abit IP35 Pro - No Boot :(

Hello everyone,

I've recently become really interested in computer hardware and stuff. overclocking, upgrading, testing stuff. It's generally fun, though sometimes a pain in the ...

My current problem: There's no POST when I power on my computer.

Background: I've recently swapped my previous GPU (750 Ti) into a different one (680 GTX). The rest of the components are abit IP35 pro, Q9400 @ 3.6, 2x4 DDR2 Ram (2x2 Kingston 2x2 Mushkin), Seasonic X-series 650W, SSD and HDD.
The 750 Ti system worked fine for a couple of months or so, and a few days ago I've swapped the GPUs. One thing I saw immediately is that the massive size of the GPU caused it to make some contact with the motherboard's coppery-heatsink-thing. I knew this may be a problem, so I added another intake fan, right near the area. The 680 system booted, worked well for a few days, managed to game well with it, etc. Since I was still unsure of the stability, I left it running Prime95 Blend for about 10 hours. When I returned, I saw a dead screen, though fans were still running and such.

My attempts at fixing it and their results:
1. I've tried rebooting the system and powering it on/off. Didn't do anything, fans still on, USB devices get power, but nothing on screen.
2. I've tried removing the 2x Kingston sticks, nothing.
3. Tried clearing the CMOS - Still no POST, but I know the motherboard reacted to that, because the CPU fan changed it's speed. This is an indicator of a successful CMOS reset, because my default configuration had a different fan speed. This may also be an indicator that the motherboard can still detect the temperature of the CPU. It also takes the "Overclock stability" issue out.
4. I've tried placing the 750Ti back - Still nothing. This means that the 680 GTX is probably OK.
5. I tried removing all the RAM sticks, but there's nothing special happening (no beep, no different colors or codes...)

I understand I have a bunch of stuff going on. This could be a dead GPU, dead CPU, dead motherboard, dead RAM, dead power supply, dead everything. My question is, how do I isolate the problem?

My future attempts, which I'll do later today:
1. I have a Q6600 lying around. I could plug it in...

Update 1:

After several CMOS Cleans and reboots, I was able to POST and get into windows with the 750Ti and 1 RAM stick. I then repeated the process with the 680GTX, and again, I've managed to POST and get into windows. However, this seems to be some sort of fluke... I'm now unable to repeat it.

Update 2:

Looks like I was able to "fluke" it into booting back with the 4x sticks AND the 680 GTX. I don't know what I've done, just some games with power on-off and CMOS. I'm not sure it could keep working.

Update 3:

It appears that the fluke from update 2 is somewhat stable. I haven't rebooted it or shut it down yet, but I was able to do 1h of Prime95 (to test CPU & RAM), 1h of heaven benchmark (to test GPU), and 1-2 hours of gaming.

So my main suspects atm:
GPUs - Probably not. I had boot issues with both the 680GTX and the 750Ti. Was able to fluke boot with both.
CPU - Maybe. I can only be sure if I put my old processor back.
Motherboard - Maybe. Can a motherboard post with a bad processor? My gut feeling tells me it's the motherboard
RAM - Probably not. I've had boot problems with the 1x stick and with the 4x sticks, and eventually, was able to fluke boot with both.
PSU - Probably not, but who knows. I don't have a better PSU lying around.
SATA Devices (HDD, SSD) - Not sure, how can I diagnose those? Will they even cause a no-post?

Any suggestions or insight, tech pros?

Maybe test the voltage stability on the psu?

OnDborder said:

Maybe test the voltage stability on the psu?

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Hey dude, thanks for the comment! I think the PSU is fine.

Edit: New problem today. The issue returned and now it has gotten worse, now when I attempt to power the system, in about a second or so the fans stop spinning and it enters some sort of "quick rebooting" phase where it attempts to power on but fails over and over again.

I think the MB is dying. Could be the PSU... but I think it's the MB

what brand/model psu and how old is it? do you have a pc speaker hooked up to it, since it should give you a beep code on a no post. its a low level error diag.

Evilsizer said:

what brand/model psu and how old is it? do you have a pc speaker hooked up to it, since it should give you a beep code on a no post. its a low level error diag.

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The PSU is SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold. I'm not sure about it's age, but it's not ancient. If working properly, it should be easily able to handle some of the other stuff I have in there (Q9400, GTX 680, 1 HDD, 1 SSD, some fans...)
As for the speaker, should the beeps come out of the PC speakers? I didn't know that. I thought the beeps emerged from an inner speaker in the motherboard.
Come to think of it, I think that at some point I unplugged some sort of 2 pin or 4 pin speaker that connects directly to the motherboard.

as far as i know, i havent seen a motherboard with a pc speaker on in a while. most now have LED's that give you number or letter combo for the error. yea most pc speakers either are just small ones attached to some wires or in the case if the case has it. the IP35-pro doesnt have one built onto the board so plugging that in would help, if you still have the manual the beep code will be in there.

Evilsizer said:

as far as i know, i havent seen a motherboard with a pc speaker on in a while. most now have LED's that give you number or letter combo for the error. yea most pc speakers either are just small ones attached to some wires or in the case if the case has it. the IP35-pro doesnt have one built onto the board so plugging that in would help, if you still have the manual the beep code will be in there.

Click to expand...

The Number/letter indicator thing shows the a "9.0" combination. I've googled it and it seemed to be a common issue. I was able to boot it with no USB ports. Not sure if it's related or a fluke, I'll try again eventually and see.