CPU disabled after installing HDD

Graham Corr

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Mar 16, 2014
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Howdy, joined because I need help from the best and have been reading past threads on this forum for quite some time fixing little niggles here and there.

Specs:
XFX 780i tri SLI motherboard
4 x 1GB Crucial tracer PC8500 DDR2 RAM
Q6600 + Arctic freezer pro 7
Thermaltake 850W Modular PSU
Two nVidia GTX 460s
1 x 36GB HDD with Windows 7
1 x 400GB HDD Blank

Description of issue:
Worth noting I did not build this PC myself, bought it from a friend moving house.
The problem is simple enough, I installed a second HDD and now there's no initial beep (from what I presume is the CPU) and naturally no output whatsoever from any of the four DVI ports.
I've tried reseating everything, and most of my components have themselves got ways of indicating they're functioning. I turn on the power, every case fan will turn on (there's some additional ones), the two GPU fans come on, the motherboard's blue LED naturally comes on, and even the crucial tracer RAM LEDs come on and everything goes swimmingly. Also worth noting the arctic freeze comes on and the motherboard's own fan comes on. It literally seems like the cpu isn't getting any power but I didn't touch a thing. The inside is complex enough, a lot of wires and while I try I'm young, studying, and don't have a lot of money to replace anything I break, and think it has to be something simple so I'd rather try anything else before reseating a system I didn't build myself. If required I can post a video / images of the internals booting or anything else. I did check previous threads but can't find an applicable answer and this thread is something of a panic response.
Anyway, thanks in advance lads.

Edit: What I've tried:
Ensuring all cables are in tight, ensuring everything bar the CPU is seated correctly.
 

Graham Corr

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Mar 16, 2014
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4,510


It doesn't I'm afraid, tried removing both HDDs and still no joy so I think it's some tiny thing on the motherboard, unique to the 780i maybe? Cheers for the response.
 

Graham Corr

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Mar 16, 2014
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4,510
Removed the freezer 7 to get a better look, a red LED blinks on the motherboard next to the cpu area when the CPU power cord is in, and stays red when I leave it out. Both yield the same results however. Also the single graphics card didn't change things. Is it possible just this one 8 pin cord is faulty?