CPU Fan Power plug causing system to not turn on

Poehring

Poehring

New Member
Hey guys, me again. I am working on my buddies computer, and for the life of me, I have never seen or heard of this happening.

For some reason, the 4 prong CPU Fan connector is making it so the computer will not boot up. When I unplug it, it boots up. Leaving it unplugged caused my CPU temp to rise to 70C even in the BIOS. Has anyone heard of this happening? It's possible his current PSU is just not able to dish out the power, but it's strange that the CPU Fan would be the tipping point. Here are the specs of his system.

Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming
PSU: Rocketfish 700w
CPU: Intel Core i7 3.5Ghz
Memory: 16gb Corsair XMS3 1600mhz
Video: GeForce GTX 760 2GB (Overclocked)
Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H80 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181031
(Had to look this up. I went by the fact that the pictures matched the description. Also, the H80 looks like its the only one with the Profile Disply, which his has)

I know that his PSU is over 3 years old, however, from what I read, they are actually really good PSUs, it might just be too much power because of his new Video Card and the PSU Fan really was the tipping point. I don't have a voltage meter but I thought someone with experience in older hardware and power consumption might be able to provide some insight. Thanks you guys!

Edit: His old Video Card was a Radeon Sapphire HD6770. Also, the 4 pin connector I am referring to is the connector that goes from the PSU to the Motherboard in the CPU Fan position. NOT the connectors which go straight into the Corsair cooling unit. Those are 3 prong.
 
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Is this a new build or did this just start happing? You are talking about the fan header coming off the H80, think its a 3 pin.
 
Old build, new video card. His old video Card was a Radeon Sapphire HD6770. Pretty dated, so it is very possible that the Geforce GTX 760 is just too much juice for such an old PSU.

The CPU Fan connector I am referring to is the 4 pin connector that goes from the PSU to the Motherboard in the CPU Fan position.
 
Poehring said:
The CPU Fan connector I am referring to is the 4 pin connector that goes from the PSU to the Motherboard in the CPU Fan position.
Click to expand...

From the PSU? The 3 pin connector on the H80 plugs into the 4 pin CPU header on the motherboard.


The power supply is really a relabeled Huntkey 650W. He did plug in the PCIe power connectors into the video card?
 
StrangleHold said:
From the PSU? The 3 pin connector on the H80 plugs into the 4 pin CPU header on the motherboard.


The power supply is really a relabeled Huntkey 650W. He did plug in the PCIe power connectors into the video card?
Click to expand...

There are two 3 pin connectors that go from the Radiator to the Heat sink. One comes from the back of the radiator (The pump maybe?), the other comes from the front of the radiator (The fan on the radiator I believe). There are two 4 pin ports in the Heatsink for the Cooling unit, but the connectors only have 3 pins, so there are two available pins still in the Heatsink. Then, I have a 4 pin connector that comes directly from the Power Supply into the Motherboard in the CPU Fan port. (Small port, not the large normal size power that you might use for a drive or other piece of hardware.) This is what is causing the comp not to boot.

Do I have my connectors plugged into the wrong spots?

His video Card has 2x 6 Pin connectors which are both plugged in. I just read that the GeForce GTX 760 requires a minimum of 500 Watts, so I am pretty confused.

I apologize if that did not answer your question, im trying :P
 
The wires from the radiator are for the fans, they plug into the side of the heatsink/CPU block. The 4 pin molex coming off the heatsink/CPU block plugs into a 4 pin molex from the power supply. The 3 pin coming off the heatsink/CPU block plugs into the motherboard 4 pin CPU power header.
 
StrangleHold said:
The wires from the radiator are for the fans, they plug into the side of the heatsink/CPU block. The 4 pin molex coming off the heatsink/CPU block plugs into a 4 pin molex from the power supply. The 3 pin coming off the heatsink/CPU block plugs into the motherboard 4 pin CPU power header.
Click to expand...

Okay so it sounds like I have the 3 pin plugged into the wrong place. Also, the 4 Pin molex coming off the heatsink/CPU also has a 3 pin attached to it. Is this the 3 pin that should be plugged into the CPU Fan port on the Motherboard?

Thank you so much, btw.
 
StrangleHold said:
Yes
Click to expand...

Thank you, again, so much. It's booting up now, however, my CPU Temp is hitting 60C and climbing, in the BIOS. I don't know everything about temps, so correct me if I am wrong, but 60c in the Bios under 0 load is crazy high.

Edit: It reached 70c before I finally shut it down. Its a Core i7 3.5ghz. Maybe those are known to run warm, but again, 70c before even hitting windows is crazy. Also, on the Heatsink for the cooler, there is a Corsair Digital Link spot. Am I supposed to plug something in here? It looks like a small port. I don't believe anything was plugged in there previously.

http://www.corsair.com/en/media/cms/manual/forWeb_8.5inx11in_H80.pdf

Step 8 under Intel.
 
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That's for the Corsair Link Commander. Have you adjusted the fan speed, button on top of the CPU block. Make sure that 4 pin molex is plugged into the power supply, it powers the pump. Has the CPU block been took off and if so was the compound applied back right?

Edit

Plus make sure the fans are turned the right way on the radiator.
 
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StrangleHold said:
That's for the Corsair Link Commander. Have you adjusted the fan speed, button on top of the CPU block. Make sure that 4 pin molex is plugged into the power supply, it powers the pump. Has the CPU block been took off and if so was the compound applied back right?

Edit

Plus make sure the fans are turned the right way on the radiator.
Click to expand...

I have not personally removed the Heatsink. That is what I am going to do next, to check for Thermal Paste, if I can't get the temp down.

I didn't notice the button on the top of the Heatsink before. I pressed it three times, to light up all three lights (I assume that is controlling the fan speed?). The 4 pin molex is plugged into the CPU now, and the 3 pin connector which is also attached to that 4 pin molex, is now plugged into the CPU Fan position on the Mother Board.

An added discovery... The 4 Pin Molex coming from the Heatsink, only has 2 pins in it. It's a 4 pin Molex, but only 2 pins. Is this normal? It still fits the normal 4 pin molex female connectors, but where the other 2 pins should be, there are none.

Also, on the Radiator are two fans, one on each side of the radiator. The back one is blowing into the Radiator, and the front one is blowing into the case. Does this sound about normal?

P.S. If you browse Reddit, I owe you reddit gold ;)
 
Did speeding up the fans lower your temps? The 2 pins in the molex is fine. One is a 12V, the other is ground. Doesn't need the extra 5V and ground.

The fans. The inside fan should be blowing into the radiator, the out side fan should be sucking out of the radiator, blowing outside the case.

This isn't the same, but you get the idea. Where it says push, is inside the case. Where is says pull is blowing out side the case.
9911feb7_ix6rgy.jpeg
 
StrangleHold said:
Did speeding up the fans lower your temps? The 2 pins in the molex is fine. One is a 12V, the other is ground. Doesn't need the extra 5V and ground.

The fans. The inside fan should be blowing into the radiator, the out side fan should be sucking out of the radiator, blowing outside the case.

This isn't the same, but you get the idea. Where it says push, is inside the case. Where is says pull is blowing out side the case.
Click to expand...

Speeding up the fan didn't lower the temp at all. It still climbed to 70.

The fans are definitely blowing in the wrong direction, then. Its pulling air from outside, and into the case. Would this cause the CPU to heat up so much? I know that with just a normal fan, it wouldn't make that much of a difference, but these are controlling the temp of the radiator. Even still though, it shouldn't make that much of a difference, should it? I'm guessing thermal paste :P
 
StrangleHold said:
Put your finger on the CPU block and see if you can tell the pump it working.
Click to expand...

So when I put my finger on the CPU block, all I can feel is vibration from the fans on the radiator. When I press the button the CPU block, the fans definitely speed up and slow down, so that part works. As far as the pump, is that also located on the CPU block? I thought it would be on the radiator? I am going to take the CPU block off, and check to see if there is Thermal Paste underneath. Are there any precautions I need to know about before doing this? I don't want any liquid coming out, but from what I read online about this Corsair unit, that can't happen, as it is completely sealed. Is this correct?

Edit: So I have been reading a lot of posts from people claiming there was a bad batch of pumps from the H80 series. I can't feel any liquid coming through the tubes, and I read sometimes air can get trapped in the tubes, causing a blockage, that can be lightly shook free. That didn't work either. I took the whole pump unit out of the case, and placed the stock heatsink/fan that came with the CPU and the temps are holding steady at about 31c in the Bios. Much better than 70. I am going to hook the pump itself up to my machine, just to see if the pump gets power, but I think we have solved the problem. Pretty confident it is just a faulty pump.
 
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Yeah, you should feel a slight vibration on the pump? They are sealed up pretty good, just don't be pulling over aggressively on the lines, lol. How did the compound look? If you try it again, clean off both and just put the amount of a grain of rice in the middle of the CPU and let the block spread it out.
 
StrangleHold said:
Yeah, you should feel a slight vibration on the pump? They are sealed up pretty good, just don't be pulling over aggressively on the lines, lol. How did the compound look? If you try it again, clean off both and just put the amount of a grain of rice in the middle of the CPU and let the block spread it out.
Click to expand...

The compound looked okay, I think. It was all white and milky looking. It was definitely there though. I also may have figured something else out. I tried the cooler in my computer, and I could definitely feel, and hear, the pump working. Those things only run off a few Watts, right? So I'm not sure why it was working in my machine and not his. I even tried a few other Fan ports on the motherboard.

Anyhow, I stuck his stock heat sink that came with his CPU on, and it purrs like a kitten now, running Idle at about 30c.
 
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