I'm new to building PCs and I have a Gigabyte B850 GAMING WIFI6 ATX AM5 motherboard paired with an MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Fully Modular ATX power supply. Can anyone with the same setup guide me on which cables I need to connect? I followed a video, but I'm left with a few cables that I'm unsure about. I figured I definitely need to use the PCIe cable since it's mentioned in the power supply's name, but I'm not certain about the others. The manual provided only has a few unlabeled pictures, making it pretty confusing for a beginner.
3 Answers
You'll definitely need the big 24-pin cable to power the motherboard. Also, don't forget the 4+4 CPU power cable, which might be labeled as CPU or EPS at the ends. That's basically all you need for power. If you're using AIO liquid cooling or a fan controller, you'll need an extra SATA power cable, but those usually have multiple connectors, so you can share one for several devices. Just unplug any extra cables from your modular PSU that you're not using.
You're good with the 24-pin and whatever CPU cables fit! Don't stress too much about the unused cables; modular PSUs let you unplug the extras, so only connect what you need. About the PCIe cable, it’s mainly for graphics cards, so it’s fine if it’s not used. If you're not getting into the BIOS after hitting , it could be related to having no GPU. Just keep an eye on your power connections!
It sounds like you're on the right track! Just make sure you've got the 24-pin and the appropriate CPU cables connected. If your power supply has multiple CPU connectors, that's perfect! As for the PCIe cable, that's used for your GPU, so it's okay to leave it out if your GPU isn't installed yet. Also, if you're booting up without the GPU and just seeing the BIOS screen, that’s normal. Just press to enter setup – if it doesn’t respond, double-check your connections.
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