AMD A4-3300 APU Troubleshooting

[mocchan]

Hello all and thanks for any help in advance. I've looked everywhere for a solution but I just can't seem to find anything I'm looking for. I'm recently in the process of troubleshooting a problem I'm having with my Mobo+APU. My Mobo is the Asus F1A75-M, and CPU, as the title says, is the AMD A4-3300 APU.

At first, I thought I had a problem with my Ram (8 GB Corsair Vengeance LP 1333mhz) but looking in the manual, the beeps the Mobo was giving me (1 long 3 short) turns out to be a problem with a GPU. I'm curious to know if the GPU on my A4-3300 is dead, or if it's just a Mobo problem and can be fixed. Though since the Mobo posts if I add in a discrete GPU, I don't think it's a mobo problem...Unfortunately I can't go and exchange my APU to test and see since I live 7 hours away from the closest Fry's.

 

[DM186]

It sounds like your on board GPU has come to an end. What were you doing when it became a problem? I don't think it is your MOBO because you put in another GPU and everything worked just fine.

Are you still under warranty? if so call Fry's and find out what to do. I might be cheaper to mail it to them then drive. But I think or on board GPU is toast.

 

[jaguarskx]

Unfortunately, based on what you have stated, it seems the GPU core is at fault. Since it does work with a discrete video card, you do not absolutely have to return the APU. However, my recommendation is that you should at your earliest convenience. Although the probably may be small, it could me that overall the APU is faulty and the CPU core can eventually fail sooner or later. Additionally, should the discrete video bite the dust, you no longer have the GPU core to fall back on.

 

[need4speeds]

On my A6-3650 apu, i had to manually set the memory voltage, and timings as the board set the memory undervolted at 1.5volts instead of 1.65volts.

To overclock i set my 1600mem to 1066, the mem follows the fsb so its at 1470, 135fsb. cpu at 1.45volts. the core is set to 550mhz.

I noticed there is a option in the bios to set the gpu to use system memory for the graphics or not where it gets uses as a app processor only.

Since the gpu depends on the memory working right, it might not work if the memory timings and voltage are set wrong.

I noticed there is also settings for the gpu voltage, maybe the board has set that wrong too. I would check that and see. look up what the factory voltages/speeds are for your memory and apu first.

-There is also a setting in the bios for video but its not on the same page as the gpu clock/mem settings.
Its says... Init video. "1st pcie" "2nd pcie" "integrated pcie"
If that is set to look for a card in the 1st pcie slot and there isn't one it wont use the integrated gpu, you have to have this option set correctly.

 

[mocchan]

Thank you all for your reply. I'll try your method first, need4speeds. If all else fails I'll definitely call Fry's and see if I can get this APU replaced.

To answer your question DM186, this has been a problem since I bought the APU itself. I thought my memory was at fault when I checked to see for any dead hardware, but I used MemOK! on my Asus board and everything posted fine. But soon after that I got the GPU error beep codes. And yes, I'm still on warranty. Still have the receipt as well, and should be okay for another 13 days for a full refund.

jaguarsk, I'll definitely keep that in mind as well, if this is a faulty APU I'll replace it ASAP. I don't want to risk my friend's computer to die in a few months use. Even if I get a discrete card (I worry about GPU's failing a lot for some reason, maybe my bad luck in the past) it'll be one more worry I don't want to deal with.

Hopefully what need4speeds has recommended will work, I went into my bios and noticed my memory was running at 1066 with timings at 8-8-8-20 from 1333 9-9-9-24. I didn't make much of it at first but I'm starting to think it may be the cause.

Thank you all for your help once again.

 

[kinggraves]

If the mobo/memory/CPU was faulty it would still give you a beep code and not start up with discrete graphics, so the graphics should be the issue. Seems weird though that the GPU side would function but the CPU side wouldnt, maybe it isn't fried.

Is it the first time you've run the system or have you successfully run it? If you've successfully run it, have you recently changed the video drivers or did you try adding in the discrete card before the problems started? I would also check to be sure you're set to use integrated graphics in BIOS. Most of those settings can be found under NB CONFIG in the ADVANCED menu. Resetting BIOS with the jumper to default might also be worth a try if you havent.

 

[mocchan]

@kinggraves Thanks for your help and reply.
The only way I've run this system was with a discrete card, and that was to download drivers, install OS, etc. I haven't really messed around with the BIOS yet so I'll do that tomorrow. And yes I found it odd as well that the GPU would be fried, but CPU be totally fine. I ran a few benchmark programs to look for any stability issues and I could find none. I'll definitely check the settings tomorrow morning, and as for resetting jumpers-tried that, didn't work as well.

 

[mocchan]

***UPDATE***

Turns out the actual GPU on the chip is dead, so I'll be exchanging this with a new APU from Fry's when possible. Thanks to all who have helped

 

[darrenbrull]

I had the same problem with the same APU and MOBO combo. Turns out, the BIOS was very out of date and needed to be flashed with an update.

I originally determined the issue was the GPU, or rather, the APU chip in general because I installed a videocard from another computer and then the beeps stopped and I was able to go to BIOS GUI.

 

[mocchan]

I had the same problem with the same APU and MOBO combo. Turns out, the BIOS was very out of date and needed to be flashed with an update.

I originally determined the issue was the GPU, or rather, the APU chip in general because I installed a videocard from another computer and then the beeps stopped and I was able to go to BIOS GUI.

See that's the thing, the BIOS on the MOBO is up-to-date and it's still showing the same errors. I recently replaced the APU and the GPU part worked fine, though now it's giving me Memory errors while checking for stability inside Prime95. So it's got my head in a flustercuck at the moment. I opened a new thread for this issue if you would like to pitch in any ideas. Thanks for your reply
/forum/332388-31-another-prime95-rounding-error-thread