ASRock Z87 Extreme4 DOA?

[DingleBerry]

Hi there TweakTown!

An ASRock z87 Extreme4 ATX motherboard I recently ordered arrived today, and with this being the first component to my new build (after my case!) I have ordered, I decided to try it with some older ATX PSU's I have lying around. Both of the PSU's are completely functional, and boot up other machines perfectly fine. With them being pretty old, they only deal 250W each (ouch!). Being very careful to avoid damaging the board, I followed the manual closely to connect both the main 24-pin supply into the motherboard and the 4-pin 12V supply into the socket nearest the CPU. The socket has 8 pins, but the manual also claims support for the 4-pin 12V male connector I have, so I figured I was all set.

When I have only the PSU's two main supplies attached to the motherboard, and nothing else (not even a CPU), the motherboard gives no light at the on-board power LED present in the lower-right corner of the motherboard. It also refuses to turn on by shorting the power leads or by pressing this hardware button. I've also tried resetting the CMOS by moving the short as the manual instructs.

At this point I feel my old PSU's may not be able to deliver enough power to the motherboard -- however, I would expect the indicator LED to still light regardless of their potential. Does anyone know what this motherboard requires of a PSU to show even the power indicator?

I've also been extremely careful in handling this piece of equipment, and I'm positive no static discharge has harmed the device (at least from what I could tell when I was handling it). No CPU pins or other leads on the motherboard are bent or missing, and I've followed the manual's instructions since I first received the board. Additionally, contacting ASRock support got me a useful list of tasks to perform to diagnose the board, none of which made even the power LED indicate the board was receiving current.

Am I missing something, or is my PSU possibly bad?

[parsec]

Re: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 DOA?

Short answer, don't worry about it.

Yes you are missing something, a CPU and memory. You can't expect a "virgin" board to respond at all with no brain (CPU and memory), and it is not uncommon for a board that has not been powered up and operating (with a CPU and memory) to not have its power LED light up. The LED may not come on with a fully populated board when power has been removed for a while, such as when you worked on it, until it is turned on via the PC's power switch.

You cannot start your board without a CPU and memory, what is running all its systems? ASUS has a few boards with a special chip that allows that to happen, but that is the exception.

There is zero chance an empty board needs more than 250W of power to function. My fully operating ASR Z87 EX 6 board will not even draw 60W from the AC outlet at idle, and that includes the monitor, and two other PCs shutdown, but with their PSUs on. Which means the PC is using less than 60W to operate.

Also, once the PC is actually running with a CPU, memory, etc, the simple watt rating of a PSU does not tell us enough about it to know if it will function with all your hardware. Older PSUs have more power on the 3.3V and 5V rails than the 12V rail, as that was what was needed at the time. Now the 12V rail is the most important, the 5V next, and the 3.3V the least important.

You are no where near being able to declare your board being DOA, any board's operation without a CPU and memory is just random if it does anything.