Computer exhibiting strange behavior after motherboard upgrade!!!

[luckydoodles]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($294.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($140.49 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.29 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($314.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($43.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $1127.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-28 00:50 EDT-0400

Hello! I have recently upgraded my motherboard from this ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard to the one seen above, hopefully if the PCPartPicker markup works correctly. Everything went off without a hitch, computer booted perfectly fine as is with no issues, but I'm a bit odd and decided to do a factory reset so I didn't have random unused drivers from the upgrade. No issues at all here, I went ahead and did a BIOS update to 5.6 from MSI's website, with no issues and everything went smoothly. I began to update everything on the computer with Windows Update and this is where the issues begin. First, the updater was stuck on update 117 of 118 for an hour or two, so I powered down the computer and it gave the "Applying update operation" screen and reset properly, when the computer booted back up, I was given a new screen I have never seen before. It said something to the tune of "Failed to apply update, reverting to previous state", I brushed this off as computers just being weird and finicky, so I let it do its thing. This process of "reverting to a previous state" took over 4 hours, and I was already laying down in bed by the time the desktop wallpaper woke me up. I was happy it was all over, opened the start menu, and powered the computer down for the night. In the morning, however, the computer began to act strangely, it will not POST, the lights on my keyboard and mouse will not turn on as they usually do, I get no image on my screen whatsoever, while the fans spin in the case, on the CPU Cooler, and the GPU along with the 'WINDFORCE' logo on the latter. I began to do some troubleshooting because I hate to make posts begging for help. First I made sure it wasn't the SSD or HDD, it obviously wasn't since the computer would at least POST if there was a problem with the storage drives, but I tried a drive from a different computer in my house just to be safe. I tried two different sticks of RAM, and with the GPU not plugged in and the monitor plugged into the motherboard. Finally, out of desperation, I made sure the thermal paste was applied correctly to make sure the CPU didnt overheat while the updates ran for hours on end. Thermal paste was OK, and there was no damage to the CPU, or the pins on the motherboard. I'm at a loss, the last thing I could only imagine is some unsee-able damage to the CPU innards, or likewise for the motherboard, regardless, any and all help would be super awesome. Thanks in advance!

 

[Ketchup]

At this point, you want as little plugged in as possible: no drives; card readers, external devices, video card. Run the screen off the onboard graphics and do a CMOS reset.

 

[Paperdoc]

Any mobo switch can get you into the situation of mismatched device drivers. It appears you thought of that and tried to solve it, but did not (even though you thought it had worked). I say that because you say, "I'm a bit odd and decided to do a factory reset so I didn't have random unused drivers from the upgrade". Not sure what you did exactly, but "factor reset" usually means you tried to reset your BIOS with the mobo Reset pins and jumper. Or maybe you tried to do something in BIOS Setup. If that is, indeed, what you did, it did NOT affect the driver issue. That mismatched driver issue is a Windows problem, not a mobo BIOS Setup parameter problem.

So, let's go through the two stages you probably need. First is a complete BIOS reset. There is more to it that moving the jumper.
1. Shut down and disconnect the power cable. Open the case. Locate the pins used for Clear CMOS near the middle of your mobo - see manual p. 6, item 25, and p. 18. The BIOS battery is in the middle of your mobo next to the CLEAR CMOS pins - usually a silver disc about the size of a quarter in a plastic holder. Remove the battery, noting which way it is mounted. At the Reset pins, move the jumper from the "normal" pin pair to the "Reset" pin pair and leave it there for a few seconds - 10 sec max. Then return it to the "normal position. Now replace the battery properly. Close up the case and reconnect the power cord.
2. Power up and go immediately into BIOS Setup. Find the Exit Screen (Manual p. 94) where you can choose to Load UEFI Defaults. This will ensure that the BIOS is reloaded with a complete set of parameters.
3. If you know that some of the defaults are wrong and need to be adjusted, do that now. For example, if you have particular settings for your HDD, or if you need to specify that it should use the Gigabyte video card in the PCI slot, make those adjustments.
4. Check how your Boot Priority Sequence is set. I would assume you boot from the SSD, and have an optical drive unit. For that I'd set it to try to boot first from the optical unit, and second from the SSD, and NO other boot devices to try.
5. Do NOT exit Setup yet.

Now comes the second phase - trying to resolve the driver issues. For this you need the Windows Install CD you originally used to Install Windows on this machine - or at least, a Windows Install CD for the SAME version of Windows. Place that in your optical drive unit so the machine will boot from it.

6. NOW (with Install CD in optical drive) you must remember to SAVE Changes and EXIT so your BIOS adjustments are all saved. The machine will boot into the Install CD. Do NOT do a normal Install. Look for a Repair Install process and run that. This will detect all the devices in your machine and all the drivers installed on your boot device (the SSD), and attempt to resolve all the mismatches. Since it all did work at first right after you did the mobo swap, we should hope for success here.

When the process is finished you should remove the Install CD and reboot. If it all worked, the machine will boot normally. If it does not, try to reboot into Windows Safe Mode.

Once Windows is running, go immediately into Device Manager and look for any yellow caution flags. These usually indicate a device with an improper driver, and for each such flag you will need to find the right driver and Update to the new version. If there are few of them and Windows is working reasonably, skip that and go to the next stage - installing the mobo manufacturer's drivers.

Now, you're most of the way there if Windows is running. The only remaining "problem" is that this process has loaded up the drivers supplied on the Windows Install CD, whereas the drivers supplied by your mobo's manufacturer on the CD that came with the mobo are probably better. See your manual, p. 28, and use the mobo CD to install the drivers from it. You probably also will want to re-install the correct video card driver from the CD that came with that board.