conroe build problems

[Robert]

Spec:

Gigabyte DS3
1024 geil 6400
e6300
antec 480 neopower psu

sometimes i gets to the bios screen - counts ram and does nothing else, other times it won't boot. Also the cpu fan spins up - goes off then spins up again (then boots and stays on).

[abeacock]

The CPU spin up is normal it's a 'feature' of the motherboard.

Try removing everything from the motherboard apart from the CPU (take out ram, hds, dvds, gfx cards, etc.) and make sure the case speaker is connected. If you try powering up you should get a ton of beeps telling you that the mother board can't find any ram. If you get nothing at all then it's either your motherboard or your cpu.

What configuration is your ram, 1 or 2 sticks? If it's 2 then try with just one.

[Robert]

right - it beeped once, came on and sat after ram...no beeps then~?

[abeacock]

Was this when there was ram in the system?
The single beep usually means that the system is ok (as far as BIOS is concerned).

What drive configuration do you have?

What is your boot sequence set to in BIOS?

[Robert]

I can't get INTO the bios. It counts the ram then just sits there, almost as if its locked (may well have).

[Robert]

I've just tried it with the ram out and I got loads of quick beeps.

[blueball]

When I first got my DS4 I couldn't get into the BIOS on that either. It took ages to realise that you could get in from a cold boot but not from a reboot! Subsequent BIOS updates seems to have removed this "feature" on the DS4 anyway. Try getting to BIOS from cold boot.

If it still will not let you in try powering on the PC with the "INSERT" key held down. That should reset the BIOS to default values (well it does on most boards I have owned anyway)

last ditch would be to use the manual to loacte the BIOS reset pins and follow the instructions to reset the BIOS.

Hope some of this helps?

[Robert]

How do you mean "get into the bios from cold boot"? I turn the PC on from dead, sometimes it gets there - sometimes it doesn't. When it works from coming on after being off for a few minutes, it just sits at the ram count - counts the ram, and just sits there doing nothing. That's if it come on at ALL.

[Hottentot]

Is the Mobo giving the RAM enough volts - default is 1.8 I think, my RAMs at +.4V to get it running at DDR2 667.

Couple of things you can do - give the RAM +.2 volts in the BIOS (when you get there) and update to the latest BIOS which is F7.

[blueball]

A cold boot is where you power on for the first time. A hot boot is where you REstart the PC as opposed to start the PC.

get back to basics with PC. Remove ALL add-on cards other than your display card. Only put 1 stick of memory in. Try powering on with insert key pressed and then release it and press DELETE to get into BIOS when you see the "Press DEL to enter BIOS" message.

[Robert]

Solution: Go to PCworld and by 256mb DDR2 - put it pc, boots fine - change ram to +.2 volts...voila (not installed windows yet though)