Is it the power supply or me?

[blugirlami21]

I have been trying to do my first build for forever it seems and something always seems to be wrong. I have an Asus P4GE-MX motherboard, Intel pentium 4 processor. This particular motherboard unbeknownst to me when I bought my first power source needs the 20 pin plus 4 pin connector. I figured this out when it wouldn't power up.

I bought another power source and it works somewhat but it's too small to fit in the power supply slot so I had to buy yet another power source. I am attempting to install it right now but the motherboard won't power up. My manual says I need at least 230 volts in order for it to power up and while the sticker on the side of the power supply says 115/230 the switch on the back says 110/220. Is the voltage the problem? I plugged the smaller power supply back in and the motherboard lit up right away.

Do I need to buy another power supply, again?

[RickyTick]

First of all, +1 for using the word "unbeknownst". :)

Make sure you're not confusing volts and watts. Most (if not all) power supplies will run off of normal household 110 volt receptacles.

[blugirlami21]

I like to use big words, I guess lol. Funny thing is I plugged back in the very first power supply and the motherboard light lit up no problem. So now I'm not sure about anything. I have no idea what I am doing. I've started and stopped so many times I don't even know what I have going on in there. Should I start over? I feel like I have so much invested in this thing but it's not getting me anywhere. Would it be possible to hire someone to finish it? Would it be worth the cost? Any suggestions would be welcome.

[zburns]

We know what motherboard and cpu you have, but we do not know anything about the power supplies. Please look on the side label of each power supply and provide the (1) manufacturers name and (2) the mfgs part number or cat number -- to locate a particular power supply, the 'catalog number' with the mfg name are the two required items. Once we see the actual specs of the psu (s) you presently have, we can start to make some sense out of 'what you are dealing with'. Thanks!!

(I should not have even mentioned the words 'part number' - really have to have the cat #) (However, if the cat # does not seem to exist, and it appears a part # is all you have, then provide it, but be clear about the absense of the words 'cat #).

If one or more of your psus are from a OEM manufacturer like Dell or HP, then the specs are probably not disclosed, minimally disclosed, etc..

[RickyTick]

I'm not sure I understand why your building a pc using that motherboard and cpu. Is this some kind of "retro" build?

[ARchamps]

Did you plug in both the 20+4 pin AND the 4 pin? It usually needs both. More information is needed on the parts to assist better!

[blugirlami21]

I bought this motherboard years and years ago when I didn't know anything and I bought everything else to work with that particular motherboard so I kind of feel like I'm stuck with it? The power supply came with the case. I'll list the specs:

Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1163901&CatId=1142
Case & Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144224
Fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119077
CPU: http://ark.intel.com/products/27447/Intel-Pentium-4-Processor-2_80-GHz-512K-Cache-533-MHz-FSB
Hard Drive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3554367&CatId=524
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141166
Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161153

Hope that helps. I hope everything is compatible.

I do have the 4 pin connector hooked up and I think I probably just need to hook everything else to the motherboard, I haven't been totally certain of what hooks up to what. I had a couple of set backs, I think I pulled a wire out of the case fan by accident, so I'm not sure that is even going to work now and the cpu fan was always too small and the legs broke off of that, so I had to order a new one. As soon as that comes I'll try to get back into it.