Skrypnyk Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 I have an ASUS A8N-E Deluxe fancy shmancy motherboard. While playing poker online, the computer suddenly went black (yet sound was still playing), upon restarting the same thing happened almost immediately. Insert pointless restarts, I tried booting up in safe mode which worked. Tried booting up in normal mode, and it didn't. So someone suggested I update my vid driver, so I installed, hit the restart button, and got a different start up problem. Instead of hearing one beep and having everything load, it beeps twice rather quickly, and then 3 times normally (kinda like ..- - -), and it's been doing that ever since. I've tried removing all internal and external devices (hard drive, vid cards, etc.), still beeps, I tried removing and relocating the RAM too. While completely removing both sticks of RAM yeild a different beeping sequence, placing them in one at a time in different RAM slots didn't change the original 5 beep sequence leading me to believe that that isn't the issue. So what I think is probably the problem is/was, is that the little fan on the motherboard (to keep whatever on the motherboard cool), when I turned it on a couple of times original, I didn't see it spin. So I'm guessing that that thing was overheating, and finally fried. If I'm wrong (and my wallet hopes I am) please tell me a different possible solution, otherwise read on. Need a new mobo, and with that I need a new CPU (the current CPU is a socket 939 and as far as I know they're going/have gone out of style some time ago). I haven't been paying attention at all to technology concerning computers so I don't know which is the best thing out there. Grantted I don't want THE best thing, as cheaper is better in my eyes (not BETTER better but I'm poor so layoff). There are some requirements I need the mobo to have though: --> SLi (I suppose this is really optional, but I have 2 vid cards and it's only smart to use them...isn't it?) --> 3 PCI slots (Wireless card, sound card, TV Tuner card. Eliminating any of these cards is not an option.) --> DDR memory (I have 2 1gig cosair DDR sticks (I believe) and if they are still good I might as well reuse them) --> Sata & ...that other kind (got 2 sata drives and one IDE? drive (although I do plan on removing the IDE eventually)) I do believe that's it. I do wish to spend under 200 bucks but if it's really really necessary, I'd go about 350. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Based on your description of the beeps, it is a faulty mobo or component and if you booted the machine with only the memory in it, it's a good chance it's mobo and/or cpu. However the way it happened is kinda strange, have any brown-outs while you were working? I'll let mephisto do the CPU/Mobo/Mem purchase stuff, I'm a little lazy at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m68030 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157139 2x PCIe 2.0 3x PCI 4x DDR2 AM2+/3 $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166 4Gb DDR2 $49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300 AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz $61.99 $192 + shipping on mobo. How big is your PSU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m68030 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 also if you're feeling like spending a bit more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 640Gb for $70 and free shipping. These drives are great. i've purchased several of them recently for various systems. very fast, very quiet, very big. Since you'll almost certainly be re-installing windows, might as well do it on a new fast drive. if you're not re-installing windows, however, swapping mobos on a windows installation is an adventure.. I had success recently swapping mobos on a totally dead system (going from an intel chipset to a via chipset) with some esoteric Recovery Console commands.. msg me if you want help with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted July 12, 2009 Author Share Posted July 12, 2009 Based on your description of the beeps, it is a faulty mobo or component and if you booted the machine with only the memory in it, it's a good chance it's mobo and/or cpu. However the way it happened is kinda strange, have any brown-outs while you were working? I'll let mephisto do the CPU/Mobo/Mem purchase stuff, I'm a little lazy at the moment. by brown-outs do you mean the power went off and on very quickly? if so then there wasn't when this happened. There was a huge storm earlier in the day. My computer was a sleep, turned it on a lil' bit to watch TV, then set it back to sleep. This was a good 6 hours before hand though. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168131571392x PCIe 2.0 3x PCI 4x DDR2 AM2+/3 $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166 4Gb DDR2 $49.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300 AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz $61.99 $192 + shipping on mobo. How big is your PSU? ah, lovely. However, I've never used newegg before and while I'm probably wrong I'm sure their shipping to Canada is rather bad/non-existent. Even if I am wrong I plan on going to tigerdirect tomorrow to get everything right away so I can hopefully have everything set up in the next couple of days. I've found what I think is a similar/exact CPU you've suggested. While searching for a mobo however I couldn't find your exact model. here's their selection of socket AM2/AM2+ boards I prooobably will end up picking up a hard drive though, for the whole starting fresh feel. I was also thinking of picking up a case as the one I have is... kinda bleh. Also I have no clue what a PSU is. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Brownout is a drop in power resulting in dimmed lights, slowed electric motors (blender, drill, etc) and often pooched computers. What you described is a dropout, a short (milliseconds-seconds in length) drop in power and can be as bad for a computer as a brownout. You should keep in mind that a computer at sleep isn't off in anyway, components remain powered and active, hence why resuming happens so fast and why something like a blackout/brownout/dropout can still screw it up something fierce. Now, as for purchasing new stuff you can try http://www.newegg.ca/ or http://www.memoryexpress.com/ since my personal opinion of tigerdirect is that it's garbage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 to be really honest, find the board you want on newegg and then go find it on tigerdirect. newegg reviews are a lot more accurate, and there's a lot more of them. just sort by number of reviews and you'll be fine. i can't remember the last motherboard that had 2 pci-e slots and didn't have 3 pci ports, so you're fine there. assuming you're going athlon (the intel e8400 is still $160...!), stick to the newer models if possible. a 3ghz dual-core processor looks sexy until you realize just how slow the damn thing is. you get what you pay for. don't reuse your DDR sticks, buy new ram. it's a significant speed difference, and ram's so bloody cheap you can get two gigs for 25$ at most. psu = power supply unit (gee thanks google). use the extreme power calculator to figure out the minimum watts you need, then add between 20-25% for the effiency rating (if you multiply your efficiency rating of your psu by the watts that it's rated at, you've got how much it feels comfortable putting out). try to hit the 60% range for the amount you'll be using on a normal basis. shoot for two rails if your graphics cards are more than a year old or not that great, or three if they are newer or pretty hungry. if you've got questions about PSUs, my guide in my sig has at least eight or nine pages on information about them. there's a summary at the end of the chapter that'll help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 psu = power supply unit (gee thanks google). haha, why didn't I think of that... PSU is a 600 watt ATX. so I ended up getting this mobo with this CPU, and a lovely pair of these as when building everything I found out that I originally had DDR in my old board and not DDR2. Also got a 500gig drive to start fresh. Now, upon building everything again, I put the essentials and bare bones together, and then I tried starting it up, only to get another not normal one beep start sequence thing but a long beep, followed by 3 normal beeps. Confuzzled, I googled that and found that the error lies with my video card WHICH.... doesn't make a lick of sense to me. I turned the system on again to see that the video card fan is indeed unresponsive and I get the same beep sequenced. Now since the new mobo has only one PCIe slot, I figured I'd sub the card in their with my other card. I get the same beep sequence. I tried wiggling, jiggling the card a lil', still nothing. So I tried hooking up the cards to my other broken mobo to find that at least one of them ran. The fan started up and while I still got that same broken sequences of beeps, it lead me to believe that at least one of the cards aren't damaged or broke (the other card wasn't responsive on the other mobo either for the record). So I tried again with the new board and still nothing. The cards in question are EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT. I would really really REALLY hate to hear that these cards are incompatible with the board for one reason or another. Really I'm hoping that the board is defective and all I really need to do is swap it with another board, but I must ask whether or not I'm a fucking idiot and they are indeed incompatible, or fucking unlucky and the board is probably defective. thaaaanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Mokram Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 also if you're feeling like spending a bit more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136319 640Gb for $70 and free shipping. I wish I was living on your side of the planet, cause here it's still like 72€ (100$) ...and the shipping ain't free. use the extreme power calculator to figure out the minimum watts you need Thanks for the link Prophet, I had been looking for something like that. Too bad it doesn't include some mini-itx boards. It's amazing what you can do with those, even with integrated GPUs. As for your video card Skrypnyk, I'm pretty sure a more recent (and compatible) model can be found for a cheap price somewhere near you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 it includes the mITX form factor in the thing, it just doesn't have info about mobo/cpu combo packs other than the atom. if you just write them and ask, they'll add it in in the next version (that's how the atom's in there, i wrote and asked them and they added it the next day). i've never had a problem with nvidia cards and ati boards, but go ahead and try to swap it out. if you're having the same issue, it might be linked to the ati board not supporting legacy cards (the 7600gt is what, three years old? four?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 The fan started up and while I still got that same broken sequences of beeps, it lead me to believe that at least one of the cards aren't damaged or broke (the other card wasn't responsive on the other mobo either for the record). So I tried again with the new board and still nothing. It's a bummer I didn't see this thread earlier, cause I was going to suggest video card issues. I had a similar problem where I was getting a weird beep sequence with a blank screen and it turned out to be bad ram on the video card (or just faulty in general). Getting a new card solved the issue. Might want to also google the boot beep codes for your BIOS to find out what the specific sequence means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 hmmm.... can PCI Express cards work in PCI Express 2.0 slots? also have I mentioned that I fucking hate technology? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 if it fits, it works. 2.0 is completely backwards compatible with the original model. (hint hint i talk about this in my guide so people don't ask these questions) (hint hint google) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 ah. well... had I been on my original computer that I'm fixing on that this shitty slow small recently formatted and reinstalled window pdfless computer, I'd probably look into your guide. I got a new card, and everything is now running and getting restarted. This however leaves me with a rather irritating delemma, was it really the mobo that was the problems or did both vid cards suddenly go? Also while we drift away from the original topic, what should one do with the old, unused hardware? Assuming it still works, I really don't want to just throw it out. (if this is also in your guide meph I will kinda take ur verbal insults and tongue thrashing.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 The chances that two video cards both go at the same time is low, even lower if they go without taking the rest of the hardware with them. To find out one way or the other, just take your new vid card and pop it into the old setup and see if it boots. If it does boot, I will be impressed, but considering these are 7600GT and get their power from the motherboard and not the PSU like higher end cards I'm not to sure it will boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 lol. if both vid cards went at the same time, i'd suspect either a failed rail on the psu (if they were each powered through a PEG plug) or your mobo causing it. use the old stuff for something interesting to goof around with. an htpc is fun to play with. if you actually have anything that still works, you can donate it to a local college's or high school's tech department or something for them to use for spares or test subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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