Can a lack of thermal paste prevent my new PC build from displaying?

[Justborntoday]

This is my first time building a PC and I'm a complete noob. I've got my fans to run and my lights to turn on (I can't hear the motherboard beep because I don't have it hooked to a speaker) but when I plug it up to my monitor it doesn't display!

I had removed and reinstalled my CPU cooler but I didn't re-apply thermal paste. Would this prevent my PC from displaying or does it seem like there's another issue? Should I wipe off the old thermal paste (already came applied on my CPU cooler) or could my CPU be damaged since I didn't replace the thermal paste when I put the fan back on?

 

[DRagor]

CPU can't be damaged if your machine didn't even started. However, you are supposed to replace thermal paste with fresh application every time you remove heatsink from CPU. But lack of proper thermal solution would not prevent machine from booting, so there must be different cause. List your components.

 

[Ecky]

Lack of thermal paste should not prevent a PC from POSTing - most likely the CPU would slow down to prevent overheating, but still work normally.

Nearly anything could be the issue. I would strip the machine down to the basics - onboard video, CPU, cooler, one stick of RAM, power supply - and see if it POSTs. That allows you to rule out everything you've unplugged as a potential problem.

 

[ss202sl]

it's a new build? Go through this (actually make sure cables are connected properly - don't just look) - you may have missed something simple.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

lack of thermal paste will cause high cpu temps, so you do need to replace it.

 

[Justborntoday]

Motherboard: ASUS H110M-A/M.2
CPU: Intel 3.70 GHz Core i3-6100 with stock cooler
GPU: ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon Rx 470 4GB OC Edition
PSU: EVGA 430 W1 430W
Memory: G.SKILL 8GB NT Series 288-Pin DDR4 PC4-19200 2400MHz