First build noob question thread

[macgamesrule]

Hey I'm building my first rig today, and I'll probably have a number of questions as I go. Didn't know where else to post this, but it's an Athlon system, so I put it here.

First question: I assume if my motherboard connector coming off the PSU only has 23 wires rather than 24 it's defective? It's missing a wire going to the #18 pin, labeled "COM"

 

[FarFarAway]

Yep sure sounds like it mate - I'm pretty sure NF4 should have 24pins

 

[catch22]

My motherboard power connector has only 20 wires (in rows of 10) and then the Pentium 4 power connector has another 4 wires. Maybee I'm missing something here?

 

[FarFarAway]

Yep - the NForce 4 and newer than ATX 2.0 PSU's have 24pin connectors AND 4pin CPUpower connectors mate - certainly not 23

 

[JN]

I do recall seeing a PSU that only had 23 wires connected on a 24-pin plug not so long ago :-/

 

[macgamesrule]

Well I can't find any mention on Google of why a pin should be left out. I have another comp sitting around (not working right now, I'll get to it after I build mine), and it has all 20 pins on the connector filled with wires. I'm going to RMA the Enermax ... Guess I'm back to twiddling my thumbs for a week & checking the UPS tracking status every 10 minutes

 

[mrbeef]

ive seen 24 pin psus with wires missing from the connector blocks there normally grounds it doesnt seem to make any different in the slow pcs ive built with them

 

[Dav0s]

looks like 18 is a ground, you should be fine