GA-B75M-D3H issues booting after changing to Legacy boot settings from UEFI

[Tim88]

Hello there,

I recently built a new PC and am having some issues.
Specs:
Motherboard: B75M-D3H
CPU: i7 2600k
RAM: 16GB - unsure of details, but am pretty sure DDR3
Power: Corsair CX750M
HDD: 2x 1TB, no RAID setup
SSD: Samsung 500gb
Heatsync: Corsair H60
GPU: MSI R9 390

I think I got all the specs there. Let me know if I've missed anything.

Onto the issue:
The build went fine, booted to BIOS no problem. Installed Windows 7 pro 64-bit, no issues. Installed latest BIOS version (F15) and all necessary drivers.
The issue starts when we're ready to boot to the GPU display. No signal is returned. Not sure what the issue is there, but had done some research previously about newer GPUs not booting and decided to set to Legacy boot mode rather than UEFI (bad move apparently). After making this change, the computer will turn on, but not boot up. I get no display signal and mouse/keyboard also are not responding (I have a backlit keyboard, the LEDs do not turn on as usual, same with laser on underside of the mouse).

Troubleshooting:
Here is what I've tried based on message board posts and the motherboard's user manual. All attempts were done with power and all other devices removed (no USB, display or any other ports used).
1. Tried to clear CMOS by touching a screwdriver to the two pins as per he user manual. No success.
2. Removed the motherboard's battery. No success.
3. Used a spare jumper to try to clear CMOS. No success.
4. Remove motherboard battery and let it sit out over-night. No success.
5. Re-seated everything except CPU which has a liquid cooling block so it is not convenient. Also do not want to handle the CPU if possible. This means I re-seated the RAM, GPU, wireless card, SATA connections.

I'm not convinced the motherboard got fried during any of this, and besides, the issue started from rebooting after changing BIOS settings. I've made sure to ground the case as well as myself before touching anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm out of ideas and really want to get this rig working.

Thanks in advance,
-Tim

 

[GhislainG]

Did you remove the GPU and then connect the monitor to the motherboard?

 

[Tim88]

Hi GhislainG,

Yes, I did do that. Currently I have only the essentials hooked up. Maybe I can change this, so please advise if I should be doing something differently:
Have only CPU, liquid cooling with CPU fan, RAM, and PSU hooked up with monitory going into onboard graphics and USB mouse and keyboard. I am going to remove all but one RAM stick tomorrow after work and possibly reseat the CPU. If that doesn't work, I have no more ideas and will probably RMA the MB and just start again.

I also benched my rig, building it out on a non-conductive surface outside of the case, which also did not solve anything. I'll admit, this is quite frustrating.

 

[GhislainG]

Is the motherboard new? The CPU obviously is used; has it been successfully tested as working on a different motherboard? If you bought it used, how do you know that it wasn't overclocked to the point of failure? I've bought used CPUs, but the seller always had to prove to me that it worked at full load.

 

[Tim88]

Is the motherboard new? The CPU obviously is new; has it been successfully tested as working on a different motherboard? If you bought it used, how do you know that it wasn't overclocked to the point of failure? I've bought used CPUs, but the seller always had to prove to me that it worked at full load.

The MB is new, I just bought it via Newegg. The CPU is not new, and I did not buy it used. It's the CPU I was using in my old Alienware. The CPU has never had an issue, and no clock settings were adjusted ever. My new build seemed fine until the boot settings were changed to legacy vs. UEFI. This issue is a result of trying to troubleshoot another issue where the GPU was not being detected for some reason (could only get a display via the MB, when connecting the monitor to the GPU, no signal was returned). I thought changing to a different boot method may be a good troubleshooting step (I was wrong).

When I get home I will re-seat the CPU, but I'm not expecting this to provide new results.

 

[GhislainG]

Then RMA the motherboard because resetting the CMOS should make it work again.

 

[Tim88]

Taking this action. I suspected this would be the case.

Thanks much for your help

EDIT: went to my local Microcenter and just picked up a new MB, CPU and RAM. Now using i5 6600k on an ASUS z170 pro. No issues whatsoever and am very happy. Will RMA the Gigabyte MB and sell to a friend who wants it with my old CPU and RAM. I'm convinced that the MB must have been fried somehow or that the BIOS was not resetting for some reason.