No Post\Boot once I took out CMOS battery?

[totalmajor]

Hi everyone,

I bought a mobo/gfx card/cpu from someone a couple weeks ago and figured I'd give the whole watercooling thing a run for its money.

Long story short, everything booted up fine, it posted fine, just needed to reset the BIOS because the previous settings were all crazy overclocked so after trying to clear it and removing CMOS battery and stuff, it booted up fine. Then I leave for a day and now the computer will not POST.

I started taking things out one by one and still nothing. Then I removed the 8 pin power connector and everything booted, but it won't post obviously because it's missing that 8 pin connector.

Is my CPU fried? When I could boot bios read CPU temp of 28 C.

Would this also be a sign of a bad watercooling loop? Even though it goes straight to my CPU first after radiator?

 

[unoriginal1]

Follow everything in this thread. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems Then let us know where it gets you. Also if you post your system specs that would help.

 

[totalmajor]

1. Gigabyte X58 UD7
2. i7 920
3. OCZ GOLD PC3 12800 8-8-8
4. Zotac GTX 460
5. 4 HD's Seagate and one WD Raptor

Includes a watercooling set up with CPU, Mobo, GFX card 3 fan rad.


Computer worked perfectly two days ago, I first forgot about 8 pin connector so it would just start up with no POST. Plugged it in, POST'ed fine. Computer wouldn't start because of some boot records so I took out CMOS battery, got to DMI Success screen after loading Optimized Defaults in BIOS.

Needed to leave for the night, came back next day. NOTHING was touched. Just turned the computer on like I usually do. Computer has phase lights flash and will not start. Started unplugging things one by one. Nothing, no beeps, etc.

When I checked BIOS temps for CPU it was reading 28C so I don't think the CPU was fried. Checked for leaks from blocks, couldn't find anything. Can it still be moist? Should I leave it off for a couple of days?

I unplugged 8 pin CPU connector and I was able to get it back into the same position I was in last time, where everything would start and light up but no POST.

I have everything unplugged, including the POST plugs at the bottom, POWER, RESET, etc. I have just been using the POWER button on my mobo to figure this out.

So far, that's all the information I have. Tested PSU, works fine.

I just don't get how one day could mess everything up!

 

[totalmajor]

From the page you sent me:

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes. 3 standoffs, one closest to processor 2 that go further back
4. GPU fully seated
5. Both PCI E molex's are connected to GPU
6. Yes
7. Yes
8. Yes
9. Yes
10. Yes
11. No
12. No thermal paste
13. No CPU fan, water cooled set up.
14.
15. Nope
16. Yes.
17. Yes.
18. Yes, even removed everything and just stuck to POWER button on MOBO.
19. Yes
20. Yes
21. Yes
22.
23. Triple and Quadruple Checked everything


The computer worked only a day ago. Nothing was changed, nothing was removed, added, etc. Everything was fine. All I did was remove the CMOS battery in order to reset the BIOS. I could not reset the BIOS but I did get a DMI Success screen and that's where the computer just hangs, I figured I just had to play around with a couple of settings to get it working, but that was for another day. It still POSTED fine.

I was gone for the day, came back and plugged it in. Wouldn't load. BEFORE the computer stopped working, I checked the BIOS for CPU temps and it was around 26C.

Now whenever I turn on the PC, the phase LED lights just flash for half a second and turn off. If I remove the 8 pin CPU connector the computer loads up fine, just see 88 on the motherboard and it obviously won't post because it's missing the connector.

I did take out the CPU from the socket just to see what was going on and it is SLIGHTLY darker in one corner of the CPU compared to everything else, depending on the light you're using to look at it.

To reiterate, here are my computer parts:

1. Gigabyte X58 UD7 /w waterblocks for north/south bridges
2. i7 920 w/ Swifftech waterblock
3. OCZ GOLD PC3 12800 8-8-8
4. Zotac GTX 460 w/ waterblock
5. 4 HD's Seagate and one WD Raptor
6. Corsair 750 WATT power supply

 

[unoriginal1]

Thanks for the update. Sorry for the delayed response i only check Tom's during the week at work. Thank you for taking the time to go through the check list.

One thing concerns me. You said no thermal paste? Even in a water cooled system you should still be using paste. Metal to metal would be ideal, If.. You could guarantee 100% contact between the metals. Which is impossible. Need to have a small amount of paste for the tiniest of irregularities between those two surfaces. Im leaning towards the PROC. But there's a chance it's the mobo, do you have another system (friend?) that you could set it up in and give it a test?

 

[totalmajor]

No I use thermal paste. I made sure I just didn't get it all over everything. Sorry I definitely worded that wrong on the list.

I don't really have anything else I can test at home.

I have an i7 920 that I scrapped from my friend's system but I'm scared to try it because it's missing one little connector on the back and I've heard some horror stories about testing a faulty CPU in a motherboard.

I did some more research and I'm hoping it's something with the CMOS settings I managed to mess up. I took out the CMOS battery for a day, unplugged everything and waiting for it to reset, I guess.

 

[unoriginal1]

I read that kind of wrong too . Sorry lol.

Any shops best buy or someone you can run it into for a quick test?

Let me know what you find... Kind of at a loss as of now.

 

[totalmajor]

Yeah I do have a couple of stores, do you know if any of that is expensive? Can they handle testing with a waterblock?

Thanks for the help!

 

[unoriginal1]

Usually. Or at least where i live. They would do a test for free. And that was just best buy. I'd just call ahead and see what they tell you.

 

[totalmajor]

Thanks for the help!

 

[totalmajor]

My Best buy doesn't do any hardware testing and Microcenter charges 70 bucks! Any other options out there?

 

[unoriginal1]

OUCH! That stinks! Try a local pc repair shop see what they say. It would literally take 5 minutes to test both the mobo and proc.

Other then that i'd say keep going the path you were with the cmos and dbl check everything one more time.

If you still have the stock cpu fan try removing everything from your case and setting it up (preferably on the box that came with the mobo) on something that WILL NOT build static elec. And see if you have any different results outside the case.