# [SOLVED] 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!



## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

New build, did the bench test. 5 short beeps signifying, according to multiple troubleshooting websites, that the problem is "Processor Error." No two users seem to have had the same experience with "Processor Error" so I just decided to go ahead with Windows.

*Windows 7 64-bit installed successfully, no errors.
After installing Windows, I ran Intel Burn Test and Prime95. NO ERRORS, CPU (and RAM) IS STABLE*. Temps are all fine. All of this was performed out of the case.

With Windows fully installed, I still get the error beep. One note is that when I only bench tested, I got the error beeps. With the Optical Drive and HDD connected, I get the five short beeps followed by the beloved successful POST beep.

Before installing Windows, I tried both sticks individually in each RAM slot at both 1600 and 1333, re-and-double-seated everything, and inspected all parts for physical defects. In BIOS there was no appearance of any issue. I am very familiar with this board's particular BIOS. The PSU and video card came out of my computer (I upgraded) and have both been stress tested and confirmed stable. Full parts list further below.

So Windows is installed and functioning, Intel Burn Test and Prime95 report no instability, and the only appearance of a problem comes from the error beeps. Any ideas of what could be wrong, if anything? The only thing that comes to mind is possibly updating BIOS, though this motherboard supports the CPU out of the box. Otherwise I'm about to just take off the motherboard speaker and forget about all this.

*Parts List:*
ASRock 970 Extreme3
Newegg.com - ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
FX-4100
Newegg.com - AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4100WMGUSBX
G. SKILL DDR3-1600
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD6850
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze
Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X
Newegg.com - LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - CD / DVD Burners
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500gb
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Any ideas, suggestions, or warnings? Thanks for any help in advance. While waiting for responses we're going to go ahead and assemble into the case.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

Try and follow all of these steps found here:

POST troubleshooting steps.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*



http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000607.htm said:


> Computer beeps irregularly when the computer is turned on.
> Computer turns on but does not boot or do anything.
> Computer reboots every few seconds.


None of these are happening yet. I've performed all of those steps =/


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

Even though the first release BIOS supports the Fx 4100 have you tried updating the BIOS? There are some updates that address AMD Application Power Management and maybe that's what is giving you the beep errors. Worth a shot anyways!


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Amd_Man said:


> Even though the first release BIOS supports the Fx 4100 have you tried updating the BIOS? There are some updates that address AMD Application Power Management and maybe that's what is giving you the beep errors. Worth a shot anyways!


Only thing I can think of, too. Thing is, if everything is performing smoothly and passes all stability tests, is there anything wrong with just detaching the speaker and forgetting about all this?

K no motherboard screen on boot now. Skips straight to "loading windows" without giving me a chance to enter BIOS and spamming DEL (the entry key) doesn't work. In fact once we saw the mobo screen pop up once but only for a fraction of a second.

I'm gonna go ahead and update BIOS.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*



toothman said:


> Only thing I can think of, too. Thing is, if everything is performing smoothly and passes all stability tests, is there anything wrong with just detaching the speaker and forgetting about all this?


Good idea until.............



toothman said:


> K no motherboard screen on boot now. Skips straight to "loading windows" without giving me a chance to enter BIOS and spamming DEL (the entry key) doesn't work. In fact once we saw the mobo screen pop up once but only for a fraction of a second.
> 
> I'm gonna go ahead and update BIOS.


I read this. I mean it's worth a shot as there's nothing to lose! :smile:


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

I flashed the newest BIOS from ASRock's website and still have little problems. I can enter BIOS by mashing f2 and DEL as soon as the keyboard comes online, but with every boot I get a disk read error, press any button to try again. Pushing a key results in a successful boot. Windows appears stable. Intel Burn Test and Prime95 are stable. I haven't updated Windows yet.

I think the motherboard might just be defective. The boot drive failure concerns me that problems might get worse.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

Did you enter bios after the flash and load setup defaults?


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

It reboot, then I entered BIOS and browsed through it to make sure everything looks alright. I'd underclocked the RAM to 1333 earlier while trying to troubleshoot and never switched them back, but after updating BIOS I saw that it had been switched back to the default, 1600. And yes, 1600 is how it defaulted on the initial bench test :grin:

So updating BIOS did at least switch RAM to default setup, is there another step I should take?


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

After you flash any BIOS you should always enter bios after reboot and load setup defaults.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

*THAT DID THE TRICK*

This was actually my first time flashing BIOS, thank you very much for the help. No error code, no read failure, and the mobo screen loads up perfectly. Everything's hunkey-dory :grin:


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

*Re: 5 short beeps = Processor Error, computer seems fine!*

Right on toothman! I'm glad you got it up and running and no problem for the help, anytime!


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