Help Required

[fusionmaster]

Hey guys, 

i'm new to the forum and posting in forums in general so firstly please be patient with me.

I know most of my computer basics but i can't really get my head around this issue.

 

My computer recently has stopped booting of a sense. It powers up, fans spin on all devices ( eg liquid cooler, gpu etc.)

However, i get no display from the computer. Initially i thought the issue was with my graphics card and swapped pci cables, reseated etc, and it seemed to work for an period of time. the same problem came back. i know it is not the gpu though as i have noticed that none of the inputs on my keyboard worked in this powered on state (eg. Caps, backlight switch.) 
by messing around with the PSU cables ive managed to get it to boot a few times however this is an ongoing issue now and messing with them doesn't seem to help. Worst of all,  when i power on the PC, my motherboard doesn't display ANYTHING (no digits or letters) in the debug code led. I am unsure if this is an issue with my motherboard or my psu, seeing as im pretty sure one or the other is faulty and i was hoping someone on the forum would be either able to save my bacon or at least tell me which one should be turfed.
Thanks heaps
PS 
Specs are:
i7 4770k
MSI Z87 GD-65 Gaming

Gigabyte windforce GTX 770
Thermaltake Toughpower 80+ Gold 750W PSU
16GB Ram (8gb currently unseated due to thinking that might be the problem (Wasn't))

[Frame Drops]

You can do another thing , just take out your ram and inset it again properly.

what about your bios , are you able to reach to your bios ?

[fusionmaster]

completely unable to reach bios, my monitor doesn't even get the signal to power on. yeah ill put it back in soon, ive just been frustrated with the lack of progress i made in identifying the problem

[Sentryy]

Try removing the GPU and use the IGPU? Might help to see if you have a dead video card.

[fusionmaster]

unfortunately i tried that, its how i determined that the gpu was no the issue

[Sentryy]

Try using 1 stick of ram, if it boots with one stick but not the other, that's the problem.

[NeoFrux]

Sounds to me like it's most likely motherboard-related if the fans spin up but you're not getting anything on the POST LED's. Have you tried resetting the CMOS yet? You also mentioned that you've got a water cooler - Is anything plugged into the CPU fan header? It may well be that the liquid cooler isn't reporting anything to the BIOS and the system is refusing to POST because it thinks there's a CPU fan failure. Try plugging a case fan into the CPU fan header and see if you get any joy.

[fusionmaster]

@Sentryy Unfortunately that wasn't the issue. @Runefox i don't have anything plugged into the cpu fan slot as the liquid cooler (kraken x61) is plugged into the fan controller of my case (Nxt phantom 630). I tried plugging a spare fan in, but it yielded no results

[fusionmaster]

not sure how to reset the cmos. do i remove the battery or is there something i jump?

 

[airdeano]

@fusionmaster your clear CMOS button is on rear i/o panel (#2):

 

[Frame Drops]

2 hours ago, fusionmaster said:

completely unable to reach bios, my monitor doesn't even get the signal to power on. yeah ill put it back in soon, ive just been frustrated with the lack of progress i made in identifying the problem

If ram suggestion doesn't work than is your monitor getting power or not, is it showing no signal or not connected? what about your cpu case is it showing light? another thing check there is an  led light which shows that your motherboard is getting power, is it glowing or not?

[fusionmaster]

@airdeano @Runefox So after clearing the CMOS the pc somehow managed to boot.  i restarted it just to confirm that the problem had been fixed but unfortunately no such luck. furthermore clearing the cmos again did not allow the pc to boot again.

[airdeano]

• clear CMOS>reboot
• reboot to UEFI/BIOS screen>press F5 (defaults)>reboot
• power down

disconnect all unneeded hardware (all except keyboard and video) and HDD and USB devices and retry.

add hardware back till error re-appears.

• primary drive
• HDD
• mouse
• ODD (if used)
• peripherals

[fusionmaster]

@airdeano Unfortunately i can't do that, because while clearing the CMOS worked on the first attempt, after the restart it no longer had any effect. the computer still turns on with all the fans spinning, but does display anything on the screen and doesn't display any debug code on the motherboard. on top of that, while the keyboard has power, none of the keys seem to be working as caps or the keyboard backlight key have no effect.

[airdeano]

try another keyboard (ps2 if you have one)

[Gen427]

If clearing the CMOS worked once then stopped again there is something definitely faulty with the board from what I've read; You might have to strip it down to barebones and boot just the board/CPU/RAM/video (onboard preferred, in none you'll have to use GPU).

 

Basically take everything apart, put the board on something that wont cause a short but that its not screwed down to etc. Plug in PSU, CPU (if you have the stock cooler use this for testing), 1 stick of RAM, connect video.

 

Turn on the PSU and take a flat head screwdriver and use it to connect the 2 pins for the power button to start the system.

 

If it fails to post still, Start with testing Different RAM sticks first

 

If not, its going to be any of those remaining options and testing with another board/cpu is generally out of the question as most people only have 1 of each :c ...try the PSU but I would say from that point the best option is to RMA/Warranty the board if that's an option.

 

 

Best of luck!

 

PS. If you can reset the CMOS and get it to boot again, try doing a BIOS update to flash your BIOS (download from site)

[NeoFrux]

I'd agree with @Gen27; It definitely sounds like a motherboard issue, be it electrical or some kind of corruption in the BIOS. To add to what they're saying, my best suggestion is if you DO get it to POST and make it to the BIOS, update the BIOS ASAP. Even if you were on the latest revision, reflash it.

 

Looking at the specs, it looks like this board actually has multiple BIOS chips; Try flipping the Multi-BIOS switch directly beneath the 24-pin ATX connector on the right edge of the motherboard, and use the GO2BIOS button down just beneath the middle of the last PCI-E slot to power on. You'll also want to make sure your OC Switch next to it is in the Gear 1 setting (down). You'll also want to make sure the OC Genie button next to that is not depressed (don't ask me why MSI needs so many buttons and switches dedicated to overclocking...).

[fusionmaster]

Thanks all for the help, i managed to get it to boot again and reflashed the bios but to no avail. Im thinking of sending it to msi to rma, tried contacting their fb page for information and am just waiting for a response. Again thank you for all the help and suggestions!

[Sentryy]

On 2/21/2016 at 7:21 AM, fusionmaster said:

Thanks all for the help, i managed to get it to boot again and reflashed the bios but to no avail. Im thinking of sending it to msi to rma, tried contacting their fb page for information and am just waiting for a response. Again thank you for all the help and suggestions!

Just request an RMA through thier RMA email? I'm sure they have one.