Hi Michael,

To jump right to the end and answer your question, either the MB or CPU 
could be a problem. The CPU must execute BIOS instructions to be able to 
drive the speaker to provide the beeps.

Now to some tips on what to look for.

1.) Make sure that ALL the motherboard power connectors are connected! 
Most motherboards these days require a separate 4 pin (ATX) or 8 pin 
(SLI) connector for CPU power in addition to the standard 20 oe 24 pin 
main power connector. It is a common mistake to forget to hook thses up. 
Sme dual CPU Xeon motherboard actually require TWO of these, making 
power supply selection difficult (only a few have this).

2.) Make sure the CPU is installed properly.

3.) Make sure there are no metal posts grounding out the motherboard to 
the case.

Steps to help isolate the problem.

1.) Remove all peripherals except video, memory and CPU from the 
motherboard and try to power it on. If these works, then add them back 
one at a time until it fails again.

2.) Remove the MB from the chassis entirely and hook everything up while 
the MB is resting on a non-conductive surface to see if it will work.

3.) Try a different power supply. If it still doesn't work, then either 
the MB or CPU is likely defective.

Russ Poffenberger
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On 2/9/2010 11:06 AM, Michael Eisenstadt wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am trying to troubleshoot a new build. The details are:
>
> 500 watt Coolmaster PSU, Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H motherboard,
> 2Gig RAM DDR3 1300 Kingston, AMD Phenom II 3x 2.8Ghz CPU, Gigabyte
> HSF installed, 3 v battery good (all new components all from Newegg), there
> is no beep code, nor does mb recognize mouse, keyboard, or monitor when
> turned on. Mb supplies VGA. The case's power switch functions and the
> Gigabyte HSF turns on. The case's speaker is attached to mb and was working
> with previous mb. I believe bad RAM has a beep code. Would a bad CPU
> prevent the beep codes and the BIOS from loading? Or could this be a
> defective mb?
>
>    

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