SOLVED MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard help needed

[brkkab123]

I received my MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard & 8 gb. DDr3 ram kit of G-Skills Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL on Thursday from Newegg. Thursday night I put everything together and I'm not getting any power at all now. I have a few questions I need help with. #1) Do I have to use the SATA cables that came with the board ?#2) The SATA ports in the manual are laid out as the top 2 being 1 & 2. Is this a misprint in the manual ? Thats where I have my 2 WD Cavair Black 1.0 TB. hard drives hooked. My 2 Samsung SH-S223C DVD-RW's are in the middle SATA Ports #3 & 4. My Radeon HD5770 is in the top PCIe port. My WinTV HVR-1850 tv turer is in PCIe slot 3. The ram is in the Black ram slots closest to the cpu. I've double and triple checked and all wires are connected fully and correctly in my NZXT Tempest EVO case. I also know my Corsair TX-750W power supply is powerful enough for this configuration. Did I miss anything or is the motherboard or ram defective ?

 

[Nibiru2012]

Are you sure the RAM sticks are the issue here?

Did you consult the motherboard manual for any help?

Did you double-check the power cable connections and the front panel switch wire connections on the motherboard? If the switch connections are not connected properly it won't power up, check the + and - positions. Usually it's the white wires on front panel connections that are the negative side.

SATA cables are basically universal, you may use the ones you got with the motherboard or ones you already have.

First your MSI manual states to put only one stick of RAM in first to get the system to boot up the first time. You'll notice there are two sets of colored DIMM RAM slots; 2 black and 2 blue. If I'm not mistaken that denotes the two channels of DDR3 RAM (Dual Data RAM 3). Black is channel one and Blue is channel two. Once you get the system up and running, put one stick in slot #1 and the other in slot #3, or the first black slot and the first blue slot. Verify by observing the DDR RAM LED lights on the motherboard, both should be lit if both channels are activated. If not try it the other way.
(Personal Note: MSI motherboard manuals are not VERY precise about the RAM installation, one of the worst I've seen. Gigabyte and ASUS are much more informative and concise.)

Have only one hard drive plugged in at first till you get the OS installed and things are running as expected. Windows 7 is very persnickety about having other hard drives hooked up during the install process. Connect the drive you want to install the OS on to SATA port #1, your other drive you can later hook up to SATA port #2. Hook up your DVD optical drives to the LAST TWO SATA ports numbered #5 & #6. This the common accepted practice for optical drive connections in SATA configuration.

DOUBLE-CHECK ALL switch connections. Have only ONE stick of RAM inserted in the first black DIMM RAM slot and then try to boot it up. Also be sure the CPU cooler fan power sensing plug is correctly plugged into it's respective connection. If the motherboard senses a bad connection there, it will not power up.

Be sure all power supply connections are firmly seated and also that the RAM stick is firmly seated too.

Your video card is in the correct slot so no worries there. DON'T MOUNT any other PCI-E cards until you have powered it up and have the OS installed, then you can mount the TV tuner card and plug in the other hard drive.

Be sure that the MSI OC button is not engaged also.
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Regardless of whatever you do, READ the manual, then re-read it and the read it again. Don't assume anything regarding when you're doing a new build, especially with an unfamiliar motherboard model and/or brand.

I've been there and it can be frustrating to the extreme. Be patient and take it as baby steps and you should be good to go. Remember to only have the bare minimum parts mounted until you're comfortable with how things are working.

~Nibs

 

[brkkab123]

SOLVED.This is by all means a strange one. SATA ports 1 & 2 are the top ports. That's where I had my hard drives plugged into. For the hell of it last night, I plugged both in ports 5 & 6 at bottom and it worked. I booted into the bios and it said they were plugged into ports 5 & 6. I shut it down and unplugged everything and plugged them back into ports 1 & 2. Guess what ? I'm replyinh from my pc with the new mobo/ram.All I have left to do is tweak Operas about config, download Firefox addons/ tweak about:config and setup FeedDemon. That'll have to wait until later I already spent 24 straight hours installing, updating and tweaking.

 

[catilley1092]

How does that Magic Jack do for you? I noticed it in your specs, do you need a headset for it to work? Sound quality good?

Looks like a good deal for the price, $20 per year phone service, unlimited long distance. I may buy one myself within the next couple of months, satisfaction is guaranteed.

I know that you're relieved that you got that computer going, now go and get your self some much deserved rest. When you get through, upload us some pics. This is how I'm doing my next, too. You get a helluva lot more PC for the dollar spent, and being the OEM, you can pick out what parts that you want, and leave the "crapware" off of it.

I've seen a few kits where you don't need as much as a screwdriver to assemble them. But I do want things to be sturdy, I'm not that lazy. Some additions, some tools will be needed. I'll find out when this PC is getting shot, hopefully by then, some of those 128 bit PC's will be out there.

Hope to see it finished soon.

Cat

 

[brkkab123]

No headset needed. It's like a USB 2.0 cable with a modem for a phone to plug intoThe magicJack's pretty good definitely worth the price. I need a faster internet connection though. AT&T's dsl is slow. Therefore if I'm using it, I can't do any web surfing at the same time. Cat in case you didn't know you can get a free Safelink cell phone if your on Medicare and Medicaid.If you do get a Safelink phone. I'd skip the free 250 minute monthly plan and go for the free 128 minute plan. The to lower tier plans are a little better actually. If you choose the 250 minute plan at the end of the month whatever minutes left are taken away. the 64 minute and 128 minutes accumulate from month to month.I got the 128 minute one as the only time I truly need it is when I have doctor appointments, for calling my brother or a cab for a ride from the bus stop. No camera my old one the screen stopped working on it. My desk is on it's last leg. I've got one in the garage my brother found for me. I just have to track down a weird shaped screwdriver to take the legs of it, so it'll fit through the door. My brotheer recycles medal and he's found at least 25 computers that I either fix for him or tear em apart. It all depends on the age.

 

[catilley1092]

I'll have to check on that Safelink phone. Right now, I have a TracFone (double minutes built in) for my limited usage, every 3 months I buy a 60 minutes card for $19.99, if I wait until they send me a 5 day notice to add time or lose it all, I add a 60 minute card, and get 140 minutes (60 Minutes + 60 Double Minutes + 20 Minutes Bonus). And I can carry it over, right now, I have 135 minutes left over from adding my last card in January.

Cat

 

[brkkab123]

Yeah Cat they'll only sen you one if you have Medicaid along with Medicare as your state pays for the phone and minutes. After you sign up for it your state will ask for a copy of your Social Security income. Just make a copy of the form you recieve from Social Security stating what your benefit amount is for the current year. I blieve I get that in December. Just mail a copy of that and a phone gets mailed to you. Just go to this link and click Enroll at the top. Make sure you examine the benefits of each of 3 different minute plans. In my opinion the middle 120+ minutes has better options than the 250 minute plan. https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/home.aspx

 

[catilley1092]

Thanks for taking the time to describe this to me, but I don't qualify for any extra help at all. Not even on my prescription benefits, once I hit $2,840, I pay 100% until I get out of the gap, commonly known as the "donut hole". In fact, I'm already there. I have to save $300 every month so that I can have it for the next year's prescriptions. This is why my med expenses are $500 per month, because I have to save for next year, then the cycle repeats itself.

The good thing is, come June, I'll only pay $30 per brand, $5 for generic for the rest of the year, no matter how much my costs are. Hopefully the "donut" will be gone within the next few years, that was part of the health care bill passed last year.

Cat

 

[brkkab123]

Cat. Basically all that Medicaid does is pay your Medicare Part B monthly fee that get's taken out of your Social Security check monthly. As far as Medicaid covering presciptions if you're on Social Security. That one's a whole new can of Governmental b.s. if you know what I mean. Basically the only way they cover presciptions with having Social Security/Medicare is if you physically pay out in cash about $100.00 more a month than what Social Security actually gives you a month. Basically the only thing good about Medicaid is that it pays the $90+ monthly Medicare part B premium, which is the part that cover's doctor's visits.So, if you do sign up for it, when it takes effect you'll get a bigger SSI or SSD check monthly. You just have to re-apply either every 6 month's or year. It depends on how your state has there's set up.

 

[catilley1092]

I draw too large of a check to qualify for this, plus my spouse draws too. Combined, we draw nearly $30,000 per year. The cutoff for any assistance (in NC) is a little over $1,500 monthly for a couple.

Now, some may say that $30,000 is a wad of cash, but that's less than half of what I was earning myself when I was working, and at least $7,000 of that goes towards health care for both of us. Adding up the necessities, living on slightly less than $2,000 per month, it's not a piece of cake, but we're making it.

This is why it takes me so long to save for everything, but I manage. $25 here, $50 there, I know how to live within my means, and stash a little monthly for when we need (or want) something. That's why I was asking about the Magic Jack, my ISP speed is adequate for it to run, I tested it on the site.

After the initial cost, $20 per year for phone service looks good. Too, where we live, blanket internet coverage is being considered for downtown (where I live), that would save me another $35 per month. Where I lived before, I used public wi-fi for 2 years, with no issues. But if it happens for us here, there's a couple of extra precautions that I want to take, one is sending encrypted packets of data, rather than open ones. I believe it's called a VPN, or something to that effect. That keeps "coffee shop" internet users from seeing (or snooping at) what you're doing on your notebook.

Show us some pics of that computer, I can't wait to see it.

Cat

 

[Nibiru2012]

Cat and brkkab123 - this has gotten way off topic now. If you want you may continue in another new topic posting in an area such as "Off Topic Discussion" or whatever.

I am closing this thread now.

Thanks for understanding.
~Nibs