Hi and Welcome to TSF!

Yes, a 24PIN motherboard connector uses a 20+4 PSU connector. Typically they are connected with a breakable clip.

Do you get any signs of life on the PC? If not, I would RMA the PSU or use a PSU tester to make sure it works.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was able to swap the PSU with a known good PSU I have running on another system.

CPU fan starts, PSU fan starts--I have no HDDs connected. I plugged in the HDMI cable--I get no video. I even took the extra step of plugging in a speaker to the motherboard to see if I get POST error code beeps. I literally get nothing.

I used the clear CMOS jumper and cleared the CMOS to see if it was a configuration anomaly and literally no response.

I do notice after I hit power the fan starts up--pauses for a moment and winds down and then comes up to full speed.

Would you be able to verify I'm using the correct memory and CPU configuration? Another set of eyes on this would be great.

According to the user manual the memory doesn't get inserted side by side instead in an A2/B2 configuration. Which appears to be correct aswell.

Is it possible this board is DOA? I'm very frustrated and I'm ready to order another motherboard, but I want to make sure all my numbers match before I do this to make sure the board really is dead.

To add to the frustration I threw away the original box and packaging so I will probably have to buy a new one.

 

Ram and CPU match the board perfectly so either the board or the cpu is bad and I would bet on the board. By any chance when you placed the cpu in the saddle did you "flub" a bit and perhaps bend any pins in the board by accident. Look very carefully at the saddle or housing for the cpu and use magnifying glass if necessary as I have seen a rash of boards shipped with bent pins from Newegg they try to blame on user lately. Also that psu is not much good as the ones that are excellent from EVGA start at 550 watts (made by Super Flower)but that should be good enough to at least boot the system once.

 

Thanks for the response.

I removed the fan/CPU and examined the pins with a magnifying glass. Both the board contact pins and CPU pins are in perfect shape. The CPU is keyed so it would be hard to install it incorrectly. I'm always extremely careful when I install a CPU. Also, I don't show any signs that maybe a prior Newegg customer bent any pins. I laughed at your usage of the words "flub" and "saddle", totally hilarious.

 

So I e-mailed Asrock support and they gave me the following troubleshooting steps to follow. Here were my findings:

I did get 3 beeps with no memory installed.

I installed one 8GB memory module in A1 and it booted.

When I install the other 8GB memory module in A1 I get the following: CPU fan turns on and then turns off. This repeats over and over, on one second off one second. Ultimately no post and it runs in a loop. No beeps are indicated.

Prior I did not try just installing one memory module. Is it to assume that the other memory module is bad?

If I try to install both modules I will get no post.

If I install the other memory module on its own it will post just fine.

 

Yeah well believe me we have all done that from time to time but lately I look at the boards with a magnifying glass before using any of them because I had to fight a few times for replacements on pins I know I didn't mess up but that's not to say I have never bent any pins myself either, because I have once or twice.
Sounds like the board is bad then to me.

 

Saw your most recent after I posted. Sounds like the one stick is bad. Are you certain that using the stick you think is bad system won't boot? I have seen it where ram that is not compatible may work in 1 slot just both won't work together but I checked and the ram was tested for that board so it has to be bad stick now.

 

So your most recent after I posted. Sounds like the one stick is bad. Are you certain that using the stick you think is bad system won't boot? I have seen it where ram that is not compatible may work in 1 slot just both won't work together but I checked and the ram was tested for that board so it has to be bad stick now.

I swapped it out multiple times alternating between the two sticks in A1. I continually double checked that the ram was installed properly.

Every other time I get the same result: CPU fan kicks on for a second--turns off and then turns back on in a loop.

When I swap it back I get into the BIOS. I have since been able to get RAID and Windows 8.1 installed.

Its frustrating since I've double checked the compatibility multiple times. I keep second guessing myself. Would you be able to confirm the correct slots when installing two sticks of ram? From my viewing of the user manual I used the A2 / B2 configuration. I don't believe they can go side by side.

 

How it runs might make a difference but any combination should run just not in dual channel is all. No the answer is obvious.

 

I'm with Rich on this one, RMA the current board if possible.

 

I did RMA on the RAM and it turns out I had a bad stick of Ram.