Question post beeping

bjlockie

Member
Dec 10, 2005
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Is the case supposed to have the speaker that does the beeping for post codes?
I recently got a new power supply and I noticed my PC doesn't beep when it boots.
I don't think it ever did so I asked ASRock and they said I need to attach a "beep speaker" to the motherboard.
I wondered if cases usually have them?
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
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I wondered if cases usually have them?
Many moons ago they did. Now, if you want to be annoyed either there's a small tweeter on the MOBO or you add your own speaker to the case and connect it to the header.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
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back in the PC/AT days, they had a real 3" speaker that attached to a four-pin header on the mobo, and the speaker was generally pre-mounted somewhere in the chassis.

These days, with modern ATX PCs, mobos still sport the standard 4-pin speaker header, but generally, the case "fiddly bits" include a peizo-electric speaker that does the same function, at least for beeping. It must be attached to the mobo by the builder.
 
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mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
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yeah I don't think modern case designs include them any longer. You could just get something like this or cannibalize the piezo buzzer off an old motherboard and solder your own connector on.


As far as cannibalizing parts off old boards, I just go outside and hold a propane torch about 8" away from the back of the board, then slap the board against an open cardboard box and all kinds of components come off. Outside because it stinks like crazy once the PCB burns.
 
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bjlockie

Member
Dec 10, 2005
177
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I guess I don't need one else there is a problem. :)
Kinda annoying they don't include it anymore because they are cheap relative to the price of a case.
 
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On my Z790, I hear a loud tick sound when the system beeps, like some relay switch getting triggered. Only hear it once during boot.
 

Stiff Clamp

Senior member
Feb 3, 2021
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I had to buy one separately for my motherboard back in 2019. Wish someone would make one with a soft chime. Or just get creative and make speakers for all kinds of optional sounds.
Electronic beep is downright crude these days.
 
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aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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Depends on the board.
Most cases, no... most boards unless enterprise grade will just have a header, while real server boards have onboard speaker.

If you have a OEM, like a Dell, most of those do for internal service reasons.
 
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These days office systems are too quiet. In the old days, you could hear the whirring and static of the HDD. It gave you a clue that something was happening inside the box. Now? Nothing, other than the occasional ramp up of the CPU fan. Maybe someone should design a HDD noise simulator based on SSD load. Offer different noise profiles. New HDDs sounded like soft whispers. The older they got, the more scratchy noises they made. I would buy such a software.
 
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Fallen Kell

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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As others have stated, boards use to have the speaker built into them. Now they are saving on the space (mainly because the space was taken over by M.2 drives or it is where they moved the SATA/SAS/USB/case connectors/headers).

They sell these speakers all over the place, search for "motherboard speaker" on amazon and you will find about a dozen different ones (probably all made in the same factory in China).
 
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mindless1

Diamond Member
Aug 11, 2001
8,751
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These days office systems are too quiet. In the old days, you could hear the whirring and static of the HDD. It gave you a clue that something was happening inside the box. Now? Nothing, other than the occasional ramp up of the CPU fan. Maybe someone should design a HDD noise simulator based on SSD load. Offer different noise profiles. New HDDs sounded like soft whispers. The older they got, the more scratchy noises they made. I would buy such a software.
Get a piezo buzzer with a low ~3V activation threshold, hook up to mobo drive activity LED header (instead of LED) lol.
 
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aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
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Get a piezo buzzer with a low ~3V activation threshold, hook up to mobo drive activity LED header (instead of LED) lol.

Oh god, wouldn't that beep all the time your PC was on, and if you conntected it to the HDD LED, then it would beep at the most random situations along with each time it was accessing the Drives.
I would shoot the person who installed that, and then drag them out to the street to shoot them some more.


You can just get one of these:

and just plug it in the speaker header on the motherboard which im pretty sure almost all of them have.

Then again, why is a 1 dollar speaker not even given to you for free when you buy a 200+ dollar motherboard.
 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
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Oh god, wouldn't that beep all the time your PC was on, and if you conntected it to the HDD LED, then it would beep at the most random situations along with each time it was accessing the Drives.
I would shoot the person who installed that, and then drag them out to the street to shoot them some more.


You can just get one of these:

and just plug it in the speaker header on the motherboard which im pretty sure almost all of them have.

Then again, why is a 1 dollar speaker not even given to you for free when you buy a 200+ dollar motherboard.
I could swear I have one somewhere that was included with a motherboard. I just don't use them any longer. I usually have an LED debugger, though they are becoming rarer themselves.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
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I could swear I have one somewhere that was included with a motherboard. I just don't use them any longer. I usually have an LED debugger, though they are becoming rarer themselves.

yeah i think some boards actually gave you one.
Although, it seems like vendors are looking for ways to shave off excess to save cost as much as possible, which include a less then 1 dollar speaker.
 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
42,238
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yeah i think some boards actually gave you one.
Although, it seems like vendors are looking for ways to shave off excess to save cost as much as possible, which include a less then 1 dollar speaker.
When I purchase $400+ motherboards, they should include everything in the box.
 
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