Asus Sabertooth Z87 Will Not Boot

[Rune]

I recently added a custom watercooling loop to my pc and now it will not boot up. No bios, no splash screen, nothing. I did not remove the CPU from its socket, though I did afterward to check and make sure no pins were bent. So far, all I can tell is that the issue seems to be somewhere with my motherboard. All of the hard drives/pumps/GPU's are still powered and light up, but everything else connected to the motherboard will not function with the sole exception of the primary cpu fan (?). I've done a series of unpluggings to try to figure out what may be wrong, but I'm honestly stumped.

 

Parts:
CPU: i7-4770k

GPU: EVGA 780TI SC

MOBO: Asus Z87 Sabertooth

WATERBLOCK: EK Supremacy CSQ

PUMP/RES: EK RES D5 Vario

Test CPU Fan: Corsair SP120

Radiator: EK 360 Coolstream XTX

Fans on Radiator (not working): Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 2000RPM

 

I've also tried to reset the CMOS by both switching the jumper and removing the battery. Removing the 8 pin CPU cable causes nothing to change, the pumps and drives power up but nothing happens. The same thing occurs if only 20 of the 24 pin cable is plugged in. There are no errors LED's lit on the board itself, but the power-standby green LED is always lit, even after powering on the machine. I tried the memOK!/direct buttons for kicks too and nothing happened.

 

You guys are my last hope here...any ideas?

[Excon]

This is were it gets fun with everything watercooled, try removing RAM and GPUs and extra drives.

[Rune]

Thank you for the advice, but I have actually already done these too . I rotated one stick through each of the four dimms (using the built in HDMI on the board) and nothing happened.

[Excon]

Thank you for the advice, but I have actually already done these too . I rotated one stick through each of the four dimms (using the built in HDMI on the board) and nothing happened.

Its not impossible but unlikely, you could have killed your board. Did the Z87 Sabertooth have the LEDs that flash around the board when you boot it? I know the Z77 version does

[Kevinclon]

Its not impossible but unlikely, you could have killed your board. Did the Z87 Sabertooth have the LEDs that flash around the board when you boot it? I know the Z77 version does

The Cpu fan spun.

 

And you said you removed the graphic card and plunged into the mob directly

[Excon]

Thank you for the advice, but I have actually already done these too . I rotated one stick through each of the four dimms (using the built in HDMI on the board) and nothing happened.

Make sure to quote people so they know when you respond.

[Rune]

I actually am quoting, but my device does not seem to support the website properly

To ExconHD, yes the red LED's do flash for just the briefest moment as normal and then go off.

To KevinClon, yes, I tried both through the GPU and through the iGPU

[Kevinclon]

I actually am quoting, but my device does not seem to support the website properly

To ExconHD, yes the red LED's do flash for just the briefest moment as normal and then go off.

To KevinClon, yes, I tried both through the GPU and through the iGPU

Im sorry if this sounds stupid, but id hate to have you tare your system over small things,

 

Any beeps from the mob speaker?

And you removed the graphic card when you used the igpu?

 

Also i doubt this is it, but when you tested different mem slots did you use different ram dims

[Rune]

There are no audible beeps from the speaker, no, though I don't ever remember hearing any to begin with. Maybe it was because my old fans were a bit loud. In any case, no, no sounds. Yes, I did take out the GPU when using the built in hdmi.

 

I only have two sticks of ram, but I did try using each of them in all four slots. It made no visible difference

[Kevinclon]

There are no audible beeps from the speaker, no, though I don't ever remember hearing any to begin with. Maybe it was because my old fans were a bit loud. In any case, no, no sounds. Yes, I did take out the GPU when using the built in hdmi.

 

I only have two sticks of ram, but I did try using each of them in all four slots. It made no visible difference

Try taking out all storage (ssd or hdd) and see if you get a bios, Also check the speakers positive/negative make sure its right, because beeps help a lot.

[Rune]

After taking out the drives (and an optical, because why not) the result was the same. I'm not sure what you mean by speaker positive and negative, though. The only positive/negative I see is for the activity LED on the front of the case.

[Kevinclon]

After taking out the drives (and an optical, because why not) the result was the same. I'm not sure what you mean by speaker positive and negative, though. The only positive/negative I see is for the activity LED on the front of the case.

try flipping the case speakr around, (the part that connects to the mobo pins) if you get beeps then we can go somewhere, else id say wait for the morning people to read this and if they can't help you i would ram the MoBo.

 

 

​edit RMA the motherboard, silly autocorrect, there shall be no cyborgs born today!

[Rune]

I'm not sure what you are referring to, but I suppose with no computer I am not going anywhere any time soon. Thanks for trying.

[Kevinclon]

After taking out the drives (and an optical, because why not) the result was the same. I'm not sure what you mean by speaker positive and negative, though. The only positive/negative I see is for the activity LED on the front of the case.

 

 

 the small rectangle is what I'm talking about, make sure the speaker's red goes in the + and black out the -

[Kevinclon]

hmm pic didn't post

 

should look like this

 

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/12512144974335774735?q=case+speaker&client=safari&rls=en&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.72938740,d.cGE,pv.xjs.s.en_US.9dpJ9MI0y-k.O&biw=1440&bih=840&dpr=2&tch=1&ech=1ψ=M1_sU8XlBKHCigKW1oCgAg.1407999796292.3&ei=NV_sU77uI6mBiwLD2oG4BA&ved=0CKoEEKYrMAA

[Rune]

I don't believe I have one of those for a speaker...

[Kevinclon]

ahhh thats why you have no beeps. dig around the parts the mob came with if you find it it goes in the same area the power/reset/HD Led/activity light plug into.

 

if you don't find it stop by a small computer shop, they are bound to sell one for a few bucks the motherboard may be trying to beep a code to tell you whats wrong

I don't believe I have one of those for a speaker...

[Kevinclon]

for your mob,

 

1.4.2.1      Memory issue: Beep (1 long 2 short) 

A  Clean the Golden Finger of memory

B  Clean the memory slots

C  Leave only one memory stick to test

D  If convenient, please change different memory to test again

 

1.4.2.2      Graphics card issue: Beep (1 long 3 short)

A.  Clean the Golden Finger of graphics card

B.  Clean the graphics card slots

C.  Try to test the onboard graphics card if there is onboard VGA integrated

D.  If convenience, please change different graphic cards to test again

 

1.4.2.3      CPU issue: Beep (5 short)

A.       Check whether the CPU is in our CPU support list

B.        Check whether there are any damagers of your CPU or CPU socket.

C.      .Check whether the CPU fan is correctly connected

D.      Check whether the ATX_12V power cable is connected well

E.        If possible try to test with another CPU

[Rune]

I actually found the speaker cable in the box! A 4 pin wide red circular thing with two cables coming out of it. However, it still makes no noise....this is probably not a good sign.

 

[Kevinclon]

I actually found the speaker cable in the box! A 4 pin wide red circular thing with two cables coming out of it. However, it still makes no noise....this is probably not a good sign.

no its not, they it both ways, and double check your power cables, if nothing happens, time to rma

[Kevinclon]

hate to ask, but did you spill anything on the mobo when adding the loop,

 

 

Also did you run the loop for a good day with power only to the pump before you booted the system to make sure no leaks?

[Rune]

I ran it for about 36 hours with the 24pin connected via paperclip. There were no leaks that I could detect.

[Kevinclon]

I ran it for about 36 hours with the 24pin connected via paperclip. There were no leaks that I could detect

yea it sounds like you somehow managed to kill it. 

 

and as sad as it is the answer to your problem is mail it in and go a week or 2 without a Mobo in that computer.

[Rune]

I think I will wait for more advice before doing so, as it really doesn't make any sense to me...I've double checked for leaks and found none. None of the fittings are so tight that they flex the board at all....today is just not my day.

[Kevinclon]

I think I will wait for more advice before doing so, as it really doesn't make any sense to me...I've double checked for leaks and found none. None of the fittings are so tight that they flex the board at all....today is just not my day.

One thing I sometimes do when I can't figure out whats wrong with something is I just take the whole thing apart and Put it back together. I think I had a troublemaker system that didn't have the cpu fan connected correctly once. 

And more advice is never a bad thing, just bump this thread in the day when people are actually on.