Official GIGABYTE Forum
Questions about GIGABYTE products => Motherboards with AMD processors => Topic started by: Urge on August 22, 2010, 10:17:35 pm
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I just built a new computer with the following specs:
gigabyte GA-785GMT-USB3 MOBO
AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz socket AM3
Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel kit
WD Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
Seasonic S1211Bronze 520W PS
It runs normally as far as I can tell. I ran Memtest 86 on each stick of memory individually for 6 passes with no errors. When the computer starts up I get one long beep(several seconds). I can't find beep codes for my bios- Award bios F1 01/04/2010- anywhere. Does anyone have any thoughts on what could be causing this? I just read a thread on memory needing to be run in single channel mode but I get the one long beep with the memory in single channel or dual channel mode. I am not overclocking anything. Do the beep codes for this Bios exist?
Urge
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Hi and welcome to the forum. Would you mind updating your profile which can be found at the top with your location please. It can make it easier to answer if we know where the poster is.
One long beep could be a motherboard error but I think we need to look at other things first. If there is a BIOS update it would be worth installing that as I notice that you have the original BIOS. If that doesn't stop the beep then go into the BIOS and set the memory to unganged mode.
I have just checked and there is an update available it is F3.
For your information the following are for your board:
The following Award BIOS beep code descriptions may help you identify possible computer problems.
(For reference only.)
1 short: System boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps: Power error
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Dark Mantis wrote...
Hi and welcome to the forum.
Thanks
I looked on Gigabytes site but didn't find a bios update. Where do I look? The memory is set to unganged mode. I never set it to ganged mode when it was in dual channel, would it be helpful to try this? I'm guessing no since I get the long beep in unganged mode with the memory in single channel but I am guessing.
Urge
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Look here to find the BIOS updates etc:
http://www.giga-byte.co.uk/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3317&dl=1#manual
AMD recommends that tthe memory is run in unganged mode because it is quicker and more stable especially at higher speeds. Absic has just done a report on just this problem area. If you would like to read it you can find it here:
http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2515.0.html
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I have never done a bios update(well, I did one 7-8 yrs ago with a floppy on a win98 sys.but you get the pic). Is there a thread that discusses how to do it? There are 2 updates, should I go for the newest one which says it addresses:" Fix On/Off Charge & USB compatibility". What does on/off charge mean? The USB appears to be working fine, I am using a USB mouse and flash drive. If I'm not having a problem that's related to the bios update why do I want to do it? I couldn't find any other info on the update so I am assuming(I know) that it only covers what is stated. The other update covers: "Update AGESA 3.7.0.0 for AMD 6core CPU" which doesn't seem like it applies to me at all. I read the thread that Absic did, that's what got me to write in.
Urge
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It would be worth updating your BIOS because the notes given are often very short or non-existant and don't really cover everything that is updated.
The full details of running an update are covered in our FAQ section.
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Hi Urge,
Right a couple of things to note:
Information given by Gigabyte about their BIOS updates are always a bit vague and sometimes updating your BIOS can solve other issues that aren't mentioned. If you're not sure how to flash your BIOS check out our FAQ here: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2441.0.html that should help.
With your system specs you should be able to run your RAM in Single or Dual Channel mode and any possible issues tend to come about if you are filling all 4 slots on the motherboard. I would recommend that you use the first 2 slots on your Mobo DDR3_1 and DDR3_2 (I think they're the 2 blue RAM slots on the Mobo)
With regard to the initial beep that you are getting upon start-up, without actually hearing it I wouldn't want to guess but, if everything starts OK and the system seems solid I'm not sure if I would be too concerned, annoying as it may be. Usually at POST you get one BEEP but I have had PC's where this POST BEEP can be about 2-3 seconds long.
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A couple of questions, I moved my ram to the 1st 2 slots(blue) and changed to ganged in the bios but then I reread Dark Mantis post
AMD recommends that tthe memory is run in unganged mode because it is quicker and more stable especially at higher speeds.
and I guess I should change it back to unganged. I thought that ganged was for dual channel, was I wrong or is it just that it doesn't work with this MOBO? So, should I change it to unganged before I do the bios update? I may have misspoken a little about the beeps(I used to be a logger, my hearing isn't so good). I was just playing with it changing memory around and left the cover off and started it up a few times. My CPU fan (the stock one that comes with the CPU) is kind of noisy and I missed an initial short beep when the computer starts up. It is after this (over 10 secs) that I now get 1 short beep followed by a long (at least 10 secs) beep. I am still looking for a list of the beep codes for this. I followed the link that absic115 posted http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2441.0.html but when I typed "GA-785GMT-USB3 rev. 1.0 bios updates" into search this is the response I got-"Sorry, the page you are looking for is no longer available or has been moved. Please try the following:" I did find the bios updates for my MOBO on the GA-785GMT-USB3 page. I have the F3 bios loaded on a flash drive and am ready to install it but I thought maybe I should at least ask about the different beeps I am getting. I really appreciate all the support you guys are providing here-Thanks.
Urge
Any recommendations on a new CPU fan? I thought the stock one might be OK but maybe not. How hot is hot and how cool is cool? Using Core Temp 0.99.7 my CPU right now shows a range of 97°F to 119°F but it seems to run at around 102°F to 103°F almost all the time (in the 2-3 days it has been running). Using HDD Health my HDs are running around 34°C to 35°C.
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Hi there,
OK, the link I gave you was for the "How to update BIOS" page of this forum.
The difference between Ganged/Unganged and Dual Channel/Single Channel I have tried to explain in this thread: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2515.15.html It is on the 2nd page. I hope this explains it a bit better for you.
But, in a nutshell, with your RAM/CPU combination don't get too hung up about it and, if it is working leave it as it is.
The temps with the stock coolers always tend to be a little higher than you will get with a 3rd Party Cooler. I personally am using a Noctua NH-D14 Air cooler but that is most probably more cooler than you would need! Dark Mantis will try and persuade you to go down the Water Cooling route as that is his favoured method. But, it really is a personal choice and it is also dependant on budget. Something mid ranged such as the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus is most probably adequate.
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The BIOS beep code you mention doesn't officiallly exist...one short followed by one long. I would have to say that on the cooling situation I would agree with absic and just get a good aftermarket cooler. There are many good ones around but some are more noisy than others(mind you it might not make a difference to an ex logger) ;D.
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absic115 wrote...
But, in a nutshell, with your RAM/CPU combination don't get too hung up about it and, if it is working leave it as it is.
I guess I'll see what transpires with the beep codes. So, I am going to do the bios update after I write this post since it doesn't seem like it will do any harm. I built a computer a couple of months ago and used a Cooler Master Hyper N520 and my wife and I both think it is noisy.
Air flow and noise specs:
Hyper N520 air flow-43.8cfm noise level 19dba.
Hyper 212 plus: air flow 21.2-76.8 cfm noise level 13-32 dba.
If it(hyper 212 plus) ran under 43.8 cfm would it cool enough and will the noise be low enough to not be irritating?
Dark Mantis wrote...The BIOS beep code you mention doesn't officiallly exist...one short followed by one long.
So where can I find the list of beep codes?
Dark Mantis wrote...some are more noisy than others(mind you it might not make a difference to an ex logger)
This computer is for my wife.
Urge
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Beep codes can be found in your User's Manual or here: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2248.0.html
If you are looking for an almost silent option for a CPU cooler then, if you can get hold of this, you'll be more than happy: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=32&lng=en This is the smaller brother of my cooler and I can't hear mine at all! Not cheap but well worth the investment.
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Oh, well! If we are talking about quiet then......
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A rather large Gag for one Dark Mantis, perchance? ;)
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my 1st attempt to flash bios
I formatted the flash drive (Fat32), downloaded the bios update(mb_bios_ga-785gmt-usb3_f3), ubzipped it, dragged the 3 files onto the flash drive(it is the only thing on it), turned off the computer, restarted, hit end, Qflash utility came up, selected "update bios from drive", next screen said 0 files found floppy A, HDD 0-0 HDD 2-0 What did I do wrong?
Urge
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Your USB drive is appearing as one of the HDD's.
You will have to try each of the "HDD's" in QFlash until you can find which one has the BIOS file on it.
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You must insert the drive prior to booting and then in the BIOS it will give you the option to boot from USB(that option will be missing otherwise).
Also you must have the USB storage enabled in the BIOS.
Damn absic, I must be slowing up in my old age ;D
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absic115 wrote...
You will have to try each of the "HDD's" in QFlash until you can find which one has the BIOS file on it.
I tried all 3- no joy.
Dark Mantis wrote...You must insert the drive prior to booting and then in the BIOS it will give you the option to boot from USB(that option will be missing otherwise).
Also you must have the USB storage enabled in the BIOS.
Flash drive was inserted before booting. USB storage was enabled. USB boot option only has to be on the list right, it doesn't have to be 1st 2nd or 3rd for instance? Do the files need to be in a named folder?
Urge
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I dont think it matters but to be safe put it at the top. And no it doesnt matter if it is in a folder or not. I normally just put them in the root.
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Bios successfully updated! When the computer starts I get the 1 long continuous beep. The beep codes in the back of my MOBO manual (thank you absic115) say "continuous long beeps: graphics card not inserted properly." Does 1 continuous long beep count or does it have to be multiple?
Dark mantis wrote...Oh, well! If we are talking about quiet then......
Is this quieter?
Are there any settings in the bios I can change to improve performance aside from overclocking? Should I leave all the memory settings stock? I changed the memory back to unganged.
Urge
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Great news! ;D At last. One beep is normal booting. I don't know what you mean by continous but one beep is good. I would just run it as it is for now and see how it goes. If all runs fine then you can have a play with the settings to caox some more out of it.
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Dark Mantis wrote...
One beep is normal booting. I don't know what you mean by continous but one beep is good.
I misspoke-again! Turn on computer, within 5 secs 1 short beep, after 10 secs more 1 continuous beep 8 secs long. I timed it with a stopwatch.
Urge
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What happens after the long beep? Does it continue to boot?
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Dark Mantis wrote...
What happens after the long beep? Does it continue to boot?
The computer behaves normally, it has never crashed in the 3 days it has been running. I am not experiencing any issues or problems. So, do I just let it go? Would you if it was your machine?
Urge
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absic115 wrote...
If you are looking for an almost silent option for a CPU cooler then, if you can get hold of this, you'll be more than happy: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=32&lng=en This is the smaller brother of my cooler and I can't hear mine at all! Not cheap but well worth the investment.
Very Nice! I like it.
Upon closer inspection I don't think it will fit on my board. The ram is in the way unless I move the sticks to the second set of slots.
Urge
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Dark Mantis wrote...What happens after the long beep? Does it continue to boot?
The computer behaves normally, it has never crashed in the 3 days it has been running. I am not experiencing any issues or problems. So, do I just let it go? Would you if it was your machine?
Urge
Yes I think so but I would keep delving to see what was causing the beep. Try the power saving settings in the BIOS they seem to be causing quite a few headaches recently.
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absic115 wrote... If you are looking for an almost silent option for a CPU cooler then, if you can get hold of this, you'll be more than happy: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=32&lng=en This is the smaller brother of my cooler and I can't hear mine at all! Not cheap but well worth the investment.
Very Nice! I like it.
Upon closer inspection I don't think it will fit on my board. The ram is in the way unless I move the sticks to the second set of slots.
Urge
That is often the problem now that the coolers are getting so big they are overhanging other items on the board. Soon we will have a cooler that the board,ram, cpu etc all bolt to ;D
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Dark Mantis wrote...
Try the power saving settings in the BIOS they seem to be causing quite a few headaches recently.
What would I change? I looked at the power saving settings but I don't even know what some of them do. Is there a thread on this subject?
Urge
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Not exactly but you could try disabling C1E, S1, S3 etc and see if that helps at all. If not all you have to do is enable them again. They're normally under the Power Settings or similar.
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Very Nice! I like it.
Upon closer inspection I don't think it will fit on my board. The ram is in the way unless I move the sticks to the second set of slots.
Gosh, you're a picky fellow, you never said that it had to fit, just that it had to be quiet!!! :o
AS DM says, some of these Air Coolers are pretty big, here's a picture of mine:
(http://a.imageshack.us/img840/2278/cooler.th.jpg) (http://img840.imageshack.us/i/cooler.jpg/)
If your RAM is standard design and doesn't have tall heat spreaders on top (My Dominator had these so I had to remove them) then these coolers will sit above them without too much trouble. If this cooler is too big for you (and believe me, when your wife says "Size doesn't really matter darling!" she's lying.) there are plenty of other options available and what I would say is that pretty much any of the 3rd Party coolers available (unless you go really cheap) will be better than the stock cooler and quieter too.
Just as a matter of interest are you using the on-board graphics or do you have a separate Graphics Card installed?
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Damn, you could move into that cooler! I am using on-board graphics, it is just an office system and doesn't need anything else.
I would still like to know, how hot is hot and how cool is cool? At what sustained avg. temp do you start to effect long term reliability? Is 60°C(140°F) too hot? How about 50°C(122°F) or 40°C(104°)?
On another topic, I started up the computer this morning and only got the one short beep. I enabled all the warnings in the bios for CPU temp fan failure and all maybe one of those is beeping when the temp warms up. I noticed that when I turned it off and on repeatedly yesterday while testing and trying different things in the bios that it was reading in the 120°-124° range on initial startup but would quickly drop to 102°as the fan kicked in and cooled it
Urge.
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Generally 60 degrees is the top temp that you can run at if you are talking about the CPU. Look at the alarm settings in the BIOS to see if any of them are set a bit low.
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OK the rated max temp for your CPU is 71°C (sorry don't use Fahrenheit much in the UK but around 160°F) so I think 35° - 45°C is about right for stock cooler. On my Phenom ii X6 1090T I get temps around 24° - 30°C depending on how much I am doing and ambient temps.
Switching PC on/Off quickly will raise CPU temps quite a bit so it is best to avoid doing that if possible.
Nice to know you are back to just the one beep and it's strange how these things seem to settle down after awhile. As you said, if you have warning alarms enabled in BIOS sometimes you will get a warning when you first switch on. this is because the CPU hasn't reached a high enough temp to get the cooling fan spinning and the system thinks there is a failure. I actually disable this warning as it can be disconcerting if you are not aware of it.
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absic115 wrote...
As you said, if you have warning alarms enabled in BIOS sometimes you will get a warning when you first switch on. this is because the CPU hasn't reached a high enough temp to get the cooling fan spinning and the system thinks there is a failure.
I think I have the opposite problem, the cpu temp reads in the 120°F+ range when I first turn it on or maybe higher before I can read the temps. This is after repeatedly turning it off and on while I was checking and configuring settings in the bios. So maybe it sees it as too hot? I haven't gone back into the bios to turn off the warnings yet.
Urge
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When you say the CPU temp is 120 F when you first switch the PC on how are you getting this reading?
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I am using a utility called Core Temp 0.99.7
Do you have a suggestion for another?
Urge
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No I use Core temp as one of my measuring tools but I have the opposite problem in that it shows 0 degrees for a short time before it runs properly.
I wouldn't worry too much about your reported temps at start-up it is the numbers that are showing after a few minutes that are going to be more accurate.
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I have Real Temp 3.0 on a couple of intel machines, am I correct in thinking that it will not run with AMD?
I turned off the temp warnings in the bios and it started up with just the 1 short post beep.
Urge
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As far as I know Real Temp is only for Intel CPU's so I don't think it will work with AMD.
I turned off the temp warnings in the bios and it started up with just the 1 short post beep.
As I mentioned earlier, I always turn these off and just assume that everybody else does too!That's why I never hear all those beeps!! :P
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Isn't it a good thing to have warning if your CPU is overheating?
Urge
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Isn't it a good thing to have warning if your CPU is overheating?
Yes, of course it is a good idea. I'm just lucky that I live in the UK and it never gets too hot and I also have a damn good cooler so I can be a little carefree about this. I have a couple of thermal sensors installed in my chassis that I use alongside Core Temp and this proves more than adequate.
If you check your Mobo Manual you'll see that, Under the heading PC Health Status, most of these warning settings in BIOS are actually disabled by default so Gigabyte don't seem to think they have to be enabled either.
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absic115 and Dark Mantis-
Thank you both very much for all your help! You were both invaluable, responsive and very knowledgeable.
So tell me Dark mantis
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Oh, well! If we are talking about quiet then......
--Is this quieter?--
Too subtle or meh?
Urge
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Pleased to have been able to help Urge.
The trouble with Dark Mantis is that he is an old geezer so his eyesight isn't very good!!! Mind you I can't read it either! :o
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No, not at all. I was just going to get started on about my favourite subject... liquid cooling 8) 8) 8)
So as you have asked here goes...........
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If you copy it and put it in notepad...
Urge
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If you copy it and put it in notepad...
Urge
No Urge, that's a stupid idea! the water would all leak out and the notepad would become soggy ::)
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If you copy it and put it in notepad...
Urge
No Urge, that's a stupid idea! the water would all leak out and the notepad would become soggy ::)
Now DM, you're being really silly.
Urge:
Writing in very small type doesn't really make things quieter!! It just makes it VERY hard to read! :o