Would appreciate some suggestions on a new CPU MB combo

[eaglepi]

Yesterday I started my new build and today finished it (I thought) but when I turned it on I got nothing. The MSI Mag z790 Tomahawk WiFi MB didn't seem that it had any power whatsoever.

I checked the obvious things like making sure all the power connections from the PSU to the MB were connected properly and they were. So now I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong, Never had a new build not work in the past so I am at a loss what could be wrong. I do have one question before I troubleshoot if the MB or PSU is bad.

I'm wondering if this could have been the issue, I know EarthDog is saying I told you so..............lol

I used the following CPU bracket instead of the lever one that came with the MB, it is this one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG5NSHL4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

When I took the spring lever CPU off the back plate came off as well ( I know now that the screws holding the CPU holder also held the back piece as well. I wasn't sure which side should go back towards the MB so I chose the dark side which seems to be a protection against grounding, just not sure if that black side should have gone against the MB or was to protect against the case. I'll insert the images of both sides below. Now I am wondering if I did it wrong and that was shorting out the MB and that is why nothing happened when I tried to turn the system on.


Now I took the whole system apart so I am starting all over again, I just need to know which side of this retainer should go against the This bottom platen of the MB. is what the original CPU holder was screwed into and when I changed it out with the product above I didn't remember which side went towards the MB and the case. Trying to rule out that before continuing troubleshooting the problem.

I would appreciate any and all help.

 

[EarthDog]

Metal out...black touches the board.

How are you starting the PC? Through the button on the case? Are you sure the power button is connected correctly to the board? Have you tried by shorting the pins on the mobo? Does your motherboard have a power button? Tried that?

Can you update your signature with all of your hardware?

 

[eaglepi]

Metal out...black touches the board.

How are you starting the PC? Through the button on the case? Are you sure the power button is connected correctly to the board? Have you tried by shorting the pins on the mobo? Does your motherboard have a power button? Tried that?

Can you update your signature with all of your hardware?

I had the black to the board, No I haven't checked the other troubleshooting things that you asked about. I read several post and YouTube videos talking about this board being DOA. I'm assuming that is the issue seeing that I only have a few days left to return it. EarthDog you will be shaking your head at me even more than you have been ( I mean this in a nice way ) I setup a return for the MSI MB and got the,

Amazon.com

after thinking about the points you and others made about the hype on Asus I decided to buy it, I built systems for many years and never had an Asus fail me so I am sticking with them. Now looking at other Asus MB's

I will update my signature with the new parts ASAP . Thanks as always for your help

 

[EarthDog]

There several posts and videos about every board being DOA, lol.

I wouldnt rma without actually doing some troubleshooting. My money is on PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair) before I'd think you'd have a DOA board. It's possible, but, id do more testing before buying new boards...

Mayne test the new one outside the case before you try to mount that bracket. You should also breadboard your current system as maybe there was a shirt with it mounted in the case (are there standoffs below the board between the case and chassis?

 

[eaglepi]

There several posts and videos about every board being DOA, lol.

I wouldnt rma without actually doing some troubleshooting. My money is on PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair) before I'd think you'd have a DOA board. It's possible, but, id do more testing before buying new boards...

Mayne test the new one outside the case before you try to mount that bracket. You should also breadboard your current system as maybe there was a shirt with it mounted in the case (are there standoffs below the board between the case and chassis?

I understand about the bad reviews. I wanted to get an Asus the MSI is already being returned but I can't find an ASUS that has the number of sata ports I need (4) and system fan connectors. The MSI has 5 fan connectors on the board.

PEBKAC wasn't the issue with me this time I couldn't get the system to have any power so I never got a chance to use the keyboard but I know what you mean. I think I will get the MSI that I just returned and use my PSU from my old system to rule out PSU not working. Is there a way to check a PSU without it being in a system? to rule out bad PSU?

 

[EarthDog]

Technically, you've voided the warranty on the msi board by removing and replacing the bracket....you have no idea if the board was doa or something in the process killed. My money is still on something being wrong with the install versus a bad mobo or psu....there's still plenty of testing to do before any conclusion can be had.

You can power on a psu without being connected to a system. You can jumper it yourself or buy the tool (I suggest the latter).

As far as the boards, I can't think of a full size board that doesn't come with 4 sata ports and have 5 fan headers... the prime you linked has all of that....

PS - PEBKAC means the problem was HUMAN ERROR... BETWEEN the keyboard and chair, guy! Keyboard does not need to work to be a human error.

 

[eaglepi]

EarthDog,
If you have time can you give me your thoughts on the ,

Amazon.com

compared to the,

Amazon.com

I would get the MSI but wouldn't get it until June 25-27, the Asus I could have in 2 days and it has everything I need and want,

Any thoughts? I have a table full of parts waiting on the new MB to get here.

 

[EarthDog]

My thought is you take the time to properly troubleshoot what you have as I'm not remotely convinced (due to lack of testing) there's a doa part yet. As written, you tried one thing (reaseating power cables from psu to board), found some echo chamber vids about your board, and rma'd something that may not be broken or that you could have potentially broken installing the bracket...(or it was doa - least likely, bit possible).

If you forced me to take a guess, id say the power/reset headers were put on wrong so the button on your chassis doesn't work/it appears like the system isn't getting power.

 

[eaglepi]

If you forced me to take a guess, id say the power/reset headers were put on wrong so the button on your chassis doesn't work/it appears like the system isn't getting power.

I tripled checked all of the front panel connections hey were all correct. Thanks for your thoughts

 

[EarthDog]

Next suggestion is to breadboard the system (build it outside of the chassis - on the motherboard box) and see if it works.

... do that with your new board, too, so at least you know it works before you take it apart to put that bracket on and put it in the case.

You said you're reusing your current case/where the old board was, right?

 

[eaglepi]

You said you're reusing your current case/where the old board was, right?

Yes that is correct

 

[eaglepi]

I've decided to replace the 3 HDD with SSD. The current HDD are 2TB drives and I order 3 2 TB SSD. I know to move the data on these drives I can use cloning software all the data is saved data NOT the OS, that is already on it's own SSD.

The HDD are not partitioned they are just big drives, I want to do the same thing with the SSD. other than cloning software I saw some docking stations that you put a source drive in one slot and a target drive in the target slot and press a button and the docking station clones the drive.

Does anyone have any pros and cons on the cloning software compared tot he docking stations ? or are there other ways to copy the data to the new drives as I read about cloning it erases the source drive after cloning it. I'd kind of like to keep the data on the source drives just so that I have the data in something would happen to the 3 new drives, I know I am anal about data storage, the odds of all 3 drives going bad id not going to happen BUT I would still rather copy each HDD to a SSD and not have the HDD erased.

 

[EarthDog]

If it's just data like you said, I drag and drop in explorer.

Once it's done, remove the HDDs out of the system. Just make sure there aren't any conflicts with sata ports and m.2 sockets (see manual for details) and it's really a drag and drop thing. Format the new SSDs, put the drive letter and label you want on them, and go to town.

What SSDs did you get, btw?

 

[eaglepi]

If it's just data like you said, I drag and drop in explorer.

Once it's done, remove the HDDs out of the system. Just make sure there aren't any conflicts with sata ports and m.2 sockets (see manual for details) and it's really a drag and drop thing. Format the new SSDs, put the drive letter and label you want on them, and go to town.

What SSDs did you get, btw?

I first thought of that but wasn't sure if that would take forever with the amount of data each drive has. Not sure if any other software would do it faster? when you think about it, the files are being moved or copied.

The drives I bought are these,

Amazon.com

 

[EarthDog]

If it was me..........

I would have used the 3 free M.2 slots (the Prime will have four total) and maybe 3x of these that are 10x faster than the SATA SSD and cheaper?

Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 M.2 2280 2TB PCIe Gen4 16GT/s, up to 4 Lanes Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) WDS200T3X0E - Newegg.com

Buy Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 M.2 2280 2TB PCIe Gen4 16GT/s, up to 4 Lanes Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) WDS200T3X0E with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

EDIT: I'm not sure if anything does it faster... I just copy -> paste in Explorer = Win. I don't "clone" data drives, typically, but save that for OS' because it captures all the partitions and garbage needed to boot the OS. Here, it's just data you're moving from one place to the next.

EDIT2: Since you bought four more of the same type drive (SATA), that's going to make moving things a bit more complicated because you can't connect everything all at once since that board has 4 SATA ports. It would be a slightly longer process (copy 2 at a time, disconnect two HDDs, then connect last HDD and final SSD for last copy).

 

[eaglepi]

I would have used the 3 free M.2 slots (the Prime will have four total) and maybe 3x of these that are 10x faster than the SATA SSD and cheaper?

Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 M.2 2280 2TB PCIe Gen4 16GT/s, up to 4 Lanes Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) WDS200T3X0E - Newegg.com

Buy Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 M.2 2280 2TB PCIe Gen4 16GT/s, up to 4 Lanes Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) WDS200T3X0E with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

EDIT: I'm not sure if anything does it faster... I just copy -> paste in Explorer = Win. I don't "clone" data drives, typically, but save that for OS' because it captures all the partitions and garbage needed to boot the OS. Here, it's just data you're moving from one place to the next.

EDIT2: Since you bought four more of the same type drive (SATA), that's going to make moving things a bit more complicated because you can't connect everything all at once since that board has 4 SATA ports. It would be a slightly longer process (copy 2 at a time, disconnect two HDDs, then connect last HDD and final SSD for last copy).

I came on to edit my signature and saw your post. I thought about using the m.2 slots but went with the SSD's They are fast and I liked the one I had for my OS so I got 3 more to replace the 3 HDD's I used for my redundant backup system. SATA's were not an issue as this board has 7 SATA ports.
As for transferring the files from the HDD's to the SDD's I used a program I already had called GoodSync, it took each drive about 20-30 minutes each , I thought that was fast.

When I got the replacement MB I setup a test system out of the case and it booted right up....should have done that the first time. I didn't use the CPU bracket, it was about $10 so no big loss. Now the fun of installing all my stuff NOT!!!....

Only issue I have now is my RAM isn't being read correctly it is only showing speed of 4800, I know that is common and I think it is just an setting in the bios but finding it should be fun, at least I knew Asus's Bios so now I'll be learning about MSI's bios.


I want to thank all of you who helped me, I know I didn't get what you guys might have but then again I didn't want someone to tell me what to buy and then build that system I wanted suggestions and with those I planned on doing my research and with all the suggestions and input I did the best I could building what I think is a good system and knowing that I chose good parts with the help of you guys. Even if I didn't get the exact parts you guys suggested it helped me get good quality parts. I know I was all over the place, at first wanted to save money them spent like I was rich.........lol I could have spent more but I think I got a great system for what I did spend. I'll get some back when I sell my old system which is a pretty good system for someone who isn't a gamer.

Once again thank you for all your help ( that goes for all who replied)

 

[EarthDog]

Only issue I have now is my RAM isn't being read correctly it is only showing speed of 4800, I know that is common and I think it is just an setting in the bios

Yep. You need to set the memory to that speed... enable XMP profile.

 

[eaglepi]

Yep. You need to set the memory to that speed... enable XMP profile.

Done !