Is my PSU or motherboard dead

Nathan_38

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Jan 28, 2016
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I have a new build less than 2 weeks old:

  • Corsair RM Series RM 850 '80+ Gold' 850W Modular Power Supply
    NZXT KRAKEN X61 280mm
    Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD x2 in raid 0
    Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 Intel Z170 Motherboard
    Avexir Core White Series 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 2400MHZ
    Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB
    Intel Core i7-6700K
    Palit GeForce GTX 980Ti "Reference Design"

Everything was running fine until last night. I powered on the PC from cold and it restarted 3 times before a successful boot. I used it for a few hours and shut it down. The next day I tried to power on but the PC wouldn't start. I have no motherboard lights or fans starting. The light on the kraken is lit an so is the Ethernet port.
 

Nathan_38

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Jan 28, 2016
5
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4,510
I won't be able to check until later. I am using a quad channel RAM kit 2400MHZ on a Dual Channel board could this be an issue? I am concerned that the 3 starts before a successful boot was a warning sign for something bad. :??:
 

Nathan_38

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Jan 28, 2016
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4,510
I've finally found the problem.

First I cleared the CMOS and did the paper clip test on my PSU and it passed. I put the PSU back in still no boot. I swapped the PSU for another one, still no boot.
I thought there might be a short somewhere so I removed the motherboard from the case onto its box and attached only the CPU cooler and motherboard power.... Success the board powered on.
So I then put everything back in and guess what... No boot again.
I then had a thought. It powered on when I shorted the power switch jumper with a screwdriver when it was outside the case but not inside when the switch was used. I removed the power switch header and tried a screwdriver...bingo. Powered on. I put all the connectors back directly onto the board (without the header) and all is good