Custom Built Computer Will Not POST

I have renamed it Satan...and the case does have a demon head on the front. How awesome is that?!

Guys, I'm at a crossroads now. The Geek Squad has no clue what's up, I have no clue what's up, but another computer store claims they can fix anything...but for a price. That price is $60/hr. That's an option, and so is stripping it down and getting rid of everything. I just don't have confidence that they can fix the problem, but maybe they can prove me wrong.

if you bought the board with a credit card and the company says they fixed when in fact you can prove it is not, return and chargeback the board.

That's the problem. There is no proof that anything is broken because it passes every diagnostic test out there. Even though I have swapped out everything else out. Like someone said earlier, welcome to the Twilight Zone! Na-na-na-na.

You mentioned not being able to test the motherboard with a different CPU. Maybe you should buy a cheapie one like a 3200 or something just to seel if it would boot without a CMOS reset. Since the CPU performs the Power On Self Test, if there was a problem with it, it would either recognise its own problem, or it would be unable to finish the test due to that problem, or both.

Possibly, upon CMOS reset, a full POST is not performed. Maybe the POST after a reset is only partial. If we assume this, that would explain why the CPU boots into windows but doesn't POST. It may be a problem that doesn't have anything to do with the actual performance of the CPU, it may be just something residual from factory testing that is now broken.

Having exhausted every other option besides changing CPU and motherboard supplier, I suggest you try these 2 things.

Regardless of what you have done and heard about the condition of this system, many of us would start to troubleshoot this from scratch:

Remove the motherboard from the case
Test it outside the case
If it boots, put it back in the case carefully, and try it again
If it doesn't boot, replace the board, but not the CPU yet

At this point, I might even try another case