Windows 7: Asrock 970 Motherboard not posting (most of the time)

Hello, just swapped a faulty motherboard out of my system as it was BSODing at every turn im now having problems with this new board.

New motherboard - Asrock 970 extreme 3 (installed yesterday with fresh windows install)

often won't post on startup just displays a blank screen as if no video is detected by monitor yet fans are all on and i hear the hdd being accessed. takes 3-4 soft resets to get it to post.
iv'e fully reinstalled OS but it was doing it without OS installed. (windows 7 64 home prem)

computer runs perfect once its on

BIOS updated, all connections reseated.

all BIOS settings on Auto.

Puzzled...

any help appreciated

Make sure there are no loose wires making contact with the mobo. Also check the standouts; make sure they are fully screwed in the case and the mobo is firmly screwed into standouts - don't over tighten. Make sure there is nothing behind the mobo - in between mobo and case.

Next thing to check is the CPU. Make sure it's firmly seated and installed correctly and you've applied thermal paste. Not to over do it on the thermal paste

i remember perhaps putting a 'little' too much thermal paste on, think that could be my problem? CPU is the only thing i haven't reseated i'll try that next and check the board at the same time

thanks for the reply

Do you know the PSU to be good?

Have you tried disabling your GPU and using onboard video?

Have you tested the RAM?

not tested any hardware with this build. though i tested all these same parts over my old board so i know they are not faulty except this new board itself.

no onboard graphics although i have another card i can try guess i should try it.

iv'e just bought this board to put an end to 6 months of troubleshooting.

was hoping that it might just be some settings in the BIOS its not getting right automatically... wishful thinking

CPU reseated with less compound nothing touching board from what i can tell it seems mounted correctly

thanks for the input guys

except for major hardware stress testing and swapping out bits is there anything else i can check perhaps in the BIOS (crosses fingers) before i have to dfismantle this thing yet again.

As far as the BIOS goes, most current hardware shouldn't need any settings changed in the BIOS to function properly. However, if you have tinkered with something, you should select Load Failsafe Settings in the BIOS.

I see, no i haven't changed a thing.

I've noticed it has a better chance of starting first time if i turn off power supply and leave it a few minutes.

I would follow this tutorial and run memtest86 to test the ram, Furmark for the Graphics card and Prime95 for the CPU. It seems if you were having problems with your last board and replaced it using the same hardware, there is a good chance the problems are hardware related.

Also, look at the hardware monitor in bios and see what the voltages of you PSU is.

Try another PSU.

ok thanks guys.

here are voltages for this brand new 750 w psu
Vcore: +1.408v
+12.00v : +12.091v
+5.00v : +5.040v
+3.30v : +3.328v

if these are in order ill make the PSU change to a spare 550w

then ill test MEM GPU and CPU again.

i've only just bought this mobo from amazon this week. ill look into a replacement if all tests work fine and psu makes no difference

unless there's something else i can try.

thanks again