P7N SLI Platinum - No power with the 8-Pin connector

Been running the system since 03/2008 ... Around 6-8 months ago, I had a problem where the PC wouldn't power on anymore, and I replaced the power supply with a new Corsair 650W PSU.
PC has been used every day, no issues.
Today (a few hours ago) the system just shut down. When I try to power the system on again, none of the fans spin up... They start for a fraction of a second (like 1/10th of a spin) but everything stops. The red light on the motherboard stays on. After turning off the power supply and turning it back on, everything will try to turn on again for a fraction of a second, then nothing.
I thought maybe it was a power supply issue again, so looking at the Corsair website, they suggest testing the power supply by using a paperclip to connect the green with a black wire and when I did that, the fan in the power supply runs. I disconnected power to EVERYTHING (case fans, disks, DVD drives, video card) except the 24 pin and 8 pin motherboard connectors. Still won't power up.
I started searching for other people with similar issues and found a few cases of the exact same problem (https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=132509.0;prev_next=next). Reading what they did, I turned off the power supply, unplugged the 8-pin connector from the motherboard, and turned the system back on. Now the motherboard powers up fine! CPU fan starts spinning and everything. Except the processor isn't going to work without that 8-pin power connector, right?
So is this a motherboard problem? Any suggestions on how I get this fixed?

Yes, around 6-8 months ago, the old power supply stopped working. Smelled like an electronic fire or something in the room... So I was sure that was the problem.
I tried plugging the power supply in to my second computer, and it didn't work there either. So the power supply burned up or something. I replaced it with this new Corsair...
Unfortunatly, my second computer is an AMD, or I could check the CPU to see if it would work. I could try the power supply from the 2nd machine to make sure it's not the Corsair power supply, I guess. But if we can't limit it to motherboard without testing the CPU, then I'm probably out of luck.

Similar Messages

MSI P7N SLI Platinum CPU Power Socket

I have a MSI P7N SLI Platinum and I just noticed I dont have a 8pin power plug on my ATX PSU ( this PSU is in my AMD rig)
I've just had a go of trying out my MSI P7N SLI Platinum board as a computer shop said just insert the 4 pin plug you used on your AMD board near the CPU..
I questioned him about it leaving 4 sockets bare, he said it would be fine..
Well I've tried booting up the rig and I get nothing on the screen (No Signal ) checked all sockets (graphics card, cpu)
I do get a little red and blue light on the board and the CPU fan and graphics fan are running fine,, but no signal...
I'm using a Intel Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz Processor Socket 775 which I know is fine,,,
Any views on this "you can use a 4pin plug on the 8pin CPU power socket " ?
Could this be the reason my rig is not booting ?
THanks

"Any views on this "you can use a 4pin plug on the 8pin CPU power socket " ?"
Yes you can. Make sure that 4pin cable is connected properly at correct side of 8pin socket.
"Could this be the reason my rig is not booting ?"
Nop. You can plug 8pin CPU cable if you want to test opposite Should boot with both 4 or 8.
Read >>Posting Guide<<

P7N SLI Platinum and power consumption?

In few day I'll get a Msi P7N SLI platinum to replace my Gigabyte P35,I would like to know the power consumption for 750i? Is lower than 780i?
You can see in the picture the 780i 48W and P35 only 16W So big different!!!

A quick Google search pulled this article. Not sure if it helps you any, but here you go...
http://hothardware.com/Articles/NVIDIA_nForce_780i_SLI_Arrives/?page=11

New P7N SLI Platinum Boot Issue with PS/2 Keyboard [Solved but RAID problem now]

This issue taken me back !!!! Never thought I might face issue with a PS/2 Keyboard.
Here it is.. I just assembled my new system...
P7N SLI Platinum Motherboard
E8400 CPU
EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR GeForce 8600 GT Video Card
Creative Soundblaster Audio Card
So, before I boot, I connected good old PS/2 Keyboard. The POST Screen comes up that says Press DEL to enter BIOS Setup... but then, it reboots.. indefinitely... I have no idea why it does that. However, if I boot the PC with no PS/2 Keyboard connected, POST screen comes up and that's it.. (no reboot). So, you see, I cannot proceed further in anyway.... I cannot go beyond POST without a keyboard, but then with the keyboard it reboots indefinitely... kinda catch 22 situation
Any suggestion / ideas that anyone can offer here???

Hello Folks... it took long time to "solve the issue that had to begin with"....
I purchased a cheapo Celeron processor to get into the BIOS and update it... but it didn't even work... I couldn't boot at all. So, I called MSI and they asked me to RMA it. They replaced my MOBO with the latest BIOS - which was good news
So, now, I'm able to boot - good news...
Now, this is an upgrade for me.... from my previous MOBO. My boot drive was RAIDed (RAID 0). So, now, I will have to RAID my drives again and run Win XP repair. I was able to RAID my drives and all good... now, I went into Windows installation and did F6 to install NVIDIA Raid.... but, here is my problem, when the prompt asks me to input the floppy drive, and when I did it.... it re-prompts me to put the floppy drive again... I see that the floppy drive is read... but, for some reason it doesn't detect the files in there properly.... I downloaded nVidia C72+MCP55 SATA RAID / AHCI Driver (For floppy driver) for windows xp 32-bit and copied the sataraid folder contents into the floppy. Now, here I am stuck again....
Anybody experienced this problem?

MSI P7N SLi Platinum Edition Problem with Quad Core.... Missing 2 Cores.. Xp Vis

QUAD CORE READY BUT MISSING 2 CPU CORES.
Im usuing p7n-sli platinum, from msi p35... Now i cant see my 2 cpu cores..... Im only seeing 2 cores? Does this p7n-sli platinum supports quad core? Please help....
Would there be any update? Patch?
P7n s

What CPU revision you have?
Provide screenshot from CPU-Z ===> http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpuz_144.zip
P.S: Topic Locked, since new topic has been opened for the same problem: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=115100.0
P.S2: Topics not merged because will cause confusion for future readers, since both topic starters are different persons, but they are talking about the same PC.
P.S3: In short topic continue here: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=115100.0 , but with real mainboard's owner.

I have a 7th generation nano, and am interested in the Nike Ipod sport kit. However, it looks like the kit only works with older nanos with the 30 pin connector. What kit or what accessory do I need to utilize the Nike ipod sport kit fuctionality?

I have a 7th generation nano, and am interested in the Nike + Ipod sport kit. However, it looks like the kit has a 30 pin connector on the receiver and the 7th gen nano is a lightning connector. Not sure if the kit will work. What kit or what accessories do I need to utilize the Nike + ipod sport kit fuctionality in the 7th gen nano? Do I just need a separate sensor and/or a heart rate monitor? Or is there a kit available for 7th gen nanos?

Hey SeanW89,
Thanks for the question. The iPod nano 7th generation has bluetooth functionality that can connect to the Nike+ sensor. You do not need to purchase the USB kit, but rather just the sensor itself:
Nike + iPod Sensor - Apple Store (U.S.)
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA368LL/E/nike-ipod-sensor
iPod nano (7th generation): Frequently used features
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5470
Connect to Bluetooth accessories
You can connect your iPod nano to compatible Bluetooth headsets and other accessories, including some hands-free systems in newer cars. You can also connect to a Nike+ sensor or a Bluetooth heart-rate monitor. iPod nano supports A2DP for audio streaming and AVRCP for controlling playback on Bluetooth devices.
Note: FM radio will not play through a Bluetooth accessory.
Thanks,
Matt M.

Help with ram slots on MSI P7N SLI PLATINUM

rig config:
MSI P7N SLI PLATINUM (MS-7380)
bios version: 1.3v
Q6600 quard core 2.66GHz
Zotac modded 9800GTX+ amped version
2x2 Gb DDR2 800MHz Kingston
500 watt (absolute) power supply (taken form an old HP workstation)
windows 7 X64
Everything's on stock setting
Its been almost 1 & 1/2 years since i bought this rig, and from first month itself i have been having problem with the ram. The problem is not with the sticks, its with the ram slots. There are different things that happen. Sometimes when i boot my system:
1) either, it wont start, i.e. no boot screen.
2) It will load upto windows startup screen, crash and restart in an infinite loop.
3) It will load windows, then crash after sometime.
4) If i run any memory diagnostic, it will give errors.
At these times, i take out my 2 ram sticks, tinker with them, place them in different combination of ram slots, try push them in, in a certain way, keep trying until it yields and it boots up again ( generally a process of 1/2 an hr to an hr). After this my system will work fine ( no errors on any memory diagnostic) and boot properly for a week or 2, maybe even a month, but then again the same problem happens. I know for sure that there is no problem with my dimms (have checked them in other system and they work fine), its something to do with ram slots, or memory bus-controller structure.
Recently the problem happened again, though my tinkering didn't help. My system only boots up if i place any of the ram sticks in the 3rd slot (the 1st orange one). It wont work for any other slot and neither will it work if i place both of the sticks together. I have tried resetting my bios as well cmos settings, but it has not helped. My mb is still in warranty, but if i give it for repair, it will be gone for a good month or so, which doesn't go well with me. If someone has any suggestions, or a way out, it will be highly appreciated. Please help!

Quote from: nellinil on 10-July-10, 10:27:51
yes the psu has a single +12v rail with 21A rating, but somehow i don't feel the problem is because of it. When my system successfully boots, it works properly. I can play or work on high performance softwares for any number of hours without fail, which ought not to happen if the psu is bad.
Hmm, you are ignoring the possibility that your PSU is "flaky" (that's a technical term)!!!! You've never had any gizmo where "sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work"?
If you don't want to buy a new PSU then at least beg-borrow-steal another one and see if your symptoms change.

Having a hard time OC'ing my Q6600 on the P7N SLI platinum!!

Well, first of all, I am new here, so hello to you all guys!
I just purchased the p7n yesterday. I had a P6N SLi-V2 before and wasn't able to get over the 3.0 GHz (stable)! I thought the P7N will a much better overclocker but find myself having a really hard time get it over 3.0 GHz again!?
Tried different versions of the bios (1.0,1.1,P04 and now 2.0) with no succes! Maybe anyone can help me out here and maybe share some bios setup? Will really appreciate it
My rig:
Q6600 C2Q G0-stepping
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU cooler
P7N SLI Platinum
1 x 2 GB TakeMS PC6400 DDR2 RAM
2 x MSI NX8800GT OC 512MB
1 x 200 GB + 1 x 250 GB HD
Cooler Master Extreme Power 650w

Quote from: troopertroop on 20-April-08, 22:22:09
Man, this turns out to be like a disaster :S:S I tried everything and now it won't even be stable @ 3.0 GHz with vcore 1.35, vram 2.2, fsb vtt 1.45, nb 1.4 and SB 1.5 (random reboots like crazy!). I have the intention to get some better OC's going from a p6n sli v2 to this board and it's even doing WORSE??????? The only weakpoint I can think about is my single stick 2GB TakeMS pc6400, but I never go over the stock speed of 800 MHz, so can that still be a bottleneck even at stock speed or even lower?
Any help will be welcome...
I found out the hard way.........if you are not running memory from the QVL list with this mobo, you will have problems with it. I was running mine with team xtreem 3-3-3-8 microns and all I had was errors and corruption when I overclocked. I had to reformat and switch back to the performance bios and now running corsair dominators 3-4-3-9 and this is the first set that can run at 1200 mhz at 5-5-5-18 2T 2.2 v with the fsb at 1600. I 'm using an E8400. I have read that using non approved memory and this board will not overclock properly. The only non approved memory that works in my system is geil ultra 8000's and these are the originals running D9GCT's. For stability you should try OCZ, Corsair, Mushkin, Buffalo, Kingston. I have also had problems with crucial ballistix as I've found most of there modules are in someway defective and or not compatible with MSI and have rma multiple sets. I have a previous post going from P6N FI to P7N and have listed all the memory that I have tried on this board. OCZ and corsair work the best and geil can be used but will not oc past 1142 mhz with stability. I think after a few bios updates this board will be able to use more different types of memory without stability issues.

MSI P7N SLI PLATINUM 750i Wont Power UP!!

i have an MSI P7N SLI PLATINUM 750i which was working perfectly but one day it just wont power up for some reason. my configs are
MSI P7N SLI PLATINUM 750i
Core 2 Quad Q9550
MSI Nvidia 8800 Ultra HD OC
4 Gb DDR2
1T WD HDD
PSU 750W Cougar
i have tried every thing clean the pc,changed every thing but it still wont power up i tried another board with the same configs and it powers up just to make sure the problem is in the MB The red light on the motherboard stays on thats means there is power running thorough the MB. it still under warranty but the problem is i can reach the MSI HQ here in egypt to fix it or change it so any ideas?

well i have reported my issue to MSI Customer Support exactly like that:
Quote
i have an MSI P7N SLI Platinum / P7N Zilent which was working perfectly but one day it just wont power up for some reason. my configs are
MSI P7N SLI Platinum / P7N Zilent
Core 2 Quad Q9550
MSI Nvidia 8800 Ultra HD OC
4 Gb DDR2
1T WD HDD
PSU 750W Cougar
when i press the power button nothing happens.its still under warranty but the problem is i can reach the MSI HQ here in Egypt to fix it or change it so please advice about the name and the location of the MSI HQ in Egypt and notify them about my situation and to contact me regarding my problem
so do u think that they will replay and advise about the issue?

P7N SLI Platinum Unstable with over 2GB ram and/or dual channel memory on.

Hello need some help or to report something to MSI regarding blue screens, freezes when booting Vista 64 (SP1 + all fixes installed) with more then 2GB ram. Single channel mode works (either 1 stick of 2 GB or 3 sticks of 2GB) and is rock stable. Booting with 2 x 2 or 4 x 2 yields instability and blue screens.
I read over Microsoft's hotfix KB929777 however it appears this patch was applied during SP1. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777 - when I attempted to apply this hotfix I got the message this update does not apply to your system.
Memory tested in other gaming system using 4 sticks of G.Skill 1066 DDR2 ram and still have the same issues. Other forums like Evga.com, Tom's hardware and 411overkill.com tend to suggest some problem with this new bios version 2.0, written by Nvidia. Some others mention possibly an Nvidia nforce driver issue.
Therefore, under duress during testing - with 1 stick or 3 sticks of ram, all tests perfect and passes all stability tests, good marks in Sandra, plays any game. With 2 or 4 sticks of ram, very unstable won't stay up but for seconds.
Any ideas? (Tested 7 ways until Sunday!)
My other rig, rocks solid and stable with Vista 64.... It's the Evga new mainboard 780i with triple SLI (132-CK-NF78-A1), 8gb of Gskill 1066ddr2, MSI 8800GT (x2 sli mode) Q6600 @ 3.2 ghz - Raid 0 on dual WD caviar 640 gb/sata 3.0gb/sec. Seasonic 700w p/s. 8gb of memory and not a hiccup. Ram 2.0 volts, cpu @ 1.36v. Will handle the memory from both systems with out fault.
Considering I can swap memory back and forth and confirm it's not the sticks, swap graphics boards (own 3 of them!) and rule out that....
Fyi. Any help is appreciated!

Dump question, but have you pickup the correct update e.g. for 64bit? ==> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=91672C7C-614B-404C-850C-377541E93C18&displaylang=en
"This comes inside SP1 for vista 64, as noted with my other system during the build. "
Better double check it.
Install all four memory sticks and do a memory check with >>Memtest86<< 1st, ensure that no error(s) will comes during testing.
Also how about that?:
Quote from: BOSSKILLER on 07-April-08, 23:55:36
Remove your OC then see how its goes.
"When the system boots in single channel mode (only 2 or 6gb of ram meaning 1 or 3 sticks installed into the 4 slots) its' rock stable. When it boots into dual channel mode (2 x 2 sticks or 2 x 4 sticks) extemely unstable. "
That means, timings are too tight, or they need a bit more vcore help, or some of the memory stick has failure.
"MSI P7N SLI Platinum - MS-7380 - Bios 2.0 on Vista Ultimate 64-bit - all updated."
That BIOS is not for your board, you should use 1.xx

Problem with my p7n sli platinum

Hello,
i just bought the P7N SLI Platinum for my new system and use an old ATI X1800XT as my gpu.
after finished installing all the hardware,then i tried to install a fesh copy of windows xp...
the problem is, every time my computer tried to login into the windows.. a blue screen will appear..
i suspect the problem is due to the x1800xt..therefore i tried to use it with my old intel motherboard but it can login into windows perfectly well..
does anyone know what the cause of this problem? is it because i'm using ati card with nvidia chipset?
please everyone help me!!

Quote from: BOSSKILLER on 23-November-08, 21:04:26
STOP: 0x0000001E
* There is insufficient disk space on the drive on which you installed Windows.
* There is an outdated or incompatible third-party driver (or drivers) installed on your computer -- for example a faulty video driver.
* There are system BIOS incompatibilities.
Finally, my system is now working perfectly but I'm still not sure what is the cause for all of this madness.
I didn't change any of the hardware or the drivers.
I don't think this is because of the insufficient disk space because after many series of failure with this board, I have tried to install a fresh windows copy using the same hard drive with my previous motherboard and everything seems to be running smoothly...it could finish the installation process..and safely loading into windows...
Then when I tried with this board again, still no improvement at all...i tried again..again...and again...until i was frustrated enough to made some random changes in the bios settings and FINALLY...it works!!..
I have no idea what were the changes that I've made in the bios...maybe it was just my luck....but I do notice the change in my cpu vcore..before this, it was running at 3.0GHz with default vcore of 1.080v...but now, the default vcore has suddenly changed to 1.250v with the same frequency of 3.0Ghz...and I couldn't find any way to return the voltage back as before..is this normal? I thought E8400 with E0 stepping should have lower vcore...isn't it?

MSI P7N SLI Platinum Compatibility with Dominator PC10000

Hello forummer,its been a while since I last posted..I wanted to ask
I wanted to buy a MSI P7N SLI Platinum 750i motherboard and wonder if it fits my Corsair Dominator DDR2 1250MHz PC10000..
I read reviews that the most it can support is DDR2 800,hmm can it support the RAM ?thanks for ur help guys

Quote from: asamkipas on 15-March-09, 16:13:51
Hello forummer,its been a while since I last posted..I wanted to ask
I wanted to buy a MSI P7N SLI Platinum 750i motherboard and wonder if it fits my Corsair Dominator DDR2 1250MHz PC10000..
I read reviews that the most it can support is DDR2 800,hmm can it support the RAM ?thanks for ur help guys
DDR2-1250 is an overclocking rating. The memory modules should run fine @DDR2-800. Maybe you can stably overclock the modules to higher speeds, however, nobody can really guarantee you that those sticks will be able to operate @DDR2-1250 (625 MHz) on this board/chipset.

P7N SLi Platinum - Network & (large) Hard Drive Issues

Hello, everyone. I'm hoping someone can help me out here (though I suspect I'm screwed). Several nights ago, I was sitting at my machine playing some Tera when suddenly I got a blue screen. They've been a pretty rare occurrence for this system, but I realize that from time to time, they happen, so I wasn't all that concerned. I just rebooted and figured everything would be back to normal. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Windows (7 - 64bit) took a noticeably longer time to pull up the full desktop and I noticed an error condition on the network icon in the system tray.
Naturally, I pulled up my network settings and Windows told me that I was on an "Unidentified Network" with "No network access." I figured it was possible that I'd nudged the cable or something, so I looked at it and noticed that, instead of a flashing green light on the Ethernet port, it was flashing orange (this board does normally flash green, right?). I changed ports on the switch and when that didn't help, I changed cables. Still nothing. I installed the latest nForce drivers and still nothing.
That's about the time I noticed another problem. I pulled up Windows Explorer to look for something on my data drive (3TB Seagate) and after an inordinately long time, I realized that it wasn't going to come up. I rebooted again and went into the BIOS settings and, to my horror, discovered that the BIOS, which was showing the drive at its correct capacity before, was now showing it as 800GB.
I have NO idea what happened. It's possible there was a power surge (there was a storm in the distance), but the only two things that are affected are the network and that one hard drive. I updated to the latest BIOS and that didn't help at all, either. So... any ideas? Or am I just going to have to track down a new MB?
Thanks,
Sam

Far as I know, that board is not capable of properly supporting a HDD over 1TB?
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/P7N-SLI-Platinum---P7N-Zilent.html#/?div=BIOS
You can try a power off, PSU power cord pulled, battery removed, CMOS clear and settings reset.

MSI P7N SLI Platinum - no POST, how to use Floppy BIOS upgrade

Component Summary:
MOBO: MSI P7N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX, BIOS ver 1.1 (A7380NMS V1.1 022508)
MEM: CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W, S-spec: SLB9J (E0)
VGA: EVGA 512-P3-N878-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ SSC Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI
PSU: Thermaltake Purepower W0129RU 600 W ATX12V SLI Ready
Same problem is occurring as outlined in the following threads:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=119615.0
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=120513.0
I've carried out the same out-of-box tests indicated in 119615.0 without success.
Question:
Is it possible to force the existing system to boot to the FDD where the BIOS upgrade (v 1.2) would be stored ready for use? If yes, kindly outline the necessary steps to be carried out and please point me to the correct BIOS upgrade link for this configuration. If all else fails, MOBO can be exchanged but if BIOS can be upgraded via this method, I prefer this approach. I don't have access to an alternative CPU, so that approach is far less than ideal. Thanks for your assistance.

Is it possible to force the existing system to boot to the FDD where the BIOS upgrade (v 1.2) would be stored ready for use?
Yes, in theory it is possible to try an AMI BIOS Recovery Flash. However, in case their are other problems that are not visible because of the current problem, it is rather risky. If there is a memory problem or something similar that is currently undetected, the system may crash during flashing and your board will be rendered useless.
Quote
f yes, kindly outline the necessary steps
What you need:
- you need an internal floppy drive (properly connected to the board and 100% intact)
- you need an empty & formated floppy disk (make sure you check it for errors before you use it)
- you need a PS/2 Keyboard
What you have to do:
- download the latest BIOS-Archive file from here:
http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=bios&maincat_no=1&prod_no=1373
- extract the BIOS File (e.g. A7380NMS.120), rename it to AMIBOOT.ROM [not AMIBOOT.120.ROM] and copy it to the floppy disk
- insert the prepared floppy disk into the floppy drive attached to the P7N SLI Platinum and Clear CMOS with main A/C power cable removed from PSU
- start the system and hit CTRL + HOME to force the system into recovery mode
If that does not work, try a different floppy drive & disk. Don't complain is the system crashes during flashing if the recovery flash starts (system stability is your responsibility).
If you can't get the recovery routine to start and read the AMIBOOT.ROM file from the floppy disk, you need to install a supported processor.

P7N Diamond & P7N SLI Platinum & P7N SLI-FI

The main purpose of those Betas ===> Solved the Video Corruption and fix 9.5 CPU Ratio Multiplier for E8500.
P7N Diamond ==> A7510NMS.121 {06/06/2008} (V1.2B1) Attachment: P7N Diamond v121.rar
P7N SLI Platinum ==> A7380NMS.124 {06/06/2008} (V1.2B4) Attachment: P7N SLI Platinum v124.rar
P7N SLI-FI ==> A7380NMS.211 {06/06/2008} (V2.1B1) Attachment: P7N SLI-FI v211.rar
*** Flashing either of these BIOS' are at your own risk. Do not complain if you end up with a paper weight! ***
Flashing the safe way:
Use Method 1 or Method 2, both will do the same job.
Use it at own risk.
Before you flash!!:
Make and ensure PC is stable before proceed, remove any OC if you have.
Flash it via DOS mode by booting from USB key, CD/DVD.

Quote
Noobish question - is clearing the CMOS absolutely necessary after a BIOS update?
Yes, it is recommended to clear CMOS with main A/C power cable removed from PSU. There might be small changes in data structeres between BIOS Versions. Not clearing CMOS and resetting BIOS settings after flashing can have unexpected side effects.
Quote
I'm not really comfortable poking around inside my case apart from swapping a graphics card or hooking up power cables.
You don't need to "poke around" anywhere. You simple need to unplug the main A/C power cable from your PSU, which is outside the case, hit the power-on button to drain capacitors and then press the little button on the back panel of your board for a couple of seconds. That means you don't even have to open your case to clear CMOS.
Quote
So again, would NOT clearing the CMOS jumper thingy prevent successful update/boot?
If you restart your system after clearing CMOS, the BIOS will display an error message and prompt you to reset your BIOS settings, that's it. Nothing to be afraid of. The only risk involved is the BIOS Update itself, not the CMOS Clear.

P7N SLI Platinum - No power with the 8-Pin connector

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