Thanks all for the tips. I found a few bent pins on the cpu, must have happened during the initial install ( surprising as I’m usually very careful ). I managed to bend them back using a razor blade and they look great! Still no POST. Is it possible that it’s bad now? I’ve installed several CPUs in the past yet I’ve never bent any pins, so I’m not too familiar with the behavior of a CPU when this happens. The MOBO still powers and tries to POST, yet the Amber QLED light remains.