MSI Mobo wont power

[myster1086]

got a msi motherboard, wont power on. weird little issue. tried no ram no extras powers on. when i unplug the 4 pin cpu it will power everything with it nothing, its not a short nor dead cpu. power supply is 500w so i know its not that. could it be a incompatible cpu?

[cdev]

What does the MSI web site say its compatible CPUs are? Is the four pinned one (probably a typo?) you've put in it on that list?

got a msi motherboard, won't power on. weird little issue. tried no ram no extras powers on. when i unplug the 4 pin cpu it will power everything with it nothing, its not a short nor dead cpu. power supply is 500w so i know its not that. could it be a incompatible cpu?

[Nusa]

"power supply is 500w so i know its not that"
No you don't, not unless it's a known good supply from another working system that uses that 4-pin connector.

But you've identified a symptom. By 4-pin cpu, I assume you mean the 4-pin power connector near the CPU.
When you say "nothing", does that mean the power supply doesn't turn on?
How do you know it's not a short? That's actually the most likely reason the 4-pin connector would be doing this.

Possibilities that jump to mind:
4-pin connector is mis-wired. (find correct wiring on the internet, confirm visually by wire colors)
Mating 4-pin connector on MB is installed incorrectly. (find closeup of MB on internet and confirm)
If you're putting a 4-pin into an 8-pin socket, you managed to put it in wrong, despite the pin keying.
Motherboard is defective in some other way.

[Specmaster]

"power supply is 500w so i know its not that"
No you don't, not unless it's a known good supply from another working system that uses that 4-pin connector.

But you've identified a symptom. By 4-pin cpu, I assume you mean the 4-pin power connector near the CPU.
When you say "nothing", does that mean the power supply doesn't turn on?
How do you know it's not a short? That's actually the most likely reason the 4-pin connector would be doing this.

Possibilities that jump to mind:
4-pin connector is mis-wired. (find correct wiring on the internet, confirm visually by wire colors)
Mating 4-pin connector on MB is installed incorrectly. (find closeup of MB on internet and confirm)
If you're putting a 4-pin into an 8-pin socket, you managed to put it in wrong, despite the pin keying.
Motherboard is defective in some other way.

A MB still requires the other multipin header plugged in as well as the 4 pin one next to the CPU.

You don't say if this is a new build your doing, or if it was working and suddenly stopped. To offer some more meaningful help requires more information coming from you to set the scene for us in order that can an idea of the problem that is correct.

[myster1086]

Alrighty off of memory from reading comments.
Yes 4 pin power next to CPU.
Mobo  powered on previously, installed windows, set up, powered down moved to other room.
Power supply is working, as its my main one for my computer running right now.
Nothing means, when I don't power the 4 pin to CPU fans, HDD and lights all come on and strangley act normal. I try with the 4 pin added I get nothing
Its not a short that I can tell, no blown anything, no damage, nothing.
CPU is compatible, its not been replaced and worked just fine.
Another thing I've noticed, PCI cards also cause it not to want to power on.

[Specmaster]

On the MSI MB, have you got both the 4 pin power plug plugged in plus the 20 pin plug, plugged in its respective socket over wise it will not power up at all.

The 4 pin plug supplies 12v for the CPU and the 20 pin plug also supplies 3.3v, 5v and 12v for other parts but it is essential to have both plugged in and the way that seem to be describing it is you only using the 4 pin plug supply???

This site here might help you to learn a bit more about it http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=30273&seqNum=4

[Richard_L]

A little fleshing out of the details and chronology is required... is this correct?

• You've acquired a second-hand, unknown model of MSI motherboard in an unknown condition?
• You've also acquired second-hand in unknown condition, or had your own known-good spare RAM, CPU and an HDD/SSD which you've added to it?
• You've powered it up successfully in "Room A" using your own known-good PSU from your own PC?
• You've had it working long enough in "Room A" to install Windows on it?
• You've moved it to "Room B" and it has never worked properly again?
• When it "Room B" it only "comes to life" (fans, lights etc) when the additional 4-pin 12V CPU power connector is disconnected from the motherboard but won't get past POST or boot?
• Inserting a PCI card then stops the motherboard from displaying even the faint signs of life described in the line above?

Questions:

• Apart from the MSI motherboard, what other components in the faulty machine are new/used, yours/someone-else's, condition unknown/known-good?
• What else changed when you moved it from Room A to Room B?
• Did the motherboard get put into or taken out of a case when you moved it into Room B?
• Is it using a different PSU now it's in Room B to the one it was using in Room A?
• Do you mean it also "dies" when a PCI card is inserted or when a PCIe card is inserted?
• And if it is a PCIe card, is it a graphics card with a 6/8-pin PCIe 12V power connector of its own?
• What other 12V loads are connected? CPU heatsink fans? case fans? watercooling pumps?

Speculations:

• The PSU really doesn't like it whenever any 12V load (either CPU or expansion card) is connected to this motherboard for whatever reason and over-current protection is immediately turning off the 12V rail on your PSU.
• If you installed the motherboard into a case it had never been in before when you moved it into Room B, check the positions of the stand-offs and whether they're all needed.

I can't offer any more advice without knowing more details about the problem!

[myster1086]

A little fleshing out of the details and chronology is required... is this correct?

• Inserting a PCI card then stops the motherboard from displaying even the faint signs of life described in the line above?

Questions:

• Apart from the MSI motherboard, what other components in the faulty machine are new/used, yours/someone-else's, condition unknown/known-good?
• What else changed when you moved it from Room A to Room B?
• Did the motherboard get put into or taken out of a case when you moved it into Room B?
• Is it using a different PSU now it's in Room B to the one it was using in Room A?
• Do you mean it also "dies" when a PCI card is inserted or when a PCIe card is inserted?
• And if it is a PCIe card, is it a graphics card with a 6/8-pin PCIe 12V power connector of its own?
• What other 12V loads are connected? CPU heatsink fans? case fans? watercooling pumps?

i did acquire second hand, previously had windows 7, i installed windows 10. i had gotten a new graphics card and a new psu for my daily driver, was fixing this gaming pc up for my wifes son. the mobo never left the case. what has been added, from my old build, a 2gb ati hdgrapics and my psu, with the 2 hdds already in and the new parts in, it was running great, better than i expected. yes i had the atx and the 4 pin connected. Rram was good checked that the first run thru, temps were good, everything checked out. so the next day i power it down and move it to his room where it all of a sudden wont power up. i since have removed the board and tried different combos with none working. down to straight bare bones. Its running amd phenom x4 black edition, ati raedon 2gb 16x pci graphics, 2 1tb samsung hdd, 1 dvd drive, a card reader on board audio, 3 fans 1 in front ontop of cpu and one in back and 500w psu. 
what i meant by the pci-e*** card not showing life, there is no on board graphics. the pci-e does require addition power.

[cdev]

For a few dollars you can buy a PCI or PCIe diagnostic card that will display numbers that represent where a computer is in the boot process so you will see where it froze up.

[myster1086]

Would you have a link to one of these?