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SOLVED Troubleshooting an Old Build - No output display

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Astro

New Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2012
Hello Overclockers,

Overview:
This morning my first home-built computer (now ~1.5 years old) failed to output any display to either of my monitors. I have had this problem in the past with the same computer, but always after the computer losses power (unplug for dusting, etc). I have successfully recovered in the past by following the troubleshooting steps listed on this website, however this time I have no such luck.

System Specs:
Monitor: Asus 24" VE248H (x2)
Case: AZZA Genesis 9000 Black
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth Z77
CPU: Intel i7 3770k
CPU-Cooler: Corsair H100
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz 8GB (x2)
GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 660Ti 3GB
PSU: Corsair HX1050 Modular
Optical: Asus
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance
Keyboard: Razer Ananasi
Storage: Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD (I use this drive to boot)
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD

Upon Powering On:
The fans, drives, RAM, CPU cooler, and motherboard all show signs of receiving power. None of the red POST State LEDs stay lit on the motherboard, however the DRAM_LED does light up for a split second right when I click the power button. The Standby Power LED lights up as normal. The four-pin speaker makes no sounds. The monitors remain blank and in standby mode.

What troubleshooting I have done:
I first swapped out the HDMI and VGA cables I use to connect my dual monitors to my Geforce 660Ti, hoping for the easy fix. No luck, with the same results as above. I tried using only one monitor, with all combinations of cables and monitors. No luck again, so I double checked that my cables and monitors were indeed functional, and they all are. I cleared the CMOS and flashed the latest version of BIOS available on ASUS's support website. Again, no luck. I have also gone through every step of many troubleshooting checklists posted online. The last, and only step I have skipped thus far is breadboarding, which I plan to do tomorrow.

Suspicions:
This reoccurring problem happens every time the computer loses all power (unplugged, PSU switched off). This leads me to believe that the problem is in the motherboard, either in my CMOS battery or in my BIOS settings, which of course I am unable to access now. I am still a newbie in the field, so I am hesitant to do any guess and check troubleshooting without a more experienced opinion in favor.

EDIT:
Here are some pictures of my setup at the end of tonight's troubleshooting:
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r5wc.jpg



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ik22.jpg
 
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The CMOS battery's only function is to retain non default bios settings. You did not mention in your troubleshooting list that you tried a different video card.
 
Tried just running one monitor while you troubleshoot?

Yeah. I also have tried running a single monitor using HDMI cables, and DVI cables. I have also tried using the mobo's HDMI port with and without the graphics card installed.

The CMOS battery's only function is to retain non default bios settings. You did not mention in your troubleshooting list that you tried a different video card.

That's true, I have not been able to access a secondary GPU or PSU to test with. I definitely should've mentioned that! Sorry.

I think since I have flashed the most recent BIOS, and cleared the CMOS, that there may be a problem with the default boot drive, or default output display.
 
SOLVED

I solved my problem with this build. After searching for threads about similar builds with the same problem, I tracked the source of the problem to the mobo. Apparently alot of people have had no POST, no beep, no output display problems with the Sabertooth Z77.

To fix this, I had to remove the CMOS battery temporarily. It was a huge pain, especially since I am using the H100 CPU cooler in this build. I also test booted outside of the case to easily troubleshoot the problem, using a methodology similar to the one explained in this video:


Hopefully this information will help those with similar problems in the future. Thank you Luke1978 and trents for the information and questions that helped me find what I needed.

Astro
 
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