What U Need To Power A System?

hi i just bought a case, a mobo, a fan, and a case light. i install the motherboard and connect the atx connector from the power supply to it. then i connect the fan to the molex connector. and then the light to another molex connector. i connnect all the front panel stuff (power switch, light, reset)

then i went to plug the power and try to turn on the system....and nothing. do i need the remaining part (harddrive, ram, and cpu) to get the fan, and light to work?

plz reply. cuz right now im thinking to myself that either the mobo is defective or the power supply isnt working.

you need the motherboard to work, it will probably need a proccesor, i would say that getting the rest of the sys will make it work yes.

For board regulars: what can we do to make a ATX psu to give power without the mobo or anything???

(if possible at all i want to know too!)

It's easy.

Unplug the main power connector from the motherboard.

(At this point I am going to put in the usual disclaimer about being careful, I am not responsible, etc....but I do this all the time.)

Turn the plug so it is facing you with the retaining clip on the top.
On the top row the third and fourth wires from the left are black and light green.
Just bridge these two wires (I use a paperclip wrapped in electrical tape to hold it in and insulate it).

As far as your PSU knows it is now hooked to a fully functional mobo and you can hook any accessory you want to test up to it.

SWEEET!! i was wanting to know that so i could test fans etc outside the case thanks man!! :P

Next time you get your hands on a junk motherboard, snag the power connector off it and bridge those two posts together. Then you have a real live plug that will just plug into a PSU connector instead of a jury rigged paperclip.

All of your friends will be astounded.
You may be asked to entertain at parties and end up with all the hot babes.



But probably not.

lol i thought AOL took away the last chance for geeks to have sex???

With thier "flawless" system diagnosis fix feature!! :P

Thanks clocker

Quote:

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Originally posted by clocker@17 November 2003 - 22:45
It's easy.

Unplug the main power connector from the motherboard.

(At this point I am going to put in the usual disclaimer about being careful, I am not responsible, etc....but I do this all the time.)

Turn the plug so it is facing you with the retaining clip on the top.
On the top row the third and fourth wires from the left are black and light green.
Just bridge these two wires (I use a paperclip wrapped in electrical tape to hold it in and insulate it).

As far as your PSU knows it is now hooked to a fully functional mobo and you can hook any accessory you want to test up to it.

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thanks for the tip. gonna try that in a couple mins but back to my qestion, do i need the cpu, ram and hdd to get power to the system?

oh and what if i dont have ne electrical tape. what other thing can i use.

I don't understand, you just want to power up the PSU to test your fan and light, don't you?
If you use my tip you can turn on the PSU with the switch on the back and your system will power up.
Actually you don't need to insulate the paper clip at all, I was just being cautious.

I wouldn't go sticking it my mouth while it's on, but other than that you should be fine.

wait, so i dont need the paper clip? so how do i bridge the 2 pins.

Quote:

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I don't understand, you just want to power up the PSU to test your fan and light, don't you?

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what i want is to know if u need a cpu, and ram and hdd to get power into the system. cuz right now i only have a mobo w/ nothing on it, just connected to the powersupply and a fan. but when i turn press the power switch, nothing get turn on. so unless you need the cpu, ram and hdd in there to get power to the components, then either have a defective psu or mobo. thats is y im concern. so the bottom line is

do i need a cpu, ram, and hdd install on the mobo to get the lights, and fan to work.

or all u need is the psu connected to the mobo and that should get the light and fans to work.

ty clocker for ur patience

Quote:

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Originally posted by raiserblade2003@17 November 2003 - 16:40


do i need a cpu, ram, and hdd install on the mobo to get the lights, and fan to work.

or all u need is the psu connected to the mobo and that should get the light and fans to work.

ty clocker for ur patience

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No, blade, you don't even need the mobo to power up the fan and lights.

Unplug the main power cable from the motherboard. Leave everything else (lights, fans, drives, etc) hooked to the PSU as normal.

Now execute the bridging tip as I first explained. This fools the PSU into thinking that everything is all there.
Your lights and fans should now work.
If there is a on/off switch on the back of your PSU, make sure it is on.

If you don't have a paperclip, a short piece of wire will work ( strip the ends, of course).

lol i know that using ur tip i willbe able to test it. what im asking is do i need to have the cpu, ram and the hdd isntalled to get power the old fasion way. or should just the motherboard be needed to get power.

like im building the system. and only have the case and motherboard. then i hook up some lights to it. should the light light up or do i need the cpu and all the rest of the components to get power for my system. (like a regular computer.)

i would think so, you could of course try it(usually i have all the stuff installed)

You don't need the RAM nor the HDD but you need the CPU.

If you startup with the CPU and no RAM it should start but you will hear a beeping error message from the small PC spreaker (if connected). Add some RAM and you can boot to the BIOS. Add the HDD and optical drives and then you can run the OS setup.

okay ty sciman and clocker. i hope that it need a cpu or ram or all the other stuff to work or im gonna have to send backeither the psu or the mobo. :(


Edit: ty vb. u always a help. so the next thing i need is a cpu. woohooo so my mobo and psu is working. ty ty ty vb. a sigh of releive