So do you know that joy you feel when you have all new kit sitting in front of you and with excitement you put it all together and nothing happens? Yeah, that's me. So here it is, I think my Motherboard is defective and before I RMA it I wanted to cross off all the steps I could to single it out. I have new everything: new 2tb WD HD, Samsung 830 SSD, EVGA 680gtx, Asus Maximus V Gene, i5 3570k, Silverstone 650W Gold PSU, , 2 new rads, new WB blocks. . . etc etc etc. As said, all new kit. Customed sleeved the PSU, checked all connections against a PSU tester every step of the way and everything checks out. Put blocks on CPU/GPU, attached the CPU to the mobo, installed all the hardware into the case, put in new hoses, filled the rads pushed the start button and nothing. Nothing happens at all. Took the PSU tester back out, checked all connections one by one, everything is green lighted with the tester. Re connected all wiring, pushed the start button on the mobo: nothing. Took the battery out of the CMOS, put in a new battery. Nothing. So, I think the Mobo is dead, but what else can I check before I start the RMA process with my shop? I'm certain the PSU is good as I've triple checked all connections against a tester. But I couldn't check anything else since there was no power coming into the system. I feel dumb as I don't know what else I can look for, but logic for me points to the MB as there is no power coming in to anything. I unplugged all the cables to the mobo and left the peripherals plugged in (pump, lighting, CD drive, fans, Mcubed and so on) and all peripherals fired up once they got power. So I know there is nothing that would be making a short here. What am I missing? What steps should I take to troubleshoot now?
Short the power button headers on the motherboard with a screwdriver to rule out any issues with the button on the case. Unlikely, but worth a shot. Does the motherboard have any LEDs to show if it's getting +5VSB? Do the ethernet LEDs blink when you plug in a cable? Do you have another motherboard or power supply available so you could try with that?
I've tried with 2 PSUs and no juice is getting to the MB at all. I've tried to start both from the case button and the QuiCK Start button on the MB itself. There are no LED's that light up (didn't think of that, but good call) when PSU is on. I have no other MB to run this gear on as out of generosity I sent all my old kit to a new WCer so he could build a test bench and learn how to WC (miss my old Thermochill rads already looking at the current build quality of rads coming out of china. . ..). But with the LED question, that almost confirms for me the MB is dead since nothing lights up on the board itself.
If the PSU will start on it own (shorting the black and green wire) then that would appear to be good (try running a fan off it as well) Next take everything out of the mobo (cpu, ram, gpu) and retry. The ASUS board will run bare to do bios flashes, so should at least light up now. If you are still getting nothing then it sounds board related (as long as you have no shorts anywhere to the case)
remember when I started and said I felt dumb??? I proved it last night. I decided that I would try and give it another shot, so I stripped everything from the mobo, took the CPU WB off, no ram, no CPU and everything (which was a PITA since I had filled the system with water already, but oh well). Put the MB on the MB box, took an old 400W PSU that I use for testing parts and Voilá! Life in the MB. Seems I made the noob mistake of cranking down too hard on the WB block and shorted the board somewhere. Put the WB block back on, fitted the hoses again, filled it with water and she runs like a charm. No matter how much you think you know, you can always learn something new everyday. Thanks for the help and making me triple check and strip my system instead of wasting time RMA-ing an awesome board that works.
Still not as dumb as me looking at EVGA board for half hour, trying to debug why it doesn't want to start, just to find that i forgot to reconnect the CPU 8-pin plug. That is dumb. Bending the board with a block is maybe overzealous, but not dumb.
