Installing my first mobo/cpu - need help with power connections

[Nealoc187]

I'm installing my first mobo/cpu on my own.

I have two questions and need some help:

First, the ATX 12V power connector from my PSU won't fit in the appropriate connector on the mobo. The long 20-pin connector works fine, but the smaller 4-pin connector is "backwards". What I mean is that, two of the pins on the connectors are "contoured" rather than a perfect square, but the ones that are contoured don't line up. Basically the way they're shaped right now requires me to put a contoured peg in a square hole, and a square peg in a contoured hole.... that's a problem. Help with that? Is the 4pin connector required? on my old Asus A7N8X it wasn't, but the documentation for this mobo says that it is required, but the plug won't frickin fit!



Second,
Obviously the wires for the front panel buttons go to their respective buttons and LEDs (power switch reset switch, hdd LED and power LED). My question is, which is the positive and which is the negative. Each one has a colored wire (whether it is orange, green, yellow, blue, whatever) and a white wire. Is the colored wire the + wire and the white one the - wire? I'm assuming that's the way it is, but I don't want to hook things up backwards and fry my mobo/cpu.

TIA

 

[smokie mcpott]

you wont fry anything hooking them up backwards, i generally go with white or black being the negative (or a color with a stripe on it)

 

[Nealoc187]

you wont fry anything hooking them up backwards, i generally go with white or black being the negative (or a color with a stripe on it)

Thanks for that, I updated my original post too with a more pressing issue... I can't get the ATX 12V 4-pin connector to fit in the proper slot.

 

[shirker]

might sound a bit obvious, but have you tried just rotating it? the contours usually face the same way, so it doesnt work one way, try it another

 

[Nealoc187]

might sound a bit obvious, but have you tried just rotating it? the contours usually face the same way, so it doesnt work one way, try it another

yes, the contours are on the opposite pins that they need to be to plug in... I was in the middle of taking pictures and my digicam battery died and and i can't find the charger cable to plug it in.

but yes, I oriented the contours correctly (with the contoured side facing "down" in this case on both the PSU cable connector and on the mobo plug.

The parts btw are a Silverstone Zeus 560W PSU and an AsRock 4CoreDual-VSTA mobo.

 

[Nealoc187]

More info - I just grabbed my old Antec 300W old-as-crap PSU to test, and the 4-pin 12V plug on that is oriented correctly and plugs right in. The plug on this Silverstone Zeus is just backwards. The contours are on the exact opposite pins.

 

[Maverick0984]

More info - I just grabbed my old Antec 300W old-as-crap PSU to test, and the 4-pin 12V plug on that is oriented correctly and plugs right in. The plug on this Silverstone Zeus is just backwards. The contours are on the exact opposite pins.

Can you charge your battery and post some pictures? I would suggest the same thing as shirker, try just flipping it 90 degrees until it fits. I find it hard to believe it doesn't fit.

 

[dfonda]

Are you sure you don't have another connector just like it that fits? In other words another connector that looks just like the one that doesn't fit coming out of the PSU? Check that your using the right one. There should be 2 4 plugs that look the same.(They usually have them connected together and you take them apart yourself if you don't need it to work as an 8 plug.

You need at least the 4 plug.

On new power supplys the 2 can connect together. Then they become an 8 plug and can be used on newer MOBO's. On lesser MOBO's you just use the one that fits.( In other words the asrock which only uses a 4 plug.)

 

[smokie mcpott]

it actually sounds like you are trying to connect the wrong 4 pin, we need pictures.

 

[Maverick0984]

it actually sounds like you are trying to connect the wrong 4 pin, we need pictures.

^ Also a possibility.

 

[shirker]

yep, its definitely the wrong connector

I think he's trying to connect the cpu 4-pin plug into the motherboard power connector

 

[Nealoc187]

Sorry about the double post fellas, this post was originally only about those little connectors for the LED and buttons on the front of my case, and then I realized I had a bigger problem still related to power connections, and edited this post.


There is only one single 4-pin square connector on this PSU... but I found an adaptor in the box that shrinks one of the 8 pin connectors down to a 4 pin connector and that particular connector does fit in the plug on the mobo - so I think you guys helped me figure it out. I knew something wasn't right. I'm going to check the PSU documentation just to be sure I'm doing the right thing so I don't mess anything up.

p.s. I can't find the battery charger for my digicam otherwise I'd definitely have posted pics of what I'm talking about.

 

[Nebulous]

I had a Silverstone psu and yes it had an adapter that reduces the 8pin into a 4pin and that's the one i used which fit perfectly in the mobo.

 

[Nealoc187]

I had a Silverstone psu and yes it had an adapter that reduces the 8pin into a 4pin and that's the one i used which fit perfectly in the mobo.

OK cool. That's the only way I an see making this work so I'm sure that's what I need to do. I was trying to connect the 4 pin from the 20+4 connector into the CPU power connector it appears. I saw 4 pins and thought "hey this must be where it goes, wait, WTF, it doesn't fit."

Thanks for all your help guys, I feel dumb but I'm glad the problem is solved now.

 

[dudleycpa]

Thanks for all your help guys, I feel dumb but I'm glad the problem is solved now.

Better to feel "dumb" than fry your mobo or as some smart person here on the forums said, "Better to be a fool once, than be a fool for life".

 

[Peepaw]

OK cool. That's the only way I an see making this work so I'm sure that's what I need to do. I was trying to connect the 4 pin from the 20+4 connector into the CPU power connector it appears. I saw 4 pins and thought "hey this must be where it goes, wait, WTF, it doesn't fit."

Thanks for all your help guys, I feel dumb but I'm glad the problem is solved now.

Yeah don't feel dumb. Now if you just forced it in there without asking for advice, that would be dumb.