Using 24 pin to 6 pin adapter on N70-130 - system stays powered after shutdown, CMOS errors

I got an N70-130 motherboard from used market, tried to power it with an off the shell 24pin ATX PSU and a 24pin to 6pin adapter specific to acer's pinout. It kind of worked.

Aside from 12V and GND, the adapter just shorts PS-On to GND which makes the PSU permanently on.

I could power on the system, get into OS, play games and have all the peripherals working. But there are problems:

even when the system is completely shut down, it still draws ~17W. And the CPU fan still spins and the GPU stays warm.
If I pull the plug at the previously mentioned "system shutdown but still draws power" state, when I plug it back in and power on again, it says "CMOS checksum error or CMOS battery loss" and all bios settings reverts to default.

I wonder it these problems are because of the janky PSU cable adapter or signs of a faulty motherboard or other issues. Is there a way to find out without acquiring an "original" PSU?

Looking at photos of Acer PSUs online I see they are labeled as "switching power supply". But the 6 pin connector doesn't seem to distinguish between switching 12V and standby 12V.

I've read posts like this :

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1297622#Comment_1297622

which confirms the adapter I used got the right pinout but it doesn't solve the problems I have.

Accepted answers

physicsme

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1351625#Comment_1351625

I seem to have figured it out.

Short answer: cut the green wire on the 24pin to 6 pin adapter cable, and everything works fine now.

Long answer: It seems that the motherboard doesn't like its PS-ON pin being shorted to ground all the time. I don't know why but this seems to be the one thing that prevents the system from fully shutting down.

After cutting the green wire which connects the motherboard PS-ON pin to the PSU side (but keeping the PSU's PS-ON pin grounded so the PSU is always on), the system acts all normal. After shutting down the CPU and chasis fans no longer spin and system no longer draws ~17W but a far more reasonable ~2W now, which is because of the PSU is always running.

I don't know if there is a way to make the PSU switch off and only have its standby rail active. I don't think the motherboard has a pin to receive +12VSB. 2W when shut down is good enough for me at the moment.

All comments

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/728154/questions-about-using-the-n70-130-motherboard-with-a-third-party-psu

Your Nitro N70-130 desktop comes oem from Acer with a 750W PSU and an RTX4070 gpu, why do you want to upgrade the PSU, as the Acer specs is what the Nitro N70-130 is designed for, upgrading this basic mobo will not give much more performance, the Acer quoted ram limit is 32GB at 2x 16GB DDR5-5200MT/s for this Ryzen 7 7900 cpu desktop.

The Nitro N70-130 has an 8pin main power plug and a 4 pin power plug (see mobo diagram below) where are you getting the 6pin from? As you need to buy a Power Supply Adapter Cable for Motherboards, 10.6" 24-Pin to 8-Pin 18AWG if you want to upgrade the oem 750W PSU to a higher wattage PSU (I suggest a modular one) to be able to upgrade to a higher spec gpu card, as your Nitro N70-130 desktop as this desktop is very well equipped oem from Acer, and with these prebuilt desktops, you would be much better off not spending money on upgrading and buying a higher spec desktop for gaming. Good luck and hope this helps you out.

Nitro desktop model N70-130 mobo

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

physicsme

This is the board I got. The connector on the top left is a 12v EPS, the one on the right I believe is for motherboard power.

physicsme

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1351614#Comment_1351614

This is the board I have. I'm guessing port 1 is a 12v EPS because of its position near the CPU socket. And port 2 for motherboard power because acer often uses 6 pin for motherboard power connector.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1351622#Comment_1351622

We don't have much information on the N70-130 desktop and its power mobo plugs in detail, we only have the Nitro Desktop N70-130 - Lifecycle Ext. Guide_Acer_1.0_A_A which has the mobo diagram above, so I cant tell you 100% what the 8pin plug is, but it is described as a power plug and there is a24pin to 8pin adapter cable so that you can attach it to a new PSU, seeing that the 6pin to 24pin adapter cable doesn't work, so try the one that I've given you above as its specifically titled as a power adapter cable and pretty cheap also.

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

physicsme

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1351625#Comment_1351625

Then the life extension guide is not very helpful and might be hazardous.

I read the document and see one of the photos in there showing the power plug near the ram slots has 6 pins not 4. Yet the document says its a "4pin" connector.

The 8pin adapter you suggested would short the 12v rail of the PSU to ground if connected to a EPS 12V socket.

physicsme

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1351614#Comment_1351614

The 24 to 8 pin adapter you showed looks like a dell optiplex pinout.

This is the 12v EPS:

I'm sure you can see why I'm worried about "shorting 12v to ground" here.

physicsme

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1351625#Comment_1351625

I seem to have figured it out.

Short answer: cut the green wire on the 24pin to 6 pin adapter cable, and everything works fine now.

Long answer: It seems that the motherboard doesn't like its PS-ON pin being shorted to ground all the time. I don't know why but this seems to be the one thing that prevents the system from fully shutting down.

After cutting the green wire which connects the motherboard PS-ON pin to the PSU side (but keeping the PSU's PS-ON pin grounded so the PSU is always on), the system acts all normal. After shutting down the CPU and chasis fans no longer spin and system no longer draws ~17W but a far more reasonable ~2W now, which is because of the PSU is always running.

I don't know if there is a way to make the PSU switch off and only have its standby rail active. I don't think the motherboard has a pin to receive +12VSB. 2W when shut down is good enough for me at the moment.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1352403#Comment_1352403

That is all well and good, but for electrical safety and to restrict a fire hazard Acer released this desktop with an oem 750W PSU in the Nitro N70-130-UR13 desktop, enquire with Acer Australia and see if they can get you one.

The 750W PSU is the Acer part #: DC.7501B.001 - Acer POWER SUPPLY.750W.12+4pin.LITEON, its from Europe priced at €115,64 and enquire if they will deliver this to Australia, as its a better way of doing things, as the Acer released Nitro N70-130-UR13 desktop came oem with the Maximum Power Supply Wattage 750W which is made for this desktop.

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 270

StevenGen 115

poooooooooop69 60

GR08 57

GAMING6698 45

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™