VOGONS


First post, by bassix6

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Hi all,

I recently purchased a Gigabyte GA-6VX7-4X motherboard with a 1000 MHZ P3 CPU. I tried to connect it, but when it turns on it starts beeping. If I counted correctly it are 5 beeps. After searching online I discovered this indicates CPU Fail. Should I replace the CPU or is there something else I can do?

I'm still quite new with retro PC's so any help would be appreciated!

Reply 1 of 29, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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Do you have any other PGA370 CPUs for testing purposes?

Reply 2 of 29, by bassix6

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I also have a 933 MHZ I can try! I can give it a shot.

Reply 3 of 29, by bassix6

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Update: I replaced the CPU. The mobo doesn't beep anymore, but I still don't get a signal. I tried 2 gpu's but neither of them gives a signal. I know those GPU's work in different PC's though....

Reply 4 of 29, by Peter.Mengel

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bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 17:36:

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Gigabyte GA-6VX7-4X motherboard with a 1000 MHZ P3 CPU. I tried to connect it, but when it turns on it starts beeping. If I counted correctly it are 5 beeps. After searching online I discovered this indicates CPU Fail. Should I replace the CPU or is there something else I can do?

I'm still quite new with retro PC's so any help would be appreciated!

The 1000 Mhz are often FC-PGA2 Chips and need the right Motherboard. I had the same problem while my 900mhz FC-PGA did work the 1000mhz didnt. Some 900er are FC-PGA2 too.

Reply 5 of 29, by Peter.Mengel

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bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:23:

Update: I replaced the CPU. The mobo doesn't beep anymore, but I still don't get a signal. I tried 2 gpu's but neither of them gives a signal. I know those GPU's work in different PC's though....

Does the Board offer a Onboard "graphic card"?

Reply 6 of 29, by bassix6

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Peter.Mengel wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:56:
bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:23:

Update: I replaced the CPU. The mobo doesn't beep anymore, but I still don't get a signal. I tried 2 gpu's but neither of them gives a signal. I know those GPU's work in different PC's though....

Does the Board offer a Onboard "graphic card"?

I'm afraid it doesn't 🙁 Regarding your FC-PGA2 Chips comment: the motherboard is supposed to support the 933 MHZ and the 1 GHZ coppermine P3 CPu, so I reckon they SHOULD work...

Reply 7 of 29, by Peter.Mengel

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bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:01:
Peter.Mengel wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:56:
bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:23:

Update: I replaced the CPU. The mobo doesn't beep anymore, but I still don't get a signal. I tried 2 gpu's but neither of them gives a signal. I know those GPU's work in different PC's though....

Does the Board offer a Onboard "graphic card"?

I'm afraid it doesn't 🙁 Regarding your FC-PGA2 Chips comment: the motherboard is supposed to support the 933 MHZ and the 1 GHZ coppermine P3 CPu, so I reckon they SHOULD work...

Well there are 933 and 1Ghz Coppermine with FC-PGA2 and without...You need a Tualatin Board for them. I had once the same Problem. Any PCI Graphic Card? Did you change the Bios to AGP maybe its on PCI....and has no Autoselect.

What kind of Graphic Cards are you using?

Reply 8 of 29, by bassix6

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Peter.Mengel wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:03:
bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:01:
Peter.Mengel wrote on 2022-03-25, 18:56:

Does the Board offer a Onboard "graphic card"?

I'm afraid it doesn't 🙁 Regarding your FC-PGA2 Chips comment: the motherboard is supposed to support the 933 MHZ and the 1 GHZ coppermine P3 CPu, so I reckon they SHOULD work...

Well there are 933 and 1Ghz Coppermine with FC-PGA2 and without...You need a Tualatin Board for them. I had once the same Problem. Any PCI Graphic Card? Did you change the Bios to AGP maybe its on PCI....and has no Autoselect.

What kind of Graphic Cards are you using?

I'll check if I have any PCI cards laying around. I've tried a Diamaond Viper V550 and an Ati Rage from 1999, don't know the specific model..

Reply 9 of 29, by Tetrium

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bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 17:36:

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Gigabyte GA-6VX7-4X motherboard with a 1000 MHZ P3 CPU. I tried to connect it, but when it turns on it starts beeping. If I counted correctly it are 5 beeps. After searching online I discovered this indicates CPU Fail. Should I replace the CPU or is there something else I can do?

I'm still quite new with retro PC's so any help would be appreciated!

What are the exact part numbers of your CPUs?

Btw, the CPUs may be good, I've had odd issues when the HSF (CPU cooler) was not installed properly.

Could you post some pics of the board and of the CPU cooler you're using?

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 10 of 29, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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Do you have another mainboard to verify the CPUs?

Reply 11 of 29, by bassix6

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Tetrium wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:44:
What are the exact part numbers of your CPUs? […]
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bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 17:36:

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Gigabyte GA-6VX7-4X motherboard with a 1000 MHZ P3 CPU. I tried to connect it, but when it turns on it starts beeping. If I counted correctly it are 5 beeps. After searching online I discovered this indicates CPU Fail. Should I replace the CPU or is there something else I can do?

I'm still quite new with retro PC's so any help would be appreciated!

What are the exact part numbers of your CPUs?

Btw, the CPUs may be good, I've had odd issues when the HSF (CPU cooler) was not installed properly.

Could you post some pics of the board and of the CPU cooler you're using?

I made some pictures this morning:

IMG-0726.jpg IMG-0727.jpg

IMG-0728.jpg IMG-0729.jpg

Reply 12 of 29, by bassix6

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-03-25, 21:37:

Do you have another mainboard to verify the CPUs?

Unfortunately not. I have one other 370 socket mobo, but it has some broken condensators.

Reply 13 of 29, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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They're both Coppermine, so they should work with this board.
Didn't knew that Coppermine CPUs with Tualatin heatspreader exist. You always learn something new here.
The 933 looks like it has a chipped edge?

bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-26, 10:10:

Unfortunately not. I have one other 370 socket mobo, but it has some broken condensators.

Can you solder or know someone who can?

Reply 14 of 29, by bassix6

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-03-26, 10:16:
They're both Coppermine, so they should work with this board. Didn't knew that Coppermine CPUs with Tualatin heatspreader exist. […]
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They're both Coppermine, so they should work with this board.
Didn't knew that Coppermine CPUs with Tualatin heatspreader exist. You always learn something new here.
The 933 looks like it has a chipped edge?

bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-26, 10:10:

Unfortunately not. I have one other 370 socket mobo, but it has some broken condensators.

Can you solder or know someone who can?

I'm afraid not. Think I'll have to bring it to a specialist. I just found another 1ghz coppermine CPU, so I'll try that one as well...

Reply 15 of 29, by bassix6

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Also no signal with the other 933 Coppermine. I can't imagine all these CPU's are broken.
As soon as I turn it on the CPU fan starts spinning and an orange power light on the mobo turns on. I've tried two gpu's and two monitors, who both work with different pc's. I've also tried replacing the mobo battery, but that didn't do anything as well. Anyone an idea of what might be the problem, aside from a broken mobo?

Reply 16 of 29, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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Did you try the PSU on another board?
Also be sure that the ATX connector is connected properly. I experienced situations were the board wouldn't start, but after I reattached the ATX connector it did work.

It's highly unlikely that all 3 CPUs are broken. CPUs are very durable compaired to mainboards.
Are you sure the beep codes are CPU error? Is it 5x short or 2x long + 3x short? Second one would be CMOS error. Did you perform a proper CMOS reset? Sometimes doing a reset per jumper isn't enough and you have to remove the battery for 2 hours or so.
Could also be a failed flash attempt. But without a programming device or another compatible mainboard you can't check that.

Can you verify the functionality of the RAM on another mainboard?

Where did you buy the board? Ebay?
Was it declared as working or untested?

Reply 17 of 29, by Tetrium

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bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-26, 10:09:
I made some pictures this morning: […]
Show full quote
Tetrium wrote on 2022-03-25, 19:44:
What are the exact part numbers of your CPUs? […]
Show full quote
bassix6 wrote on 2022-03-25, 17:36:

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Gigabyte GA-6VX7-4X motherboard with a 1000 MHZ P3 CPU. I tried to connect it, but when it turns on it starts beeping. If I counted correctly it are 5 beeps. After searching online I discovered this indicates CPU Fail. Should I replace the CPU or is there something else I can do?

I'm still quite new with retro PC's so any help would be appreciated!

What are the exact part numbers of your CPUs?

Btw, the CPUs may be good, I've had odd issues when the HSF (CPU cooler) was not installed properly.

Could you post some pics of the board and of the CPU cooler you're using?

I made some pictures this morning:

IMG-0726.jpg IMG-0727.jpg

IMG-0728.jpg IMG-0729.jpg

Both of these are Coppermines.

On the first pic
https://postlmg.cc/ph8KFHsF
your heatsink seems to be incorrectly installed. It's angled somehow, but should be absolutely horizontal.
This might explain your symptoms if this causes the heatsink not touching the CPU die or IHS correctly, causing the system to not boot since the CPUs overheat.

Can you make absolutely sure you installed the heatsink correctly? It should be absolutely level like 180 degrees when compared to the CPUs and from the top should look like it angles perfectly with the CPU socket.

I edited your original pic to include a blue and a purple line at the underside of the CPU socket, you'll need to zoom in a little to see them but then you will see what I meant.

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 18 of 29, by Tetrium

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-03-26, 10:16:

Didn't knew that Coppermine CPUs with Tualatin heatspreader exist. You always learn something new here.
The 933 looks like it has a chipped edge?

There's even some Celerons with an IHS. Iirc from 900MHz they can come with an IHS but maybe a slower model as well.
Then there was also Coppermine-t which also can come with an IHS but the IHS doesn't necessarily mean it's a Coppermine-t, Intel seemed to be trying its best to confuse its customers 😜

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 19 of 29, by bassix6

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-03-26, 11:47:
Did you try the PSU on another board? Also be sure that the ATX connector is connected properly. I experienced situations were t […]
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Did you try the PSU on another board?
Also be sure that the ATX connector is connected properly. I experienced situations were the board wouldn't start, but after I reattached the ATX connector it did work.

It's highly unlikely that all 3 CPUs are broken. CPUs are very durable compaired to mainboards.
Are you sure the beep codes are CPU error? Is it 5x short or 2x long + 3x short? Second one would be CMOS error. Did you perform a proper CMOS reset? Sometimes doing a reset per jumper isn't enough and you have to remove the battery for 2 hours or so.
Could also be a failed flash attempt. But without a programming device or another compatible mainboard you can't check that.

Can you verify the functionality of the RAM on another mainboard?

Where did you buy the board? Ebay?
Was it declared as working or untested?

Yes, I tried the PSU with another board and that one worked correctly. Right now I'll try your suggestion of removing the battery for a longer period of time. I bought the board from a local thrift shop site. It was declared to be working.