Brand new parts PC will not boot, followed Troubleshooting Checklist - NEED HELP

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PythonPunk

Commendable
Aug 1, 2016
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1,510
Hey everyone, I am fairly new to PC building is this my first real attempt at such a feat. I am having some real trouble getting my PC to boot and/or display on my monitors.

Here are my components:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K (desktop)
Motherboard: ASUS Z97-E
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960
Memory: G.Skills DDR3-1600 (2 x 4GB)
Power Supply Unit (PSU): Corsair CX-600M (500 watt)
Case: Cooler Master 912 HAF
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 204B (at least 6 years old)

Here’s my checklist
1. Read the motherboard manual twice.
2. Ensured the 8 pin CPU connector is plugged in to motherboard. This cable is straight from my PSU. Also ensured the 24 pin ATX power cable is also plugged in.
3. I did find an incorrectly placed standoff when I took off the motherboard. Tried to reboot and was much more successful in the boot process but still no display and still a solid red power LED light. Also confirmed nothing else is touching the back of the motherboard.
4. Graphics card is seated properly, heard the “notch sound” and the clasp popped into place on the motherboard (verified placement with motherboard manual).
5. My graphics card only as one power connector – ensured that it is plugged in directly to the PSU. Fans do turn on. The 6+2 pin cable converts to an 8 pin cable end to the PSU (all are in).
6. Have not tried booting with just one stick of RAM yet.
7. Yes, all the RAM sticks are in correctly – they clicked into place and are secure.
8. I have tried slots 1 & 3 and also 2 & 4, nothing has worked. I’ll try the one stick of RAM in slots 1, 2, 3 & 4 to see if this remedies the problem.
9. Plastic guard is off.
10. After the first round of failures, I did re-check the CPU and it did become misaligned. I fixed the problem and centered it. I need to make sure I have the notches in the correct direction.
11. I need to verify there are no bent pins on the CPU.
12. I am using the stock cooler.
13. The CPU fan is plugged in because it does turn on and rotate.
14. Do not see any foreign material in the thermal compound. Ensured all the fans are pushed through the motherboard properly – I can see them behind the motherboard.
15. Other Notable items:
a. I am using old monitors: (2) Samsung SyncMaster 204B’s to be exact. They have had difficulty in the past with recognizing video inputs/outputs. Would age be a factor? I have tried VGA, DVI, and hooked up a DVI cable to a DisplayPort adapter and still nothing. I have not tried an HDMI cable because I’ve read this is not as reliable. I am working on getting a different monitor to test.
b. Sometimes when I push the power button the fans of all the components do not turn on immediately and after a few second everything will click on.
c. I will test to see if the outlet I am using is not stable enough by plugging into a surge protector.
d. There may be a compatibility issue with my ASUS Z97-E and Intel i5-4690K processor. I am following up with ASUS to see if that is the case. PCPartPicker did not post any compatibility issues when I built – not that means its 100% compatible.
e. I do not have a DVD or hard drive plugged into the motherboard and have not tried as I have read and am aware neither are required to post and boot.
f. The LED power light has never been any different than red since I first started to boot.
g. I have tried to reset the jumpers but I have no idea if I did it correctly or if it even worked.
h. On PCPartPcker, the estimated wattage is around 315W and my PSU is 500W – I am assuming that is enough, but can someone confirm that?
 
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usually the first step to troubleshooting is to try and boot with the minimal parts needed. case, PSU, CPU, motherboard, and 1 stick of RAM. GPU if your motherboard has no video outputs. start there. its possible the standoff caused a short that damaged something and the misaligned CPU could have bent a pin on the socket. that might be an unrecoverable problem too.
 
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Looks like your processor is a part of the Haswell refresh family. I have heard of those processors having a slight problem with the mobo bios and need the bios to be updated for the processors to run.
That might be your current problem.
Also try clearing the CMOS, booting with just 1 stick of ram no GPU and the drive with your OS(if any).
Cheers!
 
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.....

You bet. When I popped open the socket the CPU had wiggled loose from the designated and very small notch-type thing (some boards call it the arrow) where it should be exactly lined up with. So I re-aligned it and carefully closed. I followed the motherboard and processor manual, reading it twice. Does that help?
 
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....

How do I update my BIOS? Is that done by clearing the RTC RAM?
 
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Man, I hope that's not what happened! lol

I haven't tried booting with only one stick of RAM. Doing that next. Thanks.
 
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Negative. Did not work. Tried slots 1, 2, 3 , 4. Will try removing the CMOS battery for a minute then replacing it to [hopefully] reset the BIOS.
 
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Plugged my working speakers into the mobo and heard no beeps. I am beginning to think this PSU cannot handle the mobo or maybe it's fried. I found a few people complaining that the Corsair CX600M has issues about available voltage and wattage. I am taking it to a friends to see if he can get it to post and boot properly.
 
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Somehow I missed the bag that had the case speaker with my case. I plugged it into the mobo and tried to boot...did not post and no beeps!

Also I tried to short the CMOS by jumping the system. Nothing works. I'm at wits end.
 
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OK, very strange behavior. I took out all the RAM and on my first try the CPU fan and power supply fan are all on. I will slowly add the graphics card and case fans without RAM to see what happens.

Yes, so not a good update. I had bought a second PSU to ensure that wasn't the problem and it didn't fix the issue. Now it's just the motherboard or the CPU. The CPU should be fine, it never got, never smoked, and it appears it working condition. I am going to have to do an RMA for the motherboard. It's like it won't hold a charge. No beeps, nothing.

Thanks for your help. I will update this thread with any type of solution.
 
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OK so that was easy [not]! I returned the ASUS Z97E garbage for an MSI Z97 Gaming 5 mobo and literally on my first boot the BIOS came up! This boot only had my PSU and mobo - nothing else and it worked like it should have.

I added my graphics card, hard drive, dvd-rom, and fans and had a successful second boot into BIOS.

Maybe I got a lemon for my ASUS by wow...that was a terrible first build experience. I thanked my stars I didn't harm my CPU.

Thanks for all the help everyone, if I didn't have a defective mobo - I'm sure the suggestions would have worked!

On to gaming and other...things!
 
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