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I got such a great response from Wil and Dan on my last problem I want to try again. I am trying to boot my just built computer for the 1st time and all I get is a continous beep which sounds like a machine gun. The MB is a new Gigabyte GA P55 USB3 with a intel7 870. It has a new 650 W PS from PC & Cooling. It has two new sticks of Kingston DD3 of 4 GB each. The video card is an ATI Radeon Shapphire HD5570. The only thing else installed is a Samsung HD 500 GB and an Optical drive. I have rechecked EVERY power connection (only two to MB) I have reseated all mem sticks including swapping slots. All fans rotate. I never get a signal to the crt. I have cleared the CMOS. After each check of an item I have tried to boot but so far no luck. I am wondering if I could have a bad MB. Any help would be appreciated.

Joel Coehoorn
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Robert Wooley
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3 Answers3

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Beeping usually indicates a problem with memory. Are you sure the sticks you purchased are compatible with the board? I've read on some reviews that the memory voltages needed to be adjusted on some boards just to get the system to POST. I'd also check to ensure that the CPU is seated correctly and has thermal paste applied. Most motherboards these days have a thermal sensing feature that will automatically shut the system down (or not turn on properly) if it is too hot.

Check out these beep codes which will help you narrow down the cause.

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Look in the motherboard manual what this beep pattern means. You don't say exactly what your motherboard model is, so pick the right one amongst the 23 GA-P55 models. Picking one model at random, I see the following possibilities:

  • 1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
    That probably means your motherboard is bad.
  • Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
  • Continuous short beeps: Power error
    That could be a bad motherboard, a bad PSU or a short somewhere. Check that you don't have a tiny speck of metal or huminity anywhere. I've even had a motherboard not boot because I'd used screws with heads that were ever so slightly too wide.

In any case, first try the motherboad with nothing plugged in (no CPU, no RAM, and especially no graphics card or other extension card. See if you get the expected “no CPU” or “no RAM” beep code. Then add other components one by one.

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
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Have you tried removing the memory?

Take both out and see if the error codes are different - they should be - then replace them one at a time. If the situation doesn't change with the first, swap it for the second.

If one works then it'll be the other stick that's at fault.

ChrisF
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