Question What am I doing wrong? 3 motherboards, none of them send output to monitor

[zoyander]

My DDR3 RAM became damaged, so I decided it was time to get a new motherboard and upgrade to DDR4. I know that even with this upgrade I'm still out of date, but I want to stick with LGA1151 for a while longer, as my i7 6700K has been doing fine.

Well, I'm now two months deep into an absurd adventure trying to build a working system.

I started with this build:

Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z390M-PLUS
CPU: Intel i7-6700K
RAM: 2x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR4
CPU cooler: Corsair H100i ELITE CAPELLIX WHITE AIO Cooler
Case fans: 3 Corsair iCue SP120 case fans
PSU: EVGA 500W

I also have an Nvidia 1660, and I've tried booting both with it and without it.
For the monitor, I've tried with my Samsung TV and an old DVI monitor, both devices recognise that something is connected but receive no data.

The board seems to attempt to power up three times. On the third try the fans and lights would remain on, but it would send nothing to the monitor. Video demonstration here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFVr4Yjp2mI


I sent this video to the aftermarket sellers in China who sold it to me, and they had an engineer look at it - no advice. I also had a local PC repair shop look at it and try swapping out some components, they also couldn't definitively diagnose the issue.

I thought the issue was that some of the LGA1151 pins had been damaged when I was installing the motherboard (I did something stupid with the CPU cooler out of laziness) even though I and the repair shop guys had managed to carefully move the pins back into position. However, I have tried two other motherboards (treating them with more respect and care) and the problem still seems to be there. In fact, at this point I've replaced every part of the computer except for the case, and nothing changes!

Motherboard: I've tried replacing with ASUS Prime B360M-A and ASrock B365M Pro4. Both ASUS motherboards behave the exact same way, which leads me to think that they are responding in an expected manner to some other issue. The ASrock seems to switch on for one second and then immediately shuts off again.
CPU: I've tried my old i3-6100, no change
RAM: Fanxiana 2 x 8GB DDR4
CPU cooler: Noctua LH-9i
PSU: Corsair RMx 850x

Again, I've tried with and without the video card. The repair shop said the Intel i7 does not have onboard graphics, but I've seen people reporting the opposite, and I'm sure I remember using onboard graphics on the last motherboard.

The only reasonable explanation is user error - I must be connecting something incorrectly, though you'd think the repair shop would have noticed if that was the case. Based on the video linked above, can you see anything that's not connected correctly? What embarrassingly obvious step might I have forgotten?

Note: the problem that triggered the upgrade did not present this way. The computer would POST and then display an error message regarding the memory. I ran a memory check and there were <Mod Edit>-tonnes of errors. It seems unlikely that the two problems are connected, but at this point I'm open to any theories.

Edit: also, the repair shop fitted a motherboard speaker as I lost mine at some point. I got no beeps, unless I tried turning it on without RAM. Today the speaker broke, so I don't have any beep indicators regarding the change of PSU or cooler - fans and lights do the same thing that they were doing before though, so I don't think anything has changed.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z390M-PLUS
CPU: Intel i7-6700K
If you listed your specs out correctly, then your mistake is that you put the wrong processor onto the wrong motherboard or you have the wrong motherboard for your processor(s). The Z390 chipset is meant for the 8th and 9th Gen of Intel processors;
https://www.asus.com/motherboards-c...plus/helpdesk_cpu?model2Name=PRIME-Z390M-PLUS
it's not even listed in the CPU's support list for that motherboard.

Motherboard: I've tried replacing with ASUS Prime B360M-A and ASrock B365M Pro4.
Same story here. Look up the motherboard's support site, locate their CPU's support list and you won't see anything from the 6th or 7th Gen Intel processors listed there.

If you want to retain the 6th Gen Intel processors, you will need to look into the Z170 or Z270 chipsetted motherboards.

PSU: EVGA 500W
EVGA is the brand of the unit while 500W is the advertised wattage of the unit, what is the model of the unit? I'm also suspecting it's an used unit, if so, how old is it and what did it power during it's service?

 

[SkyNetRising]

The only reasonable explanation is user error

None of those boards support i7-6700K. They support 8th and 9th gen cpus only.

ASUS PRIME Z390M-PLUS​

ASUS Prime B360M-A​

ASrock B365M Pro4​

User error is - you didn't check cpu compatibility list for any of those boards.

 

[stonecarver]

I thought the issue was that some of the LGA1151 pins had been damaged when I was installing the motherboard (I did something stupid with the CPU cooler out of laziness) even though I and the repair shop guys had managed to carefully move the pins back into position.

Interesting twist that the PC shop would have had complete access to the CPU and didn't even question it was on the wrong platform.

 

[zoyander]

WOW I never thought the same socket would be used for incompatible CPUs. That's absolutely bizarre, and yeah really something I would have expected the repair guys to check.

Honestly, if I'd known I was getting a new CPU I would have just pivoted to Ryzen. I guess my next project will be a big spreadsheet to work out if it's more cost-effective to return as much of this new stuff as possible and switch everything over, or if I should just buy a 9th gen intel CPU.

 

[stonecarver]

Look at it like this maybe not what you expected but you have put yourself on the path to getting yourself up to the Windows 11 native CPU requirements by default now with one piece of the puzzle to finish getting is your flavor 9th gen Intel CPU.

If you look hard enough there is always a deal here or there for a CPU to finish your project.

 

[zoyander]

Look at it like this maybe not what you expected but you have put yourself on the path to getting yourself up to the Windows 11 native CPU requirements by default now with one piece of the puzzle to finish getting is your flavor 9th gen Intel CPU.

If you look hard enough there is always a deal here or there for a CPU to finish your project.

Thank you, this is really encouraging!

 

[Lutfij]

I sent this video to the aftermarket sellers in China who sold it to me, and they had an engineer look at it - no advice. I also had a local PC repair shop look at it and try swapping out some components, they also couldn't definitively diagnose the issue.
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Honestly, if I'd known I was getting a new CPU I would have just pivoted to Ryzen. I guess my next project will be a big spreadsheet to work out if it's more cost-effective to return as much of this new stuff as possible and switch everything over, or if I should just buy a 9th gen intel CPU.
Just some advice for the future, ask first and then go buy, it's less taxing on you and your wallet. Your post also looks like they were trying to offload their inventory and then blame you for their mistake or have zero accountability. Plenty of people out there preying on the uninformed.

Retain the Z370 motherboard and then pick up an i7-9700K, well your PSU and aftermarket cooler will need a revamp. DDR4-3200MHz~DDR4-3600MHz dual channel ram with tight latencies will net you a performance uplift.