I have power but no POST I've run out of options

Hello,

I've run into a major problem and I need a second opinion and some guidance and help because I've run all the tests that I know and now I need some fresh ideas and maybe somebody might think of something that I've missed or overlooked.

I recently purchased a new motherboard and processor to replace my dead motherboard and processor. Well everything arrived today and everything is installed and run through a check list before I actually booted the PC and on comes the power which is a good sign. But... no POST...?

Okay, I've comes across this before with a new motherboard I shall clear the CMOS and then boot again. Turned on the power and again no POST, now I'm starting to worry, is it the processor, the board or the memory which is at fault. So I have run a series of tests to determine what the cause of the problem is, below is the spec and below that is a series of tests I've carried out myself.

M/B: ASUS Crosshair Formula/Thunderbolt
CPU: AMD FX 6100
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
RAM: Corsair XMS3 1600MHz 8GB pack
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB STAT3
HDD2: Seagate Barracuda 500GB STAT3
HDD3: Segate Barracuda 1TB SATA3
GFX1: Sapphire HD 6870 Toxic Edition OC
GFX2: Sapphire HD 6870 Toxic Edition OC
Souncard: Thunderbolt (Creative X-Fi SB)

Tests carried out:

1.0 Cleared CMOS (by pressing the CLRCMOS button at the rear of the M/B) and then rebooted the system.
1.1 Restarted, still no POST, no display and no beep.

2.0 Unplugged PSU including all power cables just leaving 24-Pin and 8-Pin cables moved jumper from default 1-2 to 2-3 on CLRTC_SW left for 10 seconds and then put the jumper back to default 1-2, plug in all pwr cables again and restarted system.
2.1 Restarted, still no POST, no display and no beep.

3.0 Removed memory modules just leaving single memory module and restarted the system again.
3.1 Restarted, still not POST, no display and no beep.

4.0 Removed the second GFX card just leaving single GFX card in PCIE_X16_1 restarted the system again.
4.1 Restarted, still not POST, no display and no beep.

5.0 Removed the battery and left it for 10 seconds and then replaced the battery, and rebooted the system again.
5.1Restarted, still no POST, no display and no beep.

6.0 Replaced the Battery with a new one and then rebooted the system again...
6.1 Restarted, still no POST, no display and no beep.

7.0 Removed the processor, checked over the processor with a magnifying glass with a powerful LED light to check for imperfections, and there aren't any. Put the CPU back and reattached the CPU cooler and then.
7.1 Restarted, still no POST, no display and no beep.

8.0 Removed all GFX Memory modules, HDD, Soundcard cleared CMOS and restarted the system and again....
8.1 Restarted, still no POST or beep.

9.0 Changed orientation of System Panel Connector speaker.
9.1 Restarted, still no POST, no display and no beep.

The only thing I haven't changed at the moment is the speaker, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it. it was working perfectly fine before I changed the hardware.

Being an avid ASUS user for many years now and never really had any problems with them and I've been using them now for 12 years, I used to use Gigabyte but their board are paranoid when it comes to memory modules and can be very fussy with RAM.

I'm used to ASUS Q LED which tells you about components and if there are any problems with them. Now if there was an issue with any of the components during the booting process the the LED would continue to flash to indicate there was a problem with any of the below. The fact of the matter they haven't there has been no indication that there is a problem and this is were I'm really stuck because, if none of the LED's can determine that something is at fault then the Motherboard is up s**t creak without a paddle, so to speak that is. There is also removing all just leaving CPU and restart and see what LED's come on below... if the VGA DRAM is removed then these should blink...?

[] BOOT_DEVICE_LED
[] VGA_LED
[] DRAM_LED
[] CPU_LED

Any help would be gratefully appreciated because I've gone through everything I can think of and I cannot find the fault. My gut feeling it's either the motherboard or it's the CPU that's stuffed.

Looking forward to your input and help would be appreciated.

Remove all the ram from the system and attempt to boot, if the board doesn't beep or go nuts, it's likely the board.

I tend to agree with you that it is the motherboard. The above suggestions are good valid troubleshooting points. My only other suggestion, some of which I am sure you have done, is recheck the connections to make sure they are fully seated and in the correct orientation, like stated above, remove everything except what is necessary for the computer to boot. It should post without any hard drive connected. Failing all of that, I would try another PSU if you have or could borrow one. If still no post, It is most likely the board or CPU.

I agree about the PSU. That's why I mentioned it in my post above. Over time PSU's can degrade somewhat.

Your motherboard (ASUS Crosshair Formula/Thunderbolt) has a number of onboard LED's (see manual Sect 2.2.6)

It has a set of LED's that indicate the voltage conditions of CPU, memory, northbridge and southbridge. The manual says there are 3 states to each LED: Crazy, High, Normal. (Something got lost in the translation from the Chinese).

There is a GO LED for the RAM, a Q-LED, & more.

Have you checked the status of all these LED's? You said you checked the status of the Q-LED, but what about the others?

You said: "...Cleared CMOS (by pressing the CLRCMOS button at the rear of the M/B) and then rebooted the system."
The manual does not indicate that this button exists.

Try removing the CMOS battery & then shorting the pins. Shorting the pins with the battery installed usually does nothing. I think the manual is missing this step.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD...Bolt/#download