Think my computer is ill. Plz Help.

[Flatboy]

Hi Guys, I wonder if anyone can provide some light to what on earth has just happened to my PC. I have a bad feeling that my motherboard has just become very ill! I am sorry if this is a long post, but I want to provide detail.

I recently purchased the following hardware:

EVGA 680 I Mobo Rev 2
Q6600 cpu @ 3 GHz (big fat fan and runs stable nice and cool)
4 Gb OCZ DDR2 Ram (2 x 2 Gb sticks)
500 Gb Western Digital Caviar HDD
BFG 8800 GTX OC at Stock
Soundblaster X-Fi Fatality Extreme Gamer Pro
650 Watt Good quality Power supply (cant remember make)
Vista 64 Premium

Basically, all was fine for about 3 weeks until today. I installed COD2 and tried to run the multiplayer. I was taken to the menu screen, and the sound was all distorted and crackling. I decided to quit out and shut down, and when I restarted the computer would not post! Blank screen, no monitor signal, and a beep, followed by what sounded like 2 short beeps (hard to tell). The Mobo shows FF on the Motherboard display thingy. I cannot access BIOS. It is hard to tell if windows is loading behind the blank screen.

I tried to start a couple more times without success (fans all working everwhere!). Then I tried again, and Windows Vista loaded fine. However there was no sound. I went into sound settings and tried to test the sound. I again got a distinct crackling noise.

I removed the sound drivers, and turned the computer off and removed sound card. I noted that all temps were fine on gfx card and cpu. I tried to reboot, but it again failed to post. It seems that it fails multiple times, but will start completely randomly (and infrequently), especially if I leave it off for a while or change some part of the hardware. I did manage to get to BIOS once and everything was as it should be.

Right, I have done the following to try to establish what is wrong. Please note that nothing has helped, and my computer continues to not boot. Can’t even get to BIOS.

1) Have reset the CMOS
2) Have tried another graphics card (worked once getting into windows, then stopped working after that) Sounded like 1 bleep followed by 3 short bleeps (again V hard to tell as they are so close together)
3) Have tried my 8800 gtx in friends computer = worked fine thank god
4) Have taken stick of ram out and tried all ram configurations possible.
5) Have taken x-fi sound card out
6) Have tested x-fi sound card in mates computer = runs fine with sound!
7) Have tested all cables, and made sure things are connected properly.
8) Have disconnected HDD
9) Have disconnected CD/DVD drive

Does anyone know what might be wrong? May I guess that this may be the Mobo, and I wonder if the Pci slots are knackered as bothe the gfx card and sound card appeared not to work, but both worked on someone elses computer?

Any help would be appreciated. All was purchased from OCUK.

Thanks

Ben

 

[Flatboy]

Thanks for the help, it is much appreciated!

I will try this when I get back home from work, and I will take note of the various beeps. Has sounded like one long and 2 or 3 short tbh, but it very hard to tell.

I have been in contact with OCUK today and they have asked me to bring the Mobo and ram in for testing. I must say, their customer services have been very good. I will also attempt to borrow some ram off a mate to test in my system. He is a bit twitchy about it as his graphics card ram heat thingies usually fall to bits if he touches his computer in the slightest. This usually leads to him becoming extraordinarily upset, and becoming bizarrely re-obsessive about CPU/GPU temperatures. Nonetheless, it would most certainly be a relief if it is just the ram, as I will not have to take my computer completely apart.

It is also worth noting that the computer will post and load windows, but very infrequently. When it does work, it appears to be completely fine. It seems (inexact science I am afraid) that if I change something in the hardware, it works once or twice, then stops working at all. For example, when I put another gfx card in, it worked about 3 times, then stopped working. I changed the ram around, and it worked once, then not again. It may also be that if it has been off for a while, it may work once. However, I have not tested enough to draw a conclusion on this.

I will have a mess with it tonight and report observations.

Thanks again

Ben

 

[Flatboy]

Strip back to the minimum - PSU, mobo, CPU, memory, gfx - will it post?

If No, then remove the graphics card, what beeps do you get?

Will not post when stripped back. Have taken gfx card out, and it beeps one long followed by 2 or 3 short. Same as when the gfx card is in i think.

I have now taken it to bits and will take the mobo and ram into ocuk tomorrow for testing.

Thanks for Help.