New build gaming PC will not boot?

[x5x3]

my son has been collecting parts for a home build gaming PC. On Saturday he and a friend built it (friend had done 5+ similar builds before). But at the point of switching on - it did not boot.

There is power everywhere we can see, i.e. the graphics card lights up and the CPU cooling fan is spinning. But there is no VGA/DVI/HDMI output from either the motherboard outputs or the graphics card.

They did re-check all the connections and we tried booting with and without a Win 7 Bootable USB drive.

I did send a support request off to the manufacturer but I'm not sure how speedy that will be.

Anyone have any ideas on how to diagnose the issue here please?

Basic specs as follows;

MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo 43.1 CFM CPU Cooler
Kingston Fury Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
MSI NVIDIA GTX 970 Gaming Twin Frozr HDMI DVI-I DP Graphics Card
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
3 different working monitors tried

thanks in advance,

[x5x3]

colin79666 said:

Take the graphics card out and see if you get video with the on board graphics.

sorry I forgot to say we tried that also, still no output.

[x5x3]

thanks all,

no beeps when it starts

all cable checked on other machines

not tried the CMOS reset - will find the motherboard manual and take a look

[x5x3]

contractor said:

try with no ram. you should get post errors in the form of beeps.

When it is on (with ram installed) does the num lock or caps lock key work?

I'll try the no RAM, so far we have got a mouse (led light type) to shine but neither a USB or PS2 keyboard has lights

[x5x3]

yes - good point!

tried to boot with no Video Card and no RAM - no noise and no VGA signal still

here is a go at a photo (phone)

[x5x3]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

from the manual yes it does - but it only allows that once you have entered the BIOS on boot. The issue we have is that we do not get that far.

I have now noticed that as I switch it on the keyboard lights do flash initially so it is getting power to start with.

[x5x3]

I'm a bit nervous about this - I'm trying to get the board out but struggling to get the main power connector out - and also the one to the right of it - a SATA connector - is there a specific technique for each?

[x5x3]

Shadow R1 said:

They have a plastic clip that needs holding down to release the main connector.

What power supply is in the machine ?

Is it a new motherboard or second hand ?

thanks - I found the clip for the power but not the SATA one (actually it is a USB 2.0 expansion not SATA - my bad) but still cannot release it - will try later.

Power supply is - EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

And the motherboard is brand new, in fact all brand new parts.

[x5x3]

thanks all - hope to try these out tomorrow

[x5x3]

thanks all for the replies and suggestions - I'm away on business so will be the weekend before I get to try any of these ideas out.

[x5x3]

a small update, MSi have said it looks like a dodgy motherboard and have suggested I get a replacement from the supplier.

[x5x3]

TonyRPH said:

OP - apologies for the pedant mode here - but to correct your terminology.

Your board wouldn't 'POST' (Power On Self Test) which is quite different to not booting.

Obviously people knew what you meant though!

so you are sure it did not actually POST, but the VGA output etc was broken so we could not see?

[x5x3]

one final update.....

we got the motherboard replaced and guess what - still did not work!

In the end he took it to a friends house on the basis of swapping bits one by one until it worked and when the RAM was replaced it came to life.

On the positive side I was able to get some more ordered and delivered so he could have it sorted by Christmas.

On the unanswered questions side of things - I am 100% sure I tried (as suggested on here) to boot with no RAM but it did not work.

What are the chances of being delivered a faulty motherboard and faulty RAM?

Note to self - building a computer for yourself does not always save money!!!!!!

[x5x3]

grumbledoak said:

or as a rite of passage thing. But don't kid yourself.

well that was me - hoping the kids would learn about the process - epic fail all round really