new system build

[memories]

Hello

have finally taken the plunge to build meself a new system and this is where the fun begins :)

have installed the mobo,processor,graphics card,harddrive,modem ,memory ,hard drive,dvd rom drive and dvd burner but when i power up i keep getting a beeping sound about ever 10-15 seconds

then i switch it off cos i don't know what it is

any help or suggestions would be gladly recieved

[TierraDelFuego]

what sequence are the beeps in? as in like SOS long or short beeps.

also try booting up with nothing but the mobo, processor, memory and see what happens. then add graphics card , hard drive one at a time etc.

[CHR15]

Have a look in BIOS at your alarm settings.

I have seen similar to this, the CPU alarm Temp had a default setting stupidly low, the beeping was because it had exceeded the lower threshold.

Goes without saying make sure your fans are all running correctly and it isnt overheating for real!

[MamaKin]

Is the memory in place correctly?

[CHR15]

could have been a little clearer, does the PC actually boot up into windows or just sit there blank, beeping every 10 seconds??

The beeps, as Tierra has indicated, are error codes, their meaning depends on the type of BIOS your mainboard has.

[heatbball]

some motherboard manuals actually tell u what the beeps mean, u mightwant to read it if u have it

[TierraDelFuego]

just to add, or further add i suppose... some mobo's now come with an indicator, e.g a device which plugs into the mobo and has light indicators to show what is wrong. anything like that with your mobo.

what hardware are we taking about here?

[memories]

sorry i was not clearer i have powered up with just the mobo and processor and i am still getting the beeping it is a long beep every 4 or 5 seconds and lasts about a second

looked up my manual but it only goes up to 10 beeps and this is consistanly beeping after 15 times i switched off

have not got any operating system installed as it is a brand new build and canot get it running

cannot connect to a monitor without the graphics card in as the mobo does not have a connection for a monitor

the components are as follows

GIGABYTE GA-7VA - MOBO
ATHLON XP 2700 333Mhz - PROCESSOR
512Mb DDR400 PC3200 - MEMORY
NIVIDA GEFORCE FX5200 - GRAPHICS

Have tried power up woth just mobo and processor and also with the memory added butam still getting the beeps


ps - it is doing my head in

[TierraDelFuego]

well your likely options will be memory or cpu, they tend to be what cause the beeps, but maybe the new boards do, what does the manual say. i know it's a pain but at least it should be in warranty

do you have another processor you can try?

do you have two memory sticks? if so try one at a time.

[memories]

don't have another cpu to try but can get another stick of memory to try

have powered up with only the processor in and no memory but am still getting the beeps

PLEASE don't tell me the cpu broke!!!

[CHR15]

A couple of things to try,

Make sure your AGP card is listed as compatible in your manual.

Make sure all your cards (AGP, RAM) are seated correctly, pull them out and reseat them.

Have a good poke around your AGP slot to see if there is a speed jumper (2X, 4X, 8X etc)

Make sure your Reset BIOS Jumper is not set to reset (some arrive like that out of the box)

Memory could be ropey, If you are using two sticks, try them one at a time

Duff CPU's generally fail completely, no beeps, just fans so I wouldnt give up just yet and condemn the chip.

[pepsik]

I have a gigabyte board, and had this problem when I first got my board, they run hot so you need to upgrade your cpu fan. Should work after that. I use a Thermaltake fan rated for xp systems.

[Oddjob633]

i looked at ur specs for ur motherboard (gigabyte ga - 7va) and it does not accept ddr400 type memory...u can only use DDR333 (pc2700), DDR266 (PC2100), or DDR200 (PC1600) - 184 pin.

however, there is a ga -7va revision 2.0 that does support DDR400 (pc3200) so check to see which one u have.

[memories]

oddjob it is the revision 2 board but thanks for lookin in

i am trying a few things at the moment

[C0UGAR UK]

I think where is no official standard for these codes due to the many brands of BIOS there are on motherboards, Even the BOIS itself is altered by the manufacturers to suit their purpose much of the time,but two popular brands are Phoenix and AMI American Megatrends, Normally, a computer with AMI BIOS doesn't bother with beeps. It will flash a error messag. Its when there is a graphics card problem isn't working or something rather serious goes wrong that your computer will start beeping as you have discounted the graphics card I would say the 1 short beep means system RAM refresh failure. Programmable interrupt timer on your motherboard has failed, your interrupt controller, but either way your motherboard will need to be replaced I guess.

It has also been known to be a power supply problem

What power supply are you using, you did not mention you had upgraded this also.

What BIOS is your board using

[BlackDiamondJr]

The best thing you can do is to make anote of your BIOS manufacturer, listen to the beep code and do some research.


Troubleshooting BIOS Beep Codes (http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/)

[memories]

first off i would like to thank all who looked inand posted advice

went through all that was said and am DELIGHTED to say i now have the computer powered up and am off to install windows onto it

again thank you all for your help and have a beer on me :beer: :beer:

[Neo]

Have you tryed clearing the CMOS? Move the jumper over.