New build problem - 1 long beep, 2 short, no screen

Joseph Foster

New Member
Hey, just built my new system, first computer build too. Yesterday I was on it all day and it was running fine, I had installed my graphic card drivers, I was downloading and installing all my software, downloading a few game from steam etc. I must have been on for about 8 hours with it running great.

Anyway, I had just finished downloading and installing Hitman: Absolution, I loaded it up and used the in game benchmark on ultra settings, it looked amazing, got great fps. Then I jumped into the game, and that's when the disastrous happened...

... not two minutes into playing my monitor cut off and I had no screen however I could still hear the game in the background through y headset. I had no option but to hard boot and turning it on again. However when I turn it on I get 1 long beep, quickly followed by two short beeps. Nothing appears on the screen but I can hear windows logging in and my hard drives loading up.
All fans are working.

I've checked my manual but it doesn't tell me what the beep code means, however after going through the troubleshoot procedure and searching online I've concluded its possibly the graphics card - although others with similar problems/beep codes are reporting or been told its possibly the RAM, MOBO, CP, PSU... so I'm not 100% on it been the GPU.

Reseated GPU and RAM, but the problem persists.

List of hardware below. Any idea whats happening or what I can try?
Cheers.

HARDWARE:
Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H Socket 1155 VGA DVI HDMI 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Intel and AMD Socket Heatpipe Cooling Fan

Sapphire HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card

Item: Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Memory Kit CL9 1.5V

Corsair TXM 650W Modular PSU

Seagate 1TB 3.5" Barracuda SATA-III 6Gb/s Hard Drive - 7200RPM 32MB Cache

OCZ 120GB Vertex 3 SSD 2.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s Read 550MB/s Write 500MB/s 85,000 IOPS

Samsung SH-222BB 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black

Windows 7 Ultimate

EDIT:
Just taken out ram and started her up, got a continuous beep so I'm sure its not the ram thats the problem. Place RAM back in.

Took graphics card out and got the same beep - it must be the card. Gonna check wiring etc.
Could I try putting it in the other PCI slot to check its not a dodgy slot? The PCIEX4 one?
 
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Try resetting the cmos and see what happens. Unplug power from power supply, remove the cmos battery from the motherboard, press the power button on the case a few times to discharge any remaining power, then wait 5 minutes. Then reconnect battery and power and try booting up.
 
says its related to the video card. (the beep codes). Try reinserting video card. Or and update drivers.
 
Ok, I've reset the CMOS, upon reboot the beep changed the 1 quick beep, meaning all clear but no screen, which means on board graphic card was re-enabled due to bio's reverting back, so I've plugged my monitor into the motherboard to get a screen and am currently running off of the on board GPU.

What next? Reinstall my HD 7950 drivers? Is there any way/piece of software that can check if my computer is picking up my HD 7950 and it is connected correctly?

Pretty sure device manager won't work as when installing my 790 device manager only listed the on board until I deactivated the on board in the bios.
 
Your card may be defective. As long as you have the card plugged into the slot and 2 pci express power connectors attached to the card, thats all you need. Try reinstalling the video card and see what happens. If it doesn't work then try a different video card to make sure the pci express slot isn't bad.
 
Is the card overclocked by the brand? I'm getting the same thing if I overclocked too far.
It can also be a driverproblem, you installed the 12.11 beta 10 or the current 12.10?
Also check your temperatures, you can see them in catalyst program. (Measure them while gaming)

The most common problems that can cause your error. (Driver, unstable oc, temperature)
Also, if you got the 12.10 installed, install the 12.11 beta 10 driver to see what happens.
 
Ah, so just started up, tried to repair windows three times but wouldn't allow me to, something about removing a new device I've added such as a new camera or portable music player, asking me to remove and try again. Not added any new devices like that and nothing plugged in except mouse and keyboard, so skipped and loaded windows normally.

Anyway, when I logged in to my desktop a message pops up saying the below;

"No AMD graphics driver is installed, or the AMD driver is not functioning properly. Please reinstall the AMD driver for your appropriate AMD hardware"

So guess its the drivers?
Gonna try and reinstall them. May go online and get the latest ones as I previously used the drivers on the CD that game with the GPU.
 
Yeh, just install the drivers from the site.
The 12.11 beta 10 is very good, don't have any problems with it yet.
 
Yeh, just install the drivers from the site.
The 12.11 beta 10 is very good, don't have any problems with it yet.

Hey, just saw your previous post.
It's not overclocked and previously just had the drivers on the CD. The CD says "Driver Ver.: 13-045 (7/XP) (8.981/8.98).

Installing the 12.11 beta 10. Currently got monitor connected to motherboard so I can see screen info though (can't see anything on screen if connected to GPU otherwise, seems on board GPU overrides), so will finish this download, go to bios and disable on board GPU, then connect monitor to graphics card. Hopefully it will work. Will report back once finished.
 
If the machine beeps when the video card is installed, its not gonna be drivers... As I said try installing the video card again and see what happens. Do you have another video card to test?
 
Yep installing drivers didn't work.

Taken GPU out, re wired, put back in, still doesn't work. Wiring seems as though its all good. Think I must have fried the GPU or something...
Not got another video card to test either. -sigh-
 
Any more suggestions?
Placed into different slot, the pciex4, still doesn't work.
Reinstalled and uninstalled drivers both from disc and online multiple times, still nothing.

Don't think it is drivers anyway? I mean I should get some low res graphics on screen regardless of drivers?

Is my GPU dead? Can't believe it could be dead, barely used it... Should I claim warranty?
 
Most likely bad card. You can try it in a different computer though and see what happens.
 
Yeah I grounded myself while building and when going back in to reseat the gpu etc. Didn't use of of those wrist things, but positive the problem isn't due to static shock, besides which it was working for several hours but then died once I started a game, but have been a defect in the card.

Going to send back, hopeing they find the card is bad rather sending back and saying its working tbh. Believe I can get a refund too rather than replacement, that way I can just go out and buy a new one whilst they work out the warranty claim.

Cheers anyway fellas!
 
It sounds to me then like you got a bad card. :(

Seeing as you guys have been great helping me, thought I'd let you know..

ITS FIXED!! :D:D:D:D

Found a thread online made by someone with a similar problem, so opened her back up and did what he did to solve, involving some rewiring. Won't go into detail as I'm rubbish at explaining things, but it was a wiring problem in the end and thankfully its all sorted out!

Building my first computers has been stressful and a learning curve, although I can't say it hasn't been enjoyable either, haha.

Currently playing Hitman: Absolution again, albeit with a PS3 controller; was intending to learn and try to use the keyboard and mouse, but for the time being after this week I just want to play some game's without getting stressed out over finding keys haha.
Got to say, I think I'm done with console gaming, or atleast PC will be my #1 platform.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate all the help this site offers!
 
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