GA-X58A-UD5 and Intel i7-930 not booting

[enigmatic2u]

Hi, I received the following today:
Gigabyte UD5
Intel i7 930
6GB of Corsair ram (TR3X6G1600C9)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5830
Corsair HX 750W ATX Modular
Samsung SH-B083L 8X (Retail)
2 x Samsung F3 HDs
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B
Corsair Obsidian Series 700D case

Not the first computer I am putting together so I have experience but it's not something I do daily/weekly or even monthly to be honest.
Anyway, all components connected, I switch it on then it goes in a loop of coming on, then restarting, all I see is code 88 on the LED display for 2 seconds (bottom left corner - when looking to the back of the board).
I disconnected the HD's, Optical drive and removed the GFX card, only RAM and CPU connected now. Same thing.
The lights that do come on are the ones just below the RAM slots (or just above the ATX power), they are yellow-green in colour. There is also a red light on at the same time next to the power button on the mobo, according to the manual, it's either the Overclock LED or the Phase LED, difficult to tell as I can't see all the light flash up.
All power is connected, I have disconnected the power leads then back in again, still no joy. If it's a BIOS issue, difficult for me to update as I can't even boot up and get into BIOS. I tried it without the RAM too, at least I would expect a post error code, nothing!
I haven't experienced a dead processor before so it may be that, it may also be that the motherboard has a fault but difficult to tell.
The CPU cooler is fanless but I did attach a fan to the cooler just in case it's high temps, same issue.
I will be calling Scan tomorrow, maybe they are aware of compatibility issues of some kind?

Can anyone help?
thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the forum. It sounds like you have been doing all the right things so far. A few questions I need answered.

1) Did you check the CPU mounting for any damaged pins before inserting the chip?
2) Did you put thermal compound between the CPU and the heatsink?
3) Have you installed a buzzer?
4) Have you made sure that ALL the power cables are connected to the motherboard?

[enigmatic2u]

hi, thanks for the quick reply.
1 - i did not see any bent/damaged pins on the CPU, I re-seated the CPU earlier just to make sure, I double checked it then, nothing.
2 - I did put a thermal compound (it came with the CPU cooler - a tub), I applied a thin layer to both the CPU and the cooler (as per instructions)
3 - no buzzer installed
4 - all power cables connected but I think I made some progress in the last few minutes, the ATX-12V connector does not reach from the power supply to the board, so I used an extension which came supplied (I don't recall if it came with the PSU or something which I owned before as my room is a complete mess with stuff from previous setups). anyway, if I disconnect that connector, the computer remains on, although with the LED's lit up as described in my first post, no beeps, nothing. I connected the GFX then tried a HDMI lead and a DVI, nothing being displayed.
It may be that the ATX-12V extension is faulty, and the motherboard requires that to be connected to start up?
I don't have another spare one to try out so I may need to get on tomorrow morning, unless you or someone else thinks it something else?
thanks again

[Dark Mantis]

Yes you do need the extra 12v power cable near the CPU connected, I can't remember offhand whether it is a four or eight pin socket but it needs to be filled. Without that it won't start up. Get yourself a buzzer also, very cheap and extremely usefull in faultfinding especially. Just so you know what to expect when you switch on and everything is working properly, all the lights will come on and then start going off as POST procedes. The twin LED display will count up to FF in hex. Then you can play.

[enigmatic2u]

thanks, it is the 8 pin, will try to get hold of an extension tomorrow and that buzzer if I can find one locally.
thanks again, will keep you posted, but if anyone else has any other suggestions, then please let me know.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes the extensions can always be faulty and it is just another connection to go wrong. Is there no way you can re-route the cable to reach it?

[enigmatic2u]

i tried, but with the PSU screwed in place, no chance (be warned of this Corsair Obsidian Series 700D, it's massive!) i might just unplug the PSU and move it about until the connector reaches it. I am hoping that's the (only) issue.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes I know the case is big! I would definitely unscrew the PSU and move it to a position where I could plug it all in and test it just to prove that everyhting else was working even if you have to stand it on a box beside the case.

[enigmatic2u]

Right, I connected the 8pin directly onto the motherboard after I unscrewed the PSU and moved it, does exactly the same thing
I was going to go to the local computer fair to get this 8 pin cable (extension and on it's own), could it be something else?

[Dark Mantis]

Right then you need to remove nearly everything from the motherboard. At this stage I personally I would take it all out of the case and build it up on the desktop. Lay the motherboard on a bit of anti-static sheeting or cardboard box etc. Attach to the motherboard only the CPU, heatsink, buzzer and power supply. Try and boot up. See what beeps you get as it is trying to post.

[enigmatic2u]

well, I removed the motherboard out of the case, then started the process with just te CPU left in, non starter, same issue, I did this with the buzzer too, all I could hear was a quiet click, no beeps of any kind.
I then removed the CPU cooler and installed the stock cooler, same issue. I tried it with the RAM in too, same issue.
So I took it to a local computer shop, tried a different power supply (just as powerful) with only the CPU (and RAM on the second try) in, exactly the same issue.
To me, it sounds like a motherboard issue, it might be the processor but then surely the MOBO would indicate an issue with the processor, beep or LED code.

[Dark Mantis]

It could be either the processor or motherboard there is no way of telling 100%. I would recommend RMA for both of them. Numerically the chances are higher that the motherboard is at fault but we ahve had several cases recently of faulty CPUs also.

[enigmatic2u]

thanks for all your help, I have raised a case.

[Dark Mantis]

You can go down that route but they are often very slow to respond. The other option is to go back to the retailer and dump it in their lap. Get them to change it. Your contract is actually, in law, with the retailer and so you can apply pressure on them to make things right.

[enigmatic2u]

thanks for all your help, the motherboard was the issue so that was replaced, arrived only today, i quickly tested the components together, it's coming on, but another issue has come up, related to the graphics card I think, will be troubleshooting more thoroughly later on tomorrow. it goes through the cycle of C1 code, 20 i think, then 25, then 2b where it gets stuck. According to the manual, the code refers to "Invoke video BIOS". I tried the DVI and HDMI connection (no VGA on the 5830).
I cleared the CMOS, still the same issue. Card has been re-seated twice, BIOS battery removed for over a minute too (also pressed the clear CMOS button on the back of the board), still not displaying, will look for a spare gfx tomorrow at work to try out
any ideas? I am hoping it's not a dead gfx, the fan comes on for the gfx but that doesn't tell the full story of course.
thanks again for the help received so far.