Mostly-new built rig, no signal to monitor, really stumped.

Associate
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Could really do with a hand, I'm getting no signal to my monitor when I try to start my new rig, can't enter BIOS to set the windows install USB. MSI B550 Tomahawk, 3600x, 32gb Teamforce Vulkan 3200mhz RAM, Corsair RMx750 PSU, GTX 1080. I've tried an alternate monitor, alternate cables, different ports on the graphics card, different RAM configurations(normal furthest-with-a-gap, the reverse, next to each other in all possible ways, and both sticks tested singly in every slot), I used the single bifurcated PCIE cable that came with the PSU and is ostensibly the standard, I used both bifurcated PCIE cables but only the primary connector of each, and I switched back to my old 750w EVGA PSU with two single PCIE cables for the GPU.

Every single time the machine starts up, it cycles through the diagnostic LEDs(CPU, MEM, GPU, BOOT) and stays on BOOT, which is expected without a proper boot drive. All case fans work, the GPU is lit and does its normal test spin of the fans, and the Wraith cooler that came with the CPU is spinning fine. I know the graphics card isn't the problem, because it's from my previous rig and I'm using it again right now on that to type this. I'm genuinely at a loss.
 
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Have you checked the cpu for bent pins ?

Try clearing the cmos take the battery out to reset the bios.

When you say without a proper boot drive I'm guessing you do have an hard drive installed.
 
Associate
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Are you able to try a different PCI slot on the motherboard, perhaps?

Not looking promising, though :(

I could try the second one, but the manual seems quite adamant about putting the GPU into the main PCIE4.0/reinforced slot.

Have you checked the cpu for bent pins ?

Try clearing the cmos take the battery out to reset the bios.

When you say without a proper boot drive I'm guessing you do have an hard drive installed.

I had the boot SSD from my existing machine plugged in as well as the Windows 10 install USB, my intention was to go right into the BIOS and do a full clean install. The CPU was fine out of the packet and I installed it carefully and according to the instructions without any issues.

I had similar with bricked mobo, probably not what you want to hear and assume your B550 is quite new?

I got it literally a couple of days ago along with all the other new parts.
 
Soldato
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Clear CMOS if not done so already - battery removal for belt and braces or button(?)/bridging pins for a quick test (remembering to unplug from wall and deplete all residual power by pressing case power button).

alternate cables, different ports on the graphics card
Have you tried different flavour of cable - i.e. both DP and HDMI - when trying different cables?
 
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Clear CMOS if not done so already - battery removal for belt and braces or button(?)/bridging pins for a quick test.


Have you tried different flavour of cable - i.e. both DP and HDMI - when trying different cables?

I'll give the CMOS thing a try but as it's a brand new mobo right out of the box I don't know why it would help, it should already have stock-standard basic untouched BIOS.

Yes I tried all the ports on my graphics card, 3 different display port and one HDMI, same result in all cases.
 
Soldato
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I'll give the CMOS thing a try but as it's a brand new mobo right out of the box I don't know why it would help, it should already have stock-standard basic untouched BIOS.
It will have - but slim chance battery could be duff/low or you may have had a return (not saying you have) and the BIOS may need resetting. Certainly worth a try.
 
Soldato
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Well, have you tried actually flashing the BIOS on the board, using BIOS flashback?

Link to newest BIOS - HERE!

Rename to MSI.rom drop on the root of empty USB flash drive, put in flashback port, press the flash BIOS button.

Updating BIOS with Flash BIOS Button
1. Please download the latest BIOS file that matches your motherboard model from the MSI® website.
2. Rename the BIOS file to MSI.ROM, and save it to the root of your USB flash drive.
3. Connect the power supply to CPU_PWR1 and ATX_PWR1. (No need to install CPU and memory.)
4. Plug the USB flash drive that contains the MSI.ROM file into the Flash BIOS Port on the rear I/O panel.
5. Press the Flash BIOS Button to flash BIOS, and the LED starts flashing.
6. The LED will be turned off when the process is completed.
 
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Associate
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I'm still wondering how a brand new factory-sealed motherboard would benefit from messing with the BIOS at all. The CMOS clear didn't have any impact incidentally.
 
Soldato
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I'm still wondering how a brand new factory-sealed motherboard would benefit from messing with the BIOS at all.

Because that brand new factory sealed board can still have a badly flashed BIOS chip put on it, given the level of difficulty to rule of a bad flash, it seems sensible to try in before you dismantle the whole system and RMA the board. Oh yeah, that's the other thing, do a bench test on the board/CPU/RAM with whatever GPU you have, just get it out of the case.
 
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I'll give it a last try I suppose.

I did grab a mainboard speaker off amazon to see what result it gave, the new stuff is giving me one long then two short beeps, which if I've been directed to the right table(AMIBIOS?) is supposed to indicate a fault in the memory of the videocard. Which works completely without issues with my previous setup. Which still makes little sense to me, since I get the same issue whether it's installed in the "proper" PCIE4.0 x16 slot(which goes through the CPU) or the PCIE3.0 x4 slot(which goes through the chipset).
 
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