Experiences with Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 rev 3.3 first time build

[JumpinBananas]

I'd like to share experiences and get some helpful feedback on some issues for my first Gigabyte motherboard build, especially understanding the bios beep codes and what could be wrong. I have a Gigabyte 965P-DQ6 rev 3.3 , F9 Bios..specs for other parts I've listed below.

E6600 Core 2 Duo
Seasonic 650W PSU (12 V, 18A rails)
Geil PC6400 2x1GB Ultra 4-4-4-12 RAM
Leadtek 7950GT PCI-E 512MB
2x Seasonic Barracuda 250GB SATAII HD
CoolerMaster Hyper TX Heatsink/fan
Win XP SP2


I have no overclocking, everythings running at default (even though I should probably bump up the RAM voltages a bit).

Now I had it all up and running and working fine (CPU temp 28-33C, system 35-40C) on an average 27 C day, I was installing software, playing games etc, but then I noticed some problems on subsequent startups.

I noticed that most times (but not every time) after powering-on, there would be a faint , very short single beep (lets call this "beep A"), occurring before the normal successful system boot beep, and windows start. This "beep A" is much shorter than the "system boots successfully" beep and is also lower pitch. This was happening most times but not every time. One time, there were 4 or 5 short beeps in a row before the success beep, and windows startup successful. These beeps occur sometime between the video card POST and success beep. In every case I could get into windows and use computer normally.

I also noticed when I shutdown windows, after the windows chime stops , screen goes blank etc, I hear the same distinct beep (beep A) at the same time the HD and power LEDS switch off.

This "beep A" on startup and shutdown has me stumped, because the only short beep listed in the AWARD Bios beep codes is the system boot successful, and no errors were displayed on the screen.


Now to the bigger problem:

A few hours later, I start the computer up again and there is a long continuous uninterrupted beep and I check the CPU fan and it isn't moving. I promptly switch the power off , fearing a damaged CPU if I keep it running for very long. When I started up again, the cpu fan jiggled a little but didn't spin up. Then it starts the continuous beep..however on the monitor the computer looked to be POSTing as normal, detecting the video card memory, RAM, IRQ's etcs.

I was wondering, in the Bios I have Smart FAN Speed Control enabled and the CPU Fan fail warning enabled. Could this have something to do with it? The continous tone is not a CPU fan fail warning is it?

 

[apache_lives]

reset the cmos and try that ram with some extra juice (1.9v - 2.1v)

 

[Jizumonkey]

Disable any CPU fan speed controls in the BIOS and set your cpu safety temp to 70 degrees, disable any other alarms.

By default, the DS3 (and therefore I presume the DQ6) starts with a fan temp control switched on, which fools nearly everyone who builds their own system into thinking that the fan is not working or that the cpu will overheat!

It is normal for it to 'nudge' shortly on startup and then not come on for maybe 20 seconds...disabling the speed control stops this and also allows you to be aware of what is going on.

If you ever need to check your CPU temps i'd always advise doing so in the BIOS only, not booting windoze incase something is wrong.

As for the beeps...I sometimes only get a single short beep on bootup, but others times (probably due to some things I've changed - but quite safely, it's tested) I get a solid few seconds beep.

 

[xeni]

That is very strange since i got the same motherboard from newegg with rev 3.3 i moved up fro ma ds3 which i gave to my brother for his watercooling setup that he just build.

Now regarding your CPU FAN not spinning. What kind of CPU FAN do you have? Does your CPU FAN come with a speed control and if it does turn off the speed fan control in the bios. I have a Zalman 9500 and i have it running at 1400 RPM and my temp is about 45C with a really hot room temp. If i bump it up to 2400 it only drops another 2-3C so its not worth the noise since my pc is really quiet right now.

 

[JumpinBananas]

On shutdown, computer still gives a beep just before it shuts off...and sometimes on startup. Guess its nothing serious.

Continuous beep problem solved. It was the smart fan and fan stop working problem. The BIOS showed the CPU temperature was 15 C, system temperature 30 C, when the room temp is 23 C. So the CPU fan wasn't spinning (thanks to smart fan), and the MB detected it as a CPU fan fail.

Turns out "smart fan" aint so smart afterall.