New MSI X99S SLI PLUS and can't even get to POST screen

[samf88]

Hi folks, bit stressed out at the moment! Just spent £2,000 on components for a completely new build. Got it all put together last night and went to boot only to find that nothing was outputting to monitor at all - not even a POST screen. Have tried all sorts of things to narrow down the issue like removing everything but the bare essentials, trying DVI instead of HDMI, clearing CMOS and more but we're not getting anywhere and could really do with some expert advice on what to do. I've tried contacting MSI support but I'm guessing it'll be 48 hours between each message back and forth and this just isn't good enough.

The relevant components are as follows:

Motherboard: MSI X99S SLI PLUS
Processor: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.30GHz Hexa Core
RAM: 4x 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 2666MHz Quad Channel
VGA: 2x MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V 4GB GDDR5
PSU: EVGA Supernova 1000W PSU
Cooler: Cooler Master NEPTON 140XL

The Motherboard doesn't have iGPU so we have to use the graphics cards (which I believe should have at least a basic display state that doesn't require drivers or the like and should let us see POST, BIOS/UEFI). We've tried HDMI and DVI outputs from this, just incase HDMI required drivers for HDCP or whatever.

All fans are spinning when they should, LEDs or lights illuminated on the motherboard, CPU Cooler, Graphics Card which to me narrows down the issue from being power related.

We've tried a different graphics card to remove that from the equation. Same issue. What we can deduce is that the monitor DOES switch to the HDMI channel when the machine is switched on - so there must be some kind of signal being sent in order for that to happen.

Also tried with NO sticks of RAM in - and the mobo didn't beep which I would expect it to.

I'm guessing this leaves us with either a faulty motherboard or faulty processor but I could be wrong! Can anybody shed some light? If I've missed any vital details please do let me know and I will be happy to provide.

UPDATE: Now in process of RMAing Motherboard with eBuyer - hopefully they won't invent some sort of 'damage' to prevent a replacement like Scan Computers have done with me in the past. Hoping they find the fault and this will sort the problem but if they send the same motherboard back and say it's not faulty then I'm open to any ideas!

Many thanks!

 

[alexoiu]

Hi,
"Also tried with NO sticks of RAM in - and the mobo didn't beep which I would expect it to."
Is a case speaker http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/12-201-032-TS?$S300W$ connected to the motherboard?

"VGA: 2x MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr V 4GB GDDR5"
I suggest testing with single RAM module (test each slot) and single graphics card (test each PCIe slot), DVI port to DVI port, if possible.

 

[KHCloud]

I had a similar issue with a recent build, MSI X99S Gaming 9 ACK with GTX 980's, for some reason I cannot get the system to boot out a HDMI signal until windows actually loads, I even tried a DVI to HDMI cable (DVI in the GPU side) and still nothing.
Wasn't until I dug out my old DVI to DVI cable and used that I was able to get post and bios on the screen.