Z270E no post

[gt5612a]

New build no work...

ASUS Z270E
I7-7700k
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Intel Z170 Platform / Intel X99 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-16GVKB
GTX 980 ti
Hyper 212 Evo
Fractal Define R5
750W PSU
etc.

Every time I turn on power I get the red mobo power LED and the RGB strip lit, but no fans, no POST. Twice in a row it started POST with GPU absent, but the other 3 million tries like that or with various permutations of RAM slots, disconnecting everything but CPU and fan, bread boarding the thing, etc.... Nothing but pretty RGB strip and red power LED on MOBO.

PSU has normal voltages throughout by multimeter testing. I removed the mobo battery and reinstalled. CPU pins and mobo CPU bay look fine. I switched jumper from normal to OC voltage and back, stood on one foot and prayed hard, etc.

Time to RMA? Dumb question, send back mobo (as opposed to CPU)? dumber question, does Amazon need just the board or all screws, manual, back plate?

Finally, are there any obvious component incompatibilities? I read about early BIOS version incompatibility with I7-7700k, but I just got this Z270E, should have a recent BIOS.

Thanks very much for sharing your wisdom.

 

[KahouAoki]

From the board's manual:
POST State LEDs
The POST State LEDs provide the status of these key components during POST
(Power-On Self-Test): CPU, memory modules, VGA card, and hard disk drives. If an
error is found, the critical component’s LED stays lit up until the problem is solved.

Green = Boot device
White = GPU
Yellow = RAM
Red = CPU

These are located on the right edge of the board above the 24-pin connector.

 

[gt5612a]

Right, I did RTFM and perhaps I wasn't clear- the red power LED a couple cm away from the POST LEDs lights up on powering along with the rear shifting color rainbow light bar, but none of the POST LEDs light up at all, and there is no fan activity or other signs of life.

Thanks for your prompt reply.