have the same PSU?  What makes you suggest that?

[Spotty]

Double check if the cable you are showing in the picture is for CPU or if it's a PCIe (graphics card) cable. That pin is supposed to be empty on the PCIe cable.

 

With your motherboard cable do you have both ends of the cable plugged in to the power supply?

[Poinkachu]

8 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Double check if the cable you are showing in the picture is for CPU or if it's a PCIe (graphics card) cable. That pin is supposed to be empty on the PCIe cable.

 

With your motherboard cable do you have both ends of the cable plugged in to the power supply?

Isn't it wrong location for the empty one?

 

[Spotty]

Just now, Poinkachu said:

Isn't it wrong location for the empty pin ?

No. It actually doesn't matter which of the 12V wires is missing. That PC mods chart might be correct for whichever type 4 PSU they tested, and if you wanted to make your own cables that would still work fine, but afaik it's usually the end pin missing.

[JeighNeither]

3 minutes ago, Spotty said:

No. It actually doesn't matter which of the 12V wires is missing. That PC mods chart might be correct for whichever type 4 PSU they tested, and if you wanted to make your own cables that would still work fine, but afaik it's usually the end pin missing.

The missing pin is on the PCIe/CPU (that's how it's labeled) at the PSU.  I'm not sure what you mean about having both ends of the mobo cable plugged into the PSU?  I have one side connected to the mobo & the other to the PSU.   There are two ports that say PCIe/CPU & I have them both connected to the mobo if that's what you mean.  The PC was working fine until I plugged in the GPU, & now it's bone dry dead.  I disconnected the power to do the install, & when I tried to power it back up, nada.  Sorry for the delay, I didn't eat all day.

 

[Spotty]

3 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

The missing pin is on the PCIe/CPU (that's how it's labeled) at the PSU. 

Both CPU and PCIe cables plug in to to same connector on the power supply, but they are different types of cables. Look at the other end of the cable that plugs in to the computer side and see if that cable you were holding was a PCIe cable. It'll be labelled either PCIe or CPU on the other end of the cable. PCIe will be 6+2 connector while CPU will be 4+4 connector.

 

6 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

I'm not sure what you mean about having both ends of the mobo cable plugged into the PSU?  I have one side connected to the mobo & the other to the PSU

The motherboard 24 pin cable has two connectors that plug in to the power supply side. A 18pin and 10pin connector. Both need to be plugged in.

 

8 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

The PC was working fine until I plugged in the GPU, & now it's bone dry dead.  I disconnected the power to do the install, & when I tried to power it back up, nada

Did the system have a graphics card before? What card did you add?

[JeighNeither]

15 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

The missing pin is on the PCIe/CPU (that's how it's labeled) at the PSU.  I'm not sure what you mean about having both ends of the mobo cable plugged into the PSU?  I have one side connected to the mobo & the other to the PSU.   There are two ports that say PCIe/CPU & I have them both connected to the mobo if that's what you mean.  The PC was working fine until I plugged in the GPU, & now it's bone dry dead.  I disconnected the power to do the install, & when I tried to power it back up, nada.  Sorry for the delay, I didn't eat all day.

 

I think I understand what you meant now.  So yes, on the back on the psu, top left is sata/pata, then PCIe/CPU.  That PCIe/CPU cable is plugged with an 8 pin connector going to the top spots on the mobo.  Then it's the mobo cable ports (24 pin), that are plugged into to the mobo right hand middle.  Then the bottom row is a bunch of sata/pata with another PCIe/CPU, & that's where the missing pin is.  I hope you can make sense of that, I probably should just take a photo?  Do you think my cabling is wrong?

 

[JeighNeither]

2 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Both CPU and PCIe cables plug in to to same connector on the power supply, but they are different types of cables. Look at the other end of the cable that plugs in to the computer side and see if that cable you were holding was a PCIe cable. It'll be labelled either PCIe or CPU on the other end of the cable. PCIe will be 6+2 connector while CPU will be 4+4 connector.

 

The motherboard 24 pin cable has two connectors that plug in to the power supply side. A 18pin and 10pin connector. Both need to be plugged in.

 

Did the system have a graphics card before? What card did you add?

No, I built it w/o a gpu, & just used it for browsing, & then today when I plugged in the gpu (4070ti) & tried to power it up, that's when it's gone unresponsive.

[JeighNeither]

Just now, JeighNeither said:

No, I built it w/o a gpu, & just used it for browsing, & then today when I plugged in the gpu (4070ti) & tried to power it up, that's when it's gone unresponsive.

Oh, yeah all of that is plugged in.

 

[JeighNeither]

6 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Both CPU and PCIe cables plug in to to same connector on the power supply, but they are different types of cables. Look at the other end of the cable that plugs in to the computer side and see if that cable you were holding was a PCIe cable. It'll be labelled either PCIe or CPU on the other end of the cable. PCIe will be 6+2 connector while CPU will be 4+4 connector.

 

The motherboard 24 pin cable has two connectors that plug in to the power supply side. A 18pin and 10pin connector. Both need to be plugged in.

 

Did the system have a graphics card before? What card did you add?

This might be the problem.  I had two sets of cabling that was six+2, & I used both of them.  Not a 4+4.  Yikes, maybe this is where I went wrong.  Damn.  I need to check my cables...

[Spotty]

The cable you were holding in the photo with the missing pin. What is that cable connected to? The graphics card? Or the motherboard?

[JeighNeither]

2 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

This might be the problem.  I had two sets of cabling that was six+2, & I used both of them.  Not a 4+4.  Yikes, maybe this is where I went wrong.  Damn.  I need to check my cables...

 

3 minutes ago, Spotty said:

The cable you were holding in the photo with the missing pin. What is that cable connected to? The graphics card? Or the motherboard?

Yeah, I don't have any 4+4 cabling.  The cable with the missing pin was connected to the PCIe & the CPU port beside it is connected with an 8pin that goes to the CPU (top of the mobo by the socket).

 

[JeighNeither]

2 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

 

Yeah, I don't have any 4+4 cabling.  The cable with the missing pin was connected to the PCIe & the CPU port beside it is connected with an 8pin that goes to the CPU (top of the mobo by the socket).

 

The other PCIe/CPU on the top right of the back panel on the PSU, is also going to the CPU socket, top of the motherboard.

[JeighNeither]

12 minutes ago, JeighNeither said:

 

Yeah, I don't have any 4+4 cabling.  The cable with the missing pin was connected to the PCIe & the CPU port beside it is connected with an 8pin that goes to the CPU (top of the mobo by the socket).

 

I checked the cabling on another PSU I have, an evga 850 gold semi-modular, & it does have some 4+4 cabling, so maybe they changed them to 8pin in the newer models?