Computer wont start and Im not a newbe to this stuff lookig for some real tech help

[stillajedi]

I built this computer a week ago its a AMD 3500 with a Gigabyte mother board a GA-K8NSC-939 its got a gig of DDR 3200/400 memory and an Nividia 5700 card. 2 hard drives a 120 gig and a 40 gig to back up the main drive. I was playing a poker game with low graphics for a few hours on Friday night and when I shut the machine down it was running perfect. When I went to restart it Saturday I now get the continuous Low beep. Nothing on the screen and it never hits the post. I have been reading other forums over the weekend on my laptop (which is what I am using right now) and they suggested replacing the power supply which I did today with an Antec 550w, (over kill if you ask me) but still the problem is there. Every thing in the manufacuters manual says "Dram error" I have reseated the chips and even changed slots. Both chips are kingston and 512meg each. Is it possible both chips went out at once? Or does anyone have any other suggestions, I am really open for them. I just want to fix the problem. I have never run into anything like this before on my own personal machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

9/7/05 I promised to tell you all the result of what the problem really was. After much interaction with the parties I purchased this combo unit from (Processor and Motherboard) It turns out the motherboard was defective. The vendor I purchased it from gave me a new motherboard and my system is running fine now. If you encouter a problem like I just have do not rule out the motherboard. That was the whole cause of my problem. My Machine currently has a new Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 which was the original type of board I purchased. With the new board in place I couldnt ask for a better machine. Thank you all for all the help and suggestions in the past I did appreciate all of your help.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Computer wont start and Im not a newbe to this stuff lookig for some real tech help

If the POST beep says the RAM is the problem, then it would be wise to check the RAM. If you have another system that takes 184-pin DDR RAM, put it in there and test it using Memtest 86+, which can be accessed from my signature. You can also try putting RAM from another computer into your own.

Altough it's not likely to fix it, try resetting the CMOS either by a switch on the motherboard, if applicable, or by removing the battery for several seconds and putting it back.

[stillajedi]

Re: Computer wont start and Im not a newbe to this stuff lookig for some real tech help

The problem is, that I never make it to post. My monitor shows nothing, my hard drive light and my power light are both on, and I have this continuous beep. According to the book that came with the motherboard everything points to the SDRAM because of the beep code but I am having a hard time believing that 2- 512 meg ram chips would fail at the same time.

[stillajedi]

Re: Computer wont start and Im not a newbe to this stuff lookig for some real tech help

I installed fresh store bought 1 gig of 400mhz 3200 kingston memory, and guess what no change the problem is still there. I also did try your suggestion of removing the battery to reset the cmos and still no change. We are down to 3 items. Tomorrow I will install the video card into a working machine I will let you know but I dont think that is the problem. To me its either the processor which I truly belive it is or the motherboard. Im leaning towards the processor, but when I find the answer I will post it on here. Unless anyone else has a suggestion I havent tried yet..............

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Computer wont start and Im not a newbe to this stuff lookig for some real tech he

and I have this continuous beep. According to the book that came with the motherboard everything points to the SDRAM because of the beep code

It's called POST code. :) Power-on self-test. If it doesn't pass, beeps start. Unless you're reading the beep improperly (like it's short instead of long or vice versa), then it's very likely to be at least RAM-related. If the RAM is in there securely and is good RAM, it could indicate something is wrong with the motherboard itself or the processor. The memory controller is on the processor, so theoretically a problem there could show up as an apparent memory problem, and a damaged motherboard can be the cause of just about anything.

Assuming the video card works fine and is not the problem, here's something you can do:
In addition to taking out the CMOS battery, you can remove bascially everything from the motherboard. The CPU can stay, but that's it. All power cords, IDE, Floppy, SATA, all jumpers, RAM, video card, PCI cards, and anything besides the CPU itself should be removed. This fix usually just applies to machines that were overclocked too far, but I've had it work other times. I've done it five times when a simple CMOS reset didn't do it, and it worked four of them. But like I said, try the video first.

[stillajedi]

Re: Computer wont start and Im not a newbe to this stuff lookig for some real tech help

The machine was an over kill built machine for business never over clocked. I tried all of your suggestions and I want to say Thank you very much for all of your responses and help it is greatly appreciated on my end.

OK it comes down to this, I did try the video card in another machine and it did work like I thought it would. I tried the suggestion you made today and it did not work, and again I do appreciate the suggestion. I bit the bullet and called the company I bought the motherboard and processor from. And believe me I was ready for a big arguement. I want a replacement motherboard or Processor and Im still leaning towards the processor being the problem. The young man I spoke to was very nice and told me to send the combo in they would test it and replace whichever component is defective. Now to be honest that made my day. Because I was loaded for Bear and a arguement. Plus the additional time and money I spent troubleshooting this odd problem. Anyway the computer gods smiled down on me today and I am shipping the pair off on Monday. They told me its about a week turn around and I will have the corrected combo unit returned to me.

All I would like to say is that this is a great forum the people answering the questions are very knowledgeable and if I ever run into something this weird again Ill be back. Thanks again!!!!