P4PE Beeps in Games (Voltage Warning?)

[ASSVTLightning]

Just assembled a system with a 2.4B and P4PE/LAN (other specifics: 512 MB Samsung 2700 RAM, 80 GB ATA133, Gainward TI4600 Ultra 750 Golden Sample, WinXP), and it runs like a champ but when I try and play any games the PC speaker beeps like crazy. The system beeping does not coincide with any keystrokes, nor sound output. It's an alert beep, but I'm just not sure what for. When I exit the game (which all play fine BTW), I notice that Asus Probe is maximized with the voltage monitor showing red at the 3.3 V graph. Right now the Asus Probe settings are set to default, so it will beep if it notices deviation of 10%. The graph doesn't look like anything is happening - no spikes or peaks... pretty flat actually (for all voltage levels). Any ideas wtf is going on?

Other notes:

- I am running my 2.4b at 150 FSB now, but it still beeps in games at auto (133).
- Still beeps if RAM is at auto or 2.6 V
- I have a 420 Watt PSU, is this enough for the above devices + ATA 100 controller card w/ 2 additional 7200 RPM drives (3 drives total in system), CDRW, DVDROM, etc?
- I have not touched the Gainward speed settings yet (still running at factory speed).
- Even when I turn off Asus Probe, the system still beeps while playing games and Asus Probe is not running in background. Is the alert beep originating at the BIOS level?
- Disabling sound card has no effect (this is definitely an alert beep problem).

Any advice would be appreciated. I can post a screenshot of what Asus' voltage monitor is showing if needed (but it's pretty boring except for the red color on some parts of the graph).

Asus Probe wouldn't shut up on my last PIII system and I eventually had to turn it off for good for similar reasons (alert beeps for no apparent reason). It would kick me out of games but that time I think it was alerting me to CPU temperature spikes that were HUGE and highly improbable since they only lasted a millisecond - way too short for any component to heat up and cool off that much. Tell me this version is better than that!

 

[ASSVTLightning]

I forgot to add that there are actually 2 beeps! One is a higher pitch than the other, and they occur very rapidly, in no apparent order or sequence. Sounds kind of like this:

BEEP beep beep BEEP (silence) BEEP (silence) beep BEEP (silence) beep BEEP BEEP (silence) BEEP beep

No I'm not joking

I did some research on Award BIOS beep codes and this is what I found here

"Repeating High, Low beeps = CPU failure Bad processor"

I sure hope not!

 

[ASSVTLightning]

OK - don't enjoy talking to myself, but maybe I'll figure this one out on my own and someone can learn from my thread in the archives:

Did more testing, and I am starting to think it's a 3D-related issue now. I will reseat my card in a little bit, but here's what I discovered so far.

- Running Prime95, and so far no errors (still running now).
- Tried DirectX DirectDraw and D3D tests and they ran fine, but got a single BEEP on final test. Ran again, and no beep.
- While running Prime95, ran 3DMark 2001 SE demo and got tons of beeps as soon as it loaded (see screenshot below for voltage readings)
- 3D screensavers do not beep!

Here's a screenshot of the voltage graphs during the Beep-fest on 3Dmark 2001 SE:

screenshot of Asus Probe (note: this is with factory 2.4 GHz, and all "auto" default settings for mem, FSB, etc)

So what have we learned? I get beeps on major 3D processes (not little ones like screensavers). And for some reason, the 3.3 V graph line turns red when this happens. Can anyone explain the relationship between these 2 phenomenon?

 

[308nato]

Well, I am far from a hardware guru but it appears to me that your 3.3volt line is about to dive under 3volts from the looks of your screenshot. Thats not a good thing.

 

[BeAsTy]

Looks like bad power supply, try swapping that. GF4 4600's draw lotsa power.. so when u run 3d stuff and tax ur card.. it's draws more off ur board... and i guess power supply can't keep up =/

 

[ASSVTLightning]

Which voltage graph is related to the GeForce or AGP bus? Because the 3.3 V would be too much for the memory, which should be between 2.6-2.9 right?

I will try and up the voltage to the AGP bus, but I don't think it will help. The graph tells me my PSU is working, but maybe I'm missing something here...

 

[ASSVTLightning]

More notes: I am using the standard-issue Turbolink 420 Wat ATX PSU. It's brand new but could be DOA. Since I sourced it locally I can exhange it for another if it turns out to be the culprit. I can't safely swap another one in there now, as I only have a 300W PSU on hand and I'm not sure if that's enough juice. Shouldn't 420 Watts be enough for the following devices:

- P4 2.4b, P4PE, 512MB 2700 RAM
- TI4600
- 3 Hard drives (non- RAID)
- 2 IDE DVD/DCRW devices
- 2 PCI cards (including ATA100 controller card)
- 3 case fans (excluding fans on PSU, CPU, and video card)
- cold cathode tube
- NOTE: because of wiring & connection limitations, I did use 2 Y-connectors to add additional 4-pin device plugs. It's a big mess in there with the device plugs, fan power taps, and cold cathode inverter - but it should be ok).

The Asus accepts 3 conections for power: one 20-pin clip, one 4-pin ATX 12V connector, and an optional "Asus EZ Plug" (which is basically any 4-pin device plug). All three of them are connected securely on my mobo. I will check the forum archives in a minute to see what others recommended on that optional plug - who knows, maybe I'm better off without it. If I can't find any info here or on Google, I'll boot the system without it connected once just for chits and giggles.

In the meantime, this raises another question. Have I damaged any of my components thus far? Seems like only the 3.3V level has suffered, so which devices/components apply there?

 

[ASSVTLightning]

OK - Just tested the following power plug combinations:

- All 3 (20-pin, 4-pin 12V ATX, EZ plug): 2.9XX V (fluctuating)
- 20-pin, EZ plug: 2.9XX V (fluctuating)
- 20-pin, 4-pin 12V ATX: 3.008 (stable)

...which I guess doesn't really tell me much more than we already knew before. I plan to swap out the power supply tomorrow, but any other ideas I can try tonight?

 

[ASSVTLightning]

In the interest of making this thread useful later, I have decided to post the solution to my problem (in case someone else reads this months from now). If you have a low 3.3 Voltage level like I did (2.9-3.0 V), then you'll probably need a higher rated power supply. I put in an identical 420 watt unit and saw no improvement. I doubt I had 2 defective PSU's, so I assume my system demands more power than any 420 can offer. So I threw in a 500 watt PSU and my 3.3 line jumped to 3.28-3.04 V. That did the trick, my BIOS stopped beeping, and I can play 3D.

Thanks for all the help, advice, and suggestions!

 

[dszd0g]

That is a lot of power for what you have in your system. What brand of power supplies are you using? (Some brands do not actually match their ratings, while others can do more than their rating)

Have you looked for shorts? You could have something shorted that is causing excessive current to be drawn. Have you tried bringing your system down to the minimum components? Have you tried swapping video cards?

 

[caboob]

The beeping sound is the Mobo signalling that the CPU has enabled its thermal protection circuit and thus has has throttled down because of excessive heat. Its in your mobo manual. I take temp readings with a grain of salt because they are inaccurate most of the time. If you do some benchamarking at stock speed you might find that the performance difference is marginal. Ya might have to improve you CPU cooling (ie watercooling).

Excessive voltage will be indicated during POST of the system and BTW Asus boards are notorious for overvolting anyways (its the reason why they are such stable boards).