PC is visibly booting, but nothing appears on the monitors

[ohara.ryan.t]

My gaming PC has parts of varying ages and was working functionally last night, however when I tried to boot it today I received no response from my monitors.

I am running a dual monitor setup, and I have verified that both monitors work when plugged into my girlfriend's PC with their respective cables, and I have also plugged her working monitors into my PC and received no response from mine as well. These parts have been working fine for a few months, and I have not recently changed or adjusted any parts or made any sweeping software changes. When I power the computer on, all of the lights and fans are functioning as expected but no picture appears (monitors simply say no cable connected or no connection found).

PC Specs:

OS: Windows 10
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 (~3 years old)
Processor: i7-4790 (~2 years Old) w/ Stock Heatsink
PSU: Corsair RM 850X (~6 months old)
GPU: GTX 1080ti Founders Edition (Won this in a contest ~4months old)
RAM: 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance (~2 Years Old)
Hard Drives: Samsung 850 EVO (Windows Installed on this)
Old Crappy HDD with random crap on it from an old computer


I have tried several things to resolve the problem, none of which have been to any avail:

1) Tested and confirmed all monitors and cables are functional
2) Tested all ports of the GPU
3) Tested booting with all monitor ports on a different GPU (my girlfriends functional GTX 970)
4) Tested booting with all integrated motherboard ports (with GPU both seated and removed)
5) Reset the CMOS in two ways (batter and jumper), and repeat steps 2-4 after
6) Used the BIOS reset command after powering on the device (not sure if it worked since I cannot see anything on a screen, but the device powered off and back on) and repeated steps 2-4
7) Powered on the device after re-seating the RAM as well as powering it on with each RAM stick individually
8) (Edit) Also attempted booting with the drives plugged in individually and without any at all

These tests have been done with a single monitor plugged in (I usually tested both at each step) and only a keyboard and mouse as plugged in peripherals.

At this point I have reached the end of my ideas, and don't know what steps to take next. The MOBO manual did not explain the POST codes very well, but the LED debug indicator on the motherboard quickly rolls through 16-17 alphanumeric digits without pausing on any specific one. Once it completes the cycle of debug codes the LED goes blank for ~1 second before cycling through the codes again. I'm honestly unsure if that is normal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

UPDATE: Got a case speaker from my friend and confirmed it worked by removing the RAM from the PC and booting into beeps. After reseating the RAM and booting, no beeps were heard but there was a light clicking noise from the speaker ever ~3 seconds, and the monitors continue to have no response.

 

[rocktalkrock]

Try disconnecting all the "Old Crappy HDD with random crap on it from an old computer" and rebooting. Maybe this device is causing your problem.

 

[ohara.ryan.t]

Just tried booting with both hard drives alone (as well as removing both and trying) - no response still

 

[rocktalkrock]

Have you tried booting with the video card in the 2nd x16 slot?

Also switching ram from slots 2 & 4, then 1 & 3, with different stick of ram looking to see if one of your sticks is faulty. Your motherboard doesn't seem to allow booting with 1 stick of ram.

 

[ohara.ryan.t]

Now that I'm awake I'll shoot through those tests, have a friend bringing over some spare parts for me to try

 

[cherry blossoms]

Additionally:

Tried a different power outlet , and if running with an Uninterruptable Power Supply, off of the UPS?

Disconnect the reset switch in case somehow this got pressed in and stuck.

Try booting the system from your 2nd BIOS. Your jumpers are in the upper right corner of the board.

Can you borrow another power supply to test your other components? I HAD 2 different Corsair 850W power supplies in the past. Lets just say I am NOT a satisfied customer.

 

[ohara.ryan.t]

Apparently the PSU was sending the board enough power to light up and POST but not enough to actually function, slapped in my friend's PSU (used my cables and just switched the box itself) and it booted just fine.

After a quick zip to microcenter the problem is behind me, thanks for the input guys!