new pc

In another thread here I announced that I'd buy a new pc. Last wednesday I did and I went for a full assembly myself. Today I think that wasn't the best decission I ever did. I know I connected everything quite ok (the clicks and all those stuff), but when I turn the power on only a constant bleep can be heard.

The manual of the motherboard specifies that when using sata disks, you should change something in the BIOS, but I just don't get there yet.

I wonder what I did wrong: Was it the cpu? Is it the GC that is not placed correctly in the PCIe slot? Is it the cooling on the cpu? Did I touch something while I was a carrier of static electricity? Or perhaps it's the easiest question: Is there a malfunctioning component.

There's no way to know from this distance.

First, don't panic -- that happens to just about everyone on their first assembly.

Second, do this:

(1) Disassemble everything except the CPU, RAM, video adapter, and power connected to all of these. Make extra certain all the power connectors are in -- there are two that go to the mobo and possibly one more that goes to the video adapter, depending on model. The big mobo power connector is also usually in two parts, too.

(2) Plug in your monitor, and power up.

You should see the BIOS start up, and eventually discover that there's no hard disk.

If you still can't get into BIOS, remove the RAM stick, and try with the other. Repeat.

If you *still* can't get into BIOS, remove and reconnect the CPU (be careful, though), and try again.

If it still doesn't work, something is broken or you're missing something obvious (e.g. you've got your power connected wrong). The "something" is most likely the mobo; CPU's are very rarely DOA.

Once you do get into BIOS, do the configuration you need, then connect the rest of the components, and try again.

Is this your first time with a reasonably new graphics card? All the new graphics cards require an extra power plug where you have to plug in an extra cable right at the end of the card.

Listen to the beeping carefully, the PC is communicating something to you:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1223

Remus said:

Listen to the beeping carefully, the PC is communicating something to you:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1223

Click to expand...

I think those might be different for some mobos. Your manual should provide more information. Other than that, Remus is right.

When I built my first comp I got the beeping too. I checked out the manual and it said that I had a VGA problem. So I pushed my video card a bit deeper in to the slot and tightened the screw. It worked. Just as an example.

Do isolated tests for as many parts as possible. Plug them into your old computer or into a friend´s PC one at a time.

edit: I would also suspect the mainboard is DOA.

A steady, continuous beep relates to a power supply issue in my experience. This can mean one of your 20/24 pin ATX connectors, your 4 pin CPU, or PCIe. Also, if you have a modular power supply, check the connections at the power supply as well. Make sure every power connection is seated correctly and seated well.

It was the GPU indeed -> I never worked with a GPU that needed a powersupply before. It wasn't the only problem I encountered. It seemed that I didn't place the cpu cooler correctly either. The past got hard the wrong way, but the hardware store fixed it for me. I also got a 32-bit version of Vista, but they took it back and gave me my ordered 64-bit version.

Although I didn't read this page anymore, I actually did what PJ described -> When I took out the GPU too, the sounds became different and therefore I knew it was sth with the soundcard.

Btw I got some other good advice from the hardware store: When you assemble a pc, make your initial setup one with only 1 RAM slot occupied. It seems that a lot of those errors have this as cause.

Woohoo! Tried Gothic 3 and everything is ok. When I updated vista, I got a few BSOD's, but I think that's a feautre with M$ products, not a bug.