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dankyle67

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new corsair power supply wont turn on when connected to graphics card

Hi, my son built his own pc a few months ago and recently the pc wouldnt turn on so tested power supply and found out it wasnt working so got a new corsair 750w power supply which when i hooked it up powers on all 3 fans including cpu and it stays on until i connect it to the radeon r9 290 graphics card using the 6+2 pci-e cable but i think its not connected properly which is why the power supply wont turn on since it detects the incorrect connection.  It uses pci 3.0 connection and when i attempted to connect from the power supply, there are 4 female connections on graphics card left unconnected so i think this is part of the problem.  Any ideas?  Thanks
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dankyle67

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Also, just saw on the box of graphics card that it requires one 150w 8-pin pci express connector and one 75w 6-pin pci express power connector recommended.
The PCIe 3.0 spec is a motherboard spec and not really related to the power supply or connectors. Take a look at this link and see if it help.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1932114/radeon-290-power-supply.html
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Are you connecting cables to both of the connectors on the graphics card?    That card has a very high power requirement ... which is why it needs two additional power connections besides the PCIe bus power.
... also, what's the model # of the Corsair unit?    Their HX and AX series are excellent power supplies; but the low-end CX series can be problematic with high-end systems.
The model of corsair is cx750m so do you think i need to replace it with hx or ax series and would you advise on 850w or is 750w ok as long as hx or ax series?  What does hx and ax mean?
750W is more than enough but you shouldn't have any connectors left. You need to fully populate the 3x2 and 4x2 connectors on the card. Did you take a look at the link I posted?
yes looked at link so will try again making sure to fully populate connectors.
Before replacing it, be sure you're using 2 of the PCI-e power cables for the graphics card.

The CX series is simply their low-end unit, and I've seen cases where these have been unreliable with high-end systems.    I always tend to use HX or AX series units, although the newer RMx series also has a good reputation.    r.e. "... What does hx and ax mean? "  => They don't really "mean" anything; they're just the designators for their higher-end units.    The CX series are the bottom-of-the-line ... and clearly there are design and quality compromises that allow them to be so inexpensive.
There is one connection coming from the power supply labeled 6+2 pci-e and underneath that another one labeled 4+4 cpu so i have a feeling that the problem is there needs to be a 2nd connection labeled 6+2 pci-e which would be the 2nd connection to the graphics card and possibly this model corsair doesnt have that 2nd pci-e connection.  Does this sound right or does this model cx 750m have another connection that will work as the 2nd connection to graphics card?
That would be correct. You would need two 6+2 pci-e connectors. According to the specs on Newegg it is suppose to have four. It also appears modular. Are there more 6+2 pci-e cables in the box?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139051
I have extra 6+2 cables but are you saying that from the specs, this corsair model has more than 1 6+2 connection on the power supply itself?  I see another connection on it that says pci and has 4+2 connections so do you think maybe these are the other 3 which makes up the 4 pci connections?  So the cpu 4+4 connection on power supply is that needed?  The cpu fan seems to be working already.
I will take another look at it but it sure should have more then one 6+2. The 4x4 is CPU but I would think you could use 4+2 to populate the 6-pin socket and the 6x2 to populate the 8-pin socket. Let me see if I can find more out about that power supply.
The 4+4 EPS connector for the CPU should be connected to the motherboard -- is that not the case?    If so, that's almost certainly the reason you're having issues !!    This has nothing to do with the CPU fan spinning -- but a LOT to do with whether or not the CPU is getting adequate power.

There are two versions of the 750w CX series PSU -- one non-modular; one modular.    Both should have 4 PCI-e connectors, and you need to use TWO of these for your graphics card.    If you have the modular version of the power supply, you may need to plug in an additional PCIe connector to use.

If your CPU auxiliary connector (the 4+4 connector ... also know as an EPS connection)  is not plugged in to the motherboard, look carefully to see where it goes.    Some boards only use 4 pins (that's why it's "splittable").    What's the make/model of the motherboard??
You would think that information would be readily available but it isn't. It says it has two PCIe connectors but I can't even find a good picture of it. I would say try the 4+2 and the 6+2 and see if that does the trick.
The 4+2 labeled cpu i tried already connecting to graphics card and doesnt work.  Why do the other 4 pci/sata connectors all have 3+2 connectors and these are labeled pci but not pci-e but are you saying they all work as pci-e also?
The atx 24pin connection from the power unit which is attached directly to power supply and the 2nd cable directly attached to it is connected to cpu so are you saying that the 4+4 connection labeled cpu should also be connected to another connection on the motherboard?  And what would it be called on the motherboard?
As a rule there is only one 2x2 power supply connection on the motherboard. If you have two physical CPUs or in some cases (special instances) you will have 2 (2x2)  CPU connectors on the motherboard right next to each other whick really makes it a 4x2 connector. So most power supplier manufactures will give you a 4x2 CPU connector that comes apart so you can only use one half on motherboards that have only one 2x2 CPU connector.
"... The atx 24pin connection from the power unit which is attached directly to power supply and the 2nd cable directly attached to it is connected to cpu " ==>  Not sure what you're referring to here.    There's likely a 20+4 connector for the ATX connection (so it can be used with older boards with 20-pin ATX sockets).     This supply isn't designed for dual CPU boards, so it's unlikely it has both an EPS (4+4 connector for aux CPU power) and an additional CPU connector.

Post the make/model of the motherboard and we can confirm exactly where you should plug in the auxiliary power connection.

In any event, you should definitely connection two PCIe power connections to the graphics card.   [These should all be 6+2 connectors labeled PCIe => since you have the modular version of the supply you may need to plug in a 2nd one]
I think you are OK on the motherboard. It gets a little confusing. "The atx 24pin connection from the power unit which is attached directly to power supply and the 2nd cable directly attached to it is connected to cpu". The "2nd cable directly attached to it"? What  do you mean "attached directly to it"?

It sound like that is the part that turns in in to a 24-pin ATX connector to the motherboard. The 24-pin ATX connector on the motherboard is completely populated isn't it?
"... I think you are OK on the motherboard ..."  => If there's an unconnected 4+4 CPU power connector then this is almost certainly NOT true.     While there are some older AMD boards that didn't require the CPU aux power connection, ALL modern boards absolutely have an auxiliary power connection for the CPU (some are 4-pin, some are 8 -- which is why it's a 4+4 connector).
Not necessarily. Power supply manufacturers put on extra an extra 2x2 CPU connector just in case a second one is needed. If it is just a single CPU and in turn just a single 2x2 motherboard connector the second 2x2 will be hanging (not connected). A 4+4 is nothing more than two 2x2. Most motherboards only take a single 2x2 which would leave the second 2x2 hanging. There should not be a free 4+4.
Ok so there are 2 and only 2 directly attached cables coming from the power unit and one is the 24pin which is the standard connection to the motherboard and the 2nd cable is connected to motherboard cpu connection.  To be clear, are you saying that the 4+4 cpu connection from the power supply must be connected to an additional or auxiliary connection on the motherboard to properly work?  The motherboard is an  msi z97 pc mate.  What if by slight chance the graphics card is damaged and that's why it wont start up?  Just a thought but probably unlikely since its only few months old.
A diagram of the board shows the CPU connector to be 8-pin. Can you confirm? If that is the case then you want to use the 4+4 cpu connection form the power supply. The CPU power connector and the ATX power connector on the motherboard should be fully populated.
Yes the cpu connector is 8-pin.  So I have connection from power supply labeled 6+2 and it has 4x2 connector coming from it so a bit confused on terminology.  Is 6+2 mean same as 6x2 since i thought 6+2 means 2 sets of 3pins totaling 6 in all.  Trying to confirm which pins come from power source and which pins go to graphics card.  Graphics card has 2 sets of connections.  One is 2 sets of 3  totaling 6pins and other is 2 sets of 4 totaling 8.  And can you confirm if the pci connections from power supply all have 2 sets of 3 totaling 6pins with the one labeled pci-e having 2 sets of 4 totaling 8pins.  I just wanna make sure that the connections can only go one way from power supply to graphics card.
My understanding (and it might not be correct) is when you say 4x2 you are explicitly defining the pin configuration. It is 4 pins by 2 pins. When you use a + as in 6+2 it means you have a 6-pin part and and additional 2 pins not physically attached to the first 6. It doesn't really tell you what configuration the 6 are in (it could b 2x3 or 1x6).

So... the power supply on the motherboard should be 4+4 meaning two 4-pin connectors (each connector is 2x2).

The card has a 6-pin and a 8-pin which means you need to populate the six-pin socket with a 4+2 and the 8-pin socket with a 6+2.

I would welcome any input as to my understanding.....
The other point i wanna point out is that when i disconnect the graphics card from power supply, the cpu and motherboard fans all stay on but once i connect the graphics card, the cpu and power supply fan spin for 1 second then turns off.  Would connecting the graphics card cause this behaviour if the graphics card is simply not getting enough power?
Also, i have connection from psu 8pin and into one of the connections on graphics card the 6+2 totaling 8pins.  This leaves me with a remaining 6pin connection unpopulated on grahics card so when i look at remaining connections from psu there are 4 connections that each have 6pin connectors and the 4+4 or 8pin connection labeled cpu so are you saying i have to use the 8pin labeled cpu or one of the 4 6pin connectors?
We seem to be looping. The 4+4 labeled CPU needs to go on the motherboard in the 8-pin CPU connector. Until you do that there is no telling what is going to happen or why.

I thought you said you has a 4+2 PCIe connector. That should go to the video card. If you don't have a 4+2 PCIe connector coming out of the PSU what do you have coming out of the PSU that is labeled PCIe?
From the psu there are 2 connectors that are directly attached that connect to motherboard.  The 24pin atx connection and the other to the cpu but the 4+4 labeled cpu on psu is currently not connected to cpu connection on motherboard since that is being used by direct connection to psu so are you saying i should disconnect the current 8pin connection to cpu and use the 4+4 cpu connector from psu?
The 2nd cable coming from psu is labeled cpu so doesnt make sense to disconnect this and use the modular cable connection to go from 4+4 cpu label to 8pin cpu connection on motherboard.
OK. There seems to be a little confusion as to what was plugged in to the motherboard for the CPU power. I don't see it referred  to up above as 8-pin. As long as it is 8-pin and labeled CPU that is all that is important. It just surprises me that they would give you two 8-pin CPU connectors.

So did you find another 6-pin labeled PCIe?
The modular cable connection coming from the psu is labeled 6+2 pci-e and the connection on the psu is an 8pin one while the other side connecting to graphics card is 6+2.  What im trying to find out is if im supposed to use one of the 6pin connectors from psu which are labeled pci/sata and not pci-e however i looked at the specs for psu and it says it comes with 4 pci-e cables so since there are 4 connections coming from psu i would assume its one of these however the cables dont fit into 6pin connectors unless i turn them around and use the side that has 2 6+2 pin connections.
Your power supply only has ONE aux power connector for the CPU ... so if it's not connected to the CPU power connection then you have the WRONG connection to that => which can easily explain why things are working correctly.    Hopefully you haven't damaged anything ... but it's certainly possible.

You MUST use the CORRECT power connectors for everything or you could easily "fry" the motherboard, video card, or both.

FIRST get the proper connection to the CPU connector.   You might also want to remove the video card and use the on-chip video (assuming you're using a CPU that has video) just to confirm the basic system is working okay.

Then put the video card back in and be CERTAIN you've connected two of the PCIe power connectors to it.   These will be 6+2 connectors ... designed to connect to either 6-pin or 8-pin power sockets on PCIe video cards.
"... The modular cable connection coming from the psu is labeled 6+2 pci-e and the connection on the psu is an 8pin one while the other side connecting to graphics card is 6+2.  What im trying to find out is if im supposed to use one of the 6pin connectors from psu which are labeled pci/sata and not pci-e however i looked at the specs for psu and it says it comes with 4 pci-e cables so since there are 4 connections coming from psu i would assume its one of these however the cables dont fit into 6pin connectors unless i turn them around and use the side that has 2 6+2 pin connections.  "

You are clearly NOT connecting things correctly.     EVERY cable has an end designed to plug into the modular power supply, which you MUST plug into the correct set of pins [These should be labeled for the different uses] ... and THEN you plug the other end into the location it's designed for [CPU aux;  PCIe card;  SATA device; molex device; etc.]     It might have been better if you bought the non-modular version of the power supply :-)

In any event, look CAREFULLY at the set of cables you have for the power supply, and be sure you have TWO of the PCIe cables and the CPU aux cable connected correctly into the power supply => then connect them to the card and the motherboard CPU socket.

Then you can connect as many of the SATA cables as you need to power your disks/optical drives; and if you need any molex connectors you'll also need to plug in one of the molex cables => again, be CERTAIN you've plugged these into the proper location on the power supply.    Leave any power cables you don't need unconnected [That's the whole idea of a modular supply -- so you don't have a bunch of unneeded cables occupying space in the PC.
I think you've figured this out already, but HERE is where the CPU aux connector goes ...

User generated image
can you confirm that the aux cpu connector coming from the psu is labeled 4+4 cpu and is the modular cable going into 8pin cpu motherboard connector as you displayed?  Are you saying that the onboard cable labeled cpu coming from psu should not be used and instead the modular aux connection should be used and is the one labeled 4+4 cpu coming from psu?  Seems like both of you are saying 2 different things since one of you said to use the 4+4 and then changed it to not use the 4+4 modular and to use the onboard connection labeled cpu coming from psu.  I have never yet connected the 4+4 cpu aux since it doesnt seem to fit properly onto motherboard and didnt wanna force it.
It would definitely be labeled 4+4 CPU. Now you have me confused. You said you had two 8-pin connectors both of which were labeled CPU? I thought it was a little odd that a PSU mfg would give you two 8-pin CPU connectors. I don't think we have switched gears. I have seen it both ways but the most common is a 4+4 for the CPU. I don't know where this 8-pin CPU is coming from unless it is the side that plugs in to the power supply.

   If you have a 4+4 (2 four pin connectors side by side) and it is marked CPU I would plug that in to the motherboard. Look at this guide. It shows you a 4+4:

https://www.google.com/search?q=power+supply+connector+guide&sa=X&espv=2&biw=1152&bih=739&tbm=isch&imgil=JtgMPV-PPxlLcM%253A%253B_uSVpWCG4BDq1M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.pearsonitcertification.com%25252Farticles%25252Farticle.aspx%25253Fp%2525253D1945640&source=iu&pf=m&fir=JtgMPV-PPxlLcM%253A%252C_uSVpWCG4BDq1M%252C_&usg=__QEXA-3XwlL8qxQ0MJd8N0hqrtAg%3D&dpr=1&ved=0ahUKEwj2p-WR6t_MAhVh4IMKHSScBzMQyjcILg&ei=jGI6V_axEuHAjwSkuJ6YAw#imgrc=6KblVqoHto4QeM%3A
If you have a spart phone a pucture of the power supply, where the modular cables plug in, and a picture of both 8-pin cables marked CPU would be a big help.
I kind of have to bad mouth Corsair a little bit. Ever since this question started I have been trying to find a manual, pictures, cable list, etc. for the CX750M and there aren't any. That doesn't say much for Corsair. It "looks like" the connectors going in to the power supply are either fixed 6-pin or fixed 8-pin. On the power supply itself is one of the spots for a cable marked "CPU"?
OK here is what i keep repeating about the connectors.  There is the 24pin atx onboard connection from the psu to the motherboard then there is the 2nd and only other onboard connector from the psu labeled cpu that goes into the 8pin connection into motherboard and the label on the motherboard is jpwr2.  Are you saying that should not be connected?  And instead the 4+4  cpu from psu should be connected instead to the 8pin connection on motherboard labeled jpwr2 for cpu?
I know you keep repeating that but through all the repeats you have never really said that it is an 8-pin connector and that the JPWR2 is fully populated at that point i.e. there are no unfilled pin in JPRW2. Please confirm both points.

I am saying that it is very, very odd that a PSU manufacturer supplies two 8-pin CPU connectors but you are looking at it not me.  Most 8-pin CPU connectors are 4+4 because most motherboards with a single CPU only have a 4-pin CPU connector (not 8 like yours) on the motherboard and by making the cable a 4+4 they simply only have to plug in one of the 4-pin connectors to make it work. But once again I am not looking at it so we have to take your word for it.
Okay, there are very good pictures on Newegg for this power supply.

(1)  This is not a "full modular" supply -- both the 24-pin ATX connection and the 8-pin (4+4) EPS connector are internally connected to the PSU.    THESE are the ones you should use to connect to the ATX connector and the aux CPU connection (JPWR2).    It seems you've already done this -- and that's fine.   Just leave those alone.

Apparently Newegg's description is wrong -- they indicate the PSU supports a single EPS connection; but if you also have a modular EPS connector then it actually supports two.   [This would be used for a dual CPU server motherboard.]    You do NOT want to use this cable at all -- just set it aside.

(2)  The power supply has two connections for 6/8-pin PCIe cables.    You should use both of these to connect the PCIe power cables that you need to use for your graphics card.      I suspect these are what you do not have properly connected at the moment.    Clearly the 8-pin connector on those cables goes into the power supply modular outputs; and the 6+2 end goes to the video card.

(3)  The power supply has four connectors for SATA & peripheral power (molex) connectors.    Use whatever you need for these -- don't connect all of these cables ... just what you need.
ok i think with the new egg description we have established that i have the 2 connections that are not modular the 24pin and the 8pin into the jpwr2 aux cpu so these i have from the beginning connected properly.  As you mentioned, what im having problem with is the modular connection labled pci-e 6+2 so this i think is also correct as i have the 8pin connected to psu labeled pci-e 6+2 and the other end of that cable is connected to graphics card 6+2 connection which leaves the one unpopulated connection on the graphics card which is an 8pin connection so this is the one i want to confirm as to where the connection to the psu should come from and it looks like you are saying to use one of the pci/sata connections which are 6pin connections all of them and the only other remaining connection left coming from psu is the one labeled cpu 4+4 which i shouldnt use since its for the scenario where the motherboard has an additional or 2nd cpu which i dont have.  Only problem is the pci cables i have left dont seem to be correct since they are not 6pin.  I will double check and get back to you
Look at the link I sent you. There are two connectors of interest. The 6-pin PCIE and the 6+2 PCIe.

"As you mentioned, what im having problem with is the modular connection labled pci-e 6+2 so this i think is also correct as i have the 8pin connected to psu labeled pci-e 6+2 and the other end of that cable is connected to graphics card 6+2 connection" stop there. The graphics card does not have a 6+2 connector. The graphics card has a 6-pin PCIe and a 8-pin PCIe connector. Use the 6+2 PCIe end to fill the 8-pin connector on the card

"which leaves the one unpopulated connection on the graphics card which is an 8pin connection so this is the one i want to confirm as to where the connection to the psu should come". If you don't have another 6+2 PCIe connector comming from the PSU find just a 6-pin to fill the 6-pin connector on the graphics card.

The two points are:
1) Use the 6+2 PCIe end to fill the 8-pin connector on the card
2) Use a straight 6-pin PCIe connector to to fill the 6-pin connector on the card

You are letting the +2 get to you. Just think ot them as a 6-pin and a 8-pin PCIe connector
Ok i will try that.  Just to let you know that i went ahead and tested the onboard video connection and when i used that everything worked perfectly as far as logging into windows etc.  So my question is, would the graphics card cause the system not to start up if it is indeed damaged or should it at least give an error message?  I would think it would at least get thru the post process prior to shutting off power.
If the video card is defective it could cause the computer not to boot. That one article said that both power connectors on the video card had to be connected but it didn't say what the symptoms were if they weren't. Usually you will get some beeps (diagnostic codes) if it will not post. I am surprised it doesn't beep at you.

   To be honest about the only time I have seen a computer do what yours is doing (fans and CPU for about 1 second) is when there has been a problem with the CPU. You are almost going to have to get the video card powered properly before doing much else.
Ok when i went to make the final connection to the 6pin on graphics card i see what the problem is regarding the other end of the cable which would go to th psu.  That end is 8pin  and the connections on the psu are all 6pin so it can only fit if both ends of cable are 6pin or at least 6+2 where i could just leave the 2 out of the 6+2 to make it a 6pin.  Which brings me back to the possibility that the only way the last connection can fit is if i use the cpu 4+4 on psu end.  Do i need a special pci-e cable?
If the cpu was the issue then how come it comes up fine and loads windows no problem using the onboard video connection?
I wasn't suggesting that the CPU was bad. Merely stating that is the only time I have seen things spin up for 1 second.

One of the first things I did was hit Newegg to look at pictures but couldn't make heads nor tails out of it. There appeared to be two 8-pin sockets and four 6-pin sockets on the power supply. What is taking up the second 8-pin socket?

As poor as the documentation is on that power supply it might not hurt to call Corsair Tech Support. 1 (888) 222-4346. They should have connectors for that video card but with no pictures and no documentation it is impossible to tell for sure.
You have to love Corsair. I called their Technical Support. The long and short of it is..... one of the cables should have two 6+2 connectors. That is what we have been going through since this started and two 6+2 connectors will populate that video card. He said that if you do not have the cable with two 6+2 connectors that you need to call their support department and as long as you have proof of purchase they will send you that cable.
I have that cable which is connected to the 6+2 or 8pin connection on psu so it looks like you are saying that this is the only cable needed since it has 2 6+2 connectors one of which will connect to the 8pin connection on graphics card and the other 6+2 will connect to the 6pin on graphics card correct?  If it doesnt work i will probably end up buying a new graphics card since my son hasnt been able to play his pc games that require high end graphics card for over a month now and i can always return the bad one since its only 6mos old.
I hate to do this to you but I am going to. The connector on the PSU is either a 6-pin or a 8-pin. If you have a cable that is 8-pin on one side and two (quantity 2) 6+2 PCIe on the other side then you have the cable you need.

1) Plug the 8-pin side in to the PSU
2) Plug one the 6 of the (6+2) in to the 6-pin socket of the graphic card and leave the +2 hanging
3) Plug the other 6+2 in to the 8-pin connector on the graphics card.

At that point the graphics card should be fully populated. No empty sockets. Please confirm.
"... it looks like you are saying to use one of the pci/sata connections ..." ==>  NO !!!    The PCIe connectors BOTH go into the connectors labeled for them (8-pin).    As I said above:

"(2)  The power supply has two connections for 6/8-pin PCIe cables.    You should use both of these to connect the PCIe power cables that you need to use for your graphics card."

You simply need to plug BOTH of your PCIe cables into these two connectors; and then plug the other ends into the two PCIe power inputs on the graphics card.     VERY simple !!!
I lost the picture with the labels but the pci/sata connections on the PSU are 6-pin. Not 8. The only place you should be able to plug in the dual 6+2 cable is in to the 8-pin PCIe on the PSU.

   Not to confused the situation but for the record it is a single PCIe cable with two 6+2 ends. The other 8-pin connector on the PSU is for the 4+4 CPU cable. I will find that picture again.
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Correct. It was newegg. Picture attached. There should only be one place that the dual 6+2 end cable (with the other side being 8-pin) will plug in to that PSU. One last note... I would call Corsair and ask them which CPU connector they would recommend using. The straight 8-pin or the 4+4. Get it straight from the horses mouth.
Capture.PNG
Ok I have one and only one cable where the connection to the psu is at the top 8pin connection labeled pci-e 6+2 and the other end of this single cable has 2 6+2 connections which i connected to the 8pin connection on the graphics card and the remaining 6pin on card i connected using the 2nd connection of the single cable and left the 2pin dangling and unconnected so confirmed.  Still causes the fan to shutoff in seconds.  The CPU 4+4 is not supposed to be used except for the case when the motherboard has a 2nd cpu which it does not so can you both agree and confirm that this 4+4 cpu connection below the pci-e 6+2 is not to be used?
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There's no "gray area" with the CPU connector => the non-modular cables are designed to provide the key ATX and CPU power ... since these are ALWAYS needed they didn't make them modular [On a "full modular" supply these would also be modular plugs; but there's no real reason to make them removeable].    

i.e. the ATX and CPU connections are fine.

IF you have two separate PCIe cables with the PSU, you might try plugging both of those into the power supply and connecting one connector from each to the graphics card.    It seems unlikely, but it's possible that having separate runs from the PSU may be a bit more reliable.    If that doesn't do the trick, then you probably have a defective component ... either the graphics card or the power supply.
Well its unlikely that the power supply is defective as i just loaded windows 7 onto a new solid state drive and all is working for past few hours.  It most likely is the graphics card but just strange that it would cause pc to just shut down immediately but since i dont have never seen this before i dont have much to compare it to.  I had already tried connecting 2 of the pci-e 6+2 cables as you suggested the day before and this didnt work either.  Thanks for all the help from both of you and at the very least, i have gained some important and useful knowledge on how the inner workings of the motherboard works and how it connects to psu.
No best solution here since both experts gave equal best solutions and insights
Actually there is a gray area. Why would Corsair say to use the 8-pin power supply connector and NOT use the 4+4 unless there are actually 2 processors? That's the gray area. What is the difference between the 2x4 and the 4+4?

   Up until recently a single processor only required a single 12V 2x2 connector. Why, all of a sudden, are the now requiring two 12V 2x2 connectors for a single CPU?

   Intel has done the same thing with their single server motherboards. Just got off the phone with them. I guess the second 2x2 PSU connector is just a secondary power channel to drive all the various things they are adding to the processors and to the motherboards. I guess everything is heading that direction. I would think either the 2x4 or the 4+4 would work. I would be very curios to hear why Corsair said not to use the 4+4 unless there truly is a second CPU.

Maybe a call for another day.....
As I noted, there's no "gray area" at all.    They simply include one CPU aux power connector as a non-modular output because EVERY board needs at least one.   If you happen to need a 2nd connection (for a dual CPU board) then it's available ... but it's modular since most people won't need it.    There's NO reason to use a modular cable for this purpose and leave the non-modular cable just wrapped up in the case unused.    Incidentally, the picture shows that the non-modular cable is splittable, so it can be used for either 4-pin CPU aux connections or 8-pin EPS connections.     Most newer boards tend to use the EPS connections, as this provides a higher current capability.
I think you are talking about something completely different. The gray area was about whether or not to use the 8-pin CPU connector or the 4+4 and it is still gray. I called Corair. That said it made no difference at all.....
There is no 8-pin CPU connector.    The one that's non-modular is a 4+4 ... just like the modular cable.
... and of course it makes no difference => they're identical.
I am just going off of what dankyle67 said. He said right now there is a 8-pin CPU (non-modular) plugged in to the CPU socket AND there is a modular 4+4 (and looking at the picture that appears to be true) that should not be used unless there are actually 2 CPS. If they are identical then he was misinformed. Read through the posts.
From the manual regarding the non-modular CPU EPS cable:

4. Connect the eight-pin +12V (EPS12V) cable to the motherboard.
A. If your motherboard has an eight-pin +12V socket, connect the eight-pin
cable directly to your motherboard.
B. If your motherboard has a four-pin socket, detach the four-pin from the
eight-pin cable, and then plug this four-pin cable directly to your motherboard.