Pc power cycles without reaching POST

[newpcgaming]

Hello. So I built my current gaming rig in the summer of 2014 with the help of this website and its been better then I could have ever imagined. Im currently in college and was just home for about two months away from my apartment and PC. When I returned last night I tried to boot up my PC, but it turns on for a second, then off, then back on, then off, and it continues till i turn off the PSU, in which case after the PSU is off or disconnected it power cycles one more time before finally turning off, all without reaching POST. I troubleshooted it all last night but to no avail. I tried resetting the CMOS, running with varying RAM sticks/no RAM sticks (no beeping from mobo), disconnecting hard drives, and testing my PSU. Interestingly enough the only way I can get everything to run is if I disconnect the PSU’s 8 pin connector for the CPU, if I do that everything runs, but just no booting (obviously). At this point I’m thinking the CPU or MOBO is bad, any help would be appreciated. I’ve atttched a link to a video of the problem at the bottom.

My specs:
MOBO: Asus Z97-A (2014)
CPU: Intel I7-4790K (2014) *Stock cooler
GPU: GTX 970 (2016)
PSU: EVGA 1000W G2 (2015)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X 2X8GB (2014)
Hard drives: 128GB SanDisk SSD & WD Black 1TB HDD (2014)

The issue:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=12JhsS-Dk8Br9KNcaGeTQeIOSrbzZxzVW

 

[Aeacus]

Yeah, it does look like you either have bad MoBo or CPU.

I'd go with new MoBo since i, personally, would hate to scrap that Core i7, which at today's standards, is still very good CPU (on-par with i5-8400). That, and also because CPUs are very durable and can last 10+ years when running stock clocks. Of course, CPU OC does shorten it's lifespan considerably, e.g i7-4790K OC'd to 4.8 Ghz would give it a lifespan of about 5 years or so.

 

[newpcgaming]

I just went out and bought a relatively cheap test PSU, same issue. right now I have just my mobo, PSU, CPU/heatsink, and 1 stick of ram together on a piece of cardboard on my table. Looks like i’m buying a new MOBO. Is there anything I should know about the installation process? Especially on the software side?

 

[Aeacus]

The state your PC is currently in, is called breadboarding and it's a good way to troubleshoot PC hardware issues. It's much more convenient than keeping your MoBo inside the PC case.

On software side, you'll face the issue of activating your Win again since all Win license keys are tied to the MoBo. If you have Win 10, then in most cases, you can bring your license over,
further reading: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/transfer-windows-10-license-new-pc/

But if you have Win 7, 8.1 and especially OEM version of those OSes, you're looking to get a new genuine Win license key to activate your Win again.

Only way not to go through the Win activating issue is when you get exact same make and model MoBo you currently have. And even then there's 50-50 chance that Win still requires activation key. Good side is that you don't need to reinstall your Win since MoBo drivers are same.

On hardware side, be gentle when moving CPU around. You don't want to bend CPU socket pins on your new MoBo. Also, clean off old thermal paste with isopropyl alcohol (at lest 90% pure) and apply new thermal paste.

 

[newpcgaming]

I just so happened to find the exact model as my previous motherboard, so that’s good. Thank you for your help!