The situation....
- ECS KN1 Extreme SLI
- AMD Athlon64 3700
- 2x512mb Corsair XMS4000
- 2x BFG7800 GT OC
- 2x WD Raptor (37gb)
- 1 Plextor 716A Optical
- 1 Thermaltake PurePower 680 PSU

For approximately 1 month everyhting was working just fine. WoW ran great, Dungeon Seige ran great. Life was good. Then one day it started beeping at me occaisionally while playing. So I think, I still have the retail HS on there, perhaps it is overheating. So I shut down F@H while playing. Doesn't help. Over past week or so it gets worse. Now, whenever I load a game it just beeps in one loooooong tone, constantly, until I shut the game down. Then it stops. Never beeps when F@H is running and no game is running.

No hardware has changed. On the software side the only change since Dungeon Siege II was installed (when everything was good) is that I instaled AutoAssautl beta, but it had started before that, so it is not related.

First thing I checekd were temps using the nVidia Monitor application. CPU never goes above 51, and GPUs got as high as 54 once. Default cut off for GPU is set at 115 and I think the CPU is around 60 or so. So that is not the problem. Power is stable, no problems there. The BIOS is the most current. I even turned off all the temp monitoring, no help.

Any ideas anyone has, please let me know. It is quite the annoying noice and if I can't figure it out I just might have to rip the teeny tiny spealker out.

Don't just rip out your system speaker. It's beeping at you because there's something wrong.

If you haven't already, do an all out antivirus/spyware tests to make sure that's not the problem. But exactly as to why it's beeping at you like it is, I have no explaination.

Dick
Is it definately a system beep, and not possibly one of your coolers? If not the CPU maybe the GPU? If it does not happen when F@H is going, but it does with game, I tend to think it is video related perhaps.

Do you get any error messages? If not then I would not think it is not software related. I know it sounds odd, but if you could give a bit more info on the beep?

close down all other applications, my money is on a firewall acting up.

Foe I like your GPU theory. Does anyone know if there is there a video exerciser [some kind of burn-in program maybe]? that Mr. Nervous could run and if the beeping started he'd have isolated the problem?

-MF

It not a virus or spyware, I am very diligent about that with this particual machine since it is the one I game with.

Foe, as for more infomration on the beep, it is just a constant tone. It occasionally will go off, but otherwise stays constant, so it is not exactly a beep. I originally thought it was heat related as the CPU cooler I have is a stock AMD one from a 3200, so I figured maybe it couldn't keep up, but as I stated, when running folding alone there is no problem.

As for a GPU related issue, it could very well be, but I doubt it is heat. The nVidia drivers have thermal control in them and the default temp for GPU slowdown is 115C. I can alt-tab ouf a game, or play it windowed and see the nVidia monitor which tells me the temps of the GPUs and it never goes above 51C.

Today Mr. UPS should be delivering a new CPU cooler and a re-furbished PCI Express video card from our god friends at NewEgg. I will focus on troublshooting a graphics related hardware issue by first removing one of the 2 cards that are curently installed, swapping them, and finally putting in the card I get today. The good news is that the 7800GT cards are BFG and have a lifetime warranty, so if anything is wrong with them I am covered.

MF, as for video stressing software, I think 3dMark06 does a decent job of stressing the graphics.

I'll keey ya posted as to what I find. THanks

figure out what version of bios that you have and then go here:

http://forums.pcapex.com/motherboard...ide_links.html

i have links to all the bios makers and what the beep code means....

typicaly long beeps are memory issues

Quote: Originally Posted by DickNervous The situation.... - ECS KN1 Extreme SLI

when the issue doesent present a solution that can be explained with actual, tangible evidence (your temperatures are perfect), then its probably the weakest element in your system, in this case, your motherboard...even the BEST ECS motherboard is not worth attaching the kinds of high quality parts you are otherwise using...

if the problem came out of nowhere, and you CPU and GPU temps are ok, and it ONLY occurs while gaming, then all i can gather is you might need a BIOS update, or just a system rebuild...the latter of which has historically solved the majority of hard-to-troubleshoot problems for me...also take a close look at the capacitors on your motherboard and make sure none of them have gunk leaking out of them...as this is a problem that progresses gradually and produces problems in the same progression...

as a site note, id just like to suggest that if you are going to insist on using good quality parts, it would benefit you greatly to go with a reputable motherboard manufacturer to compliment them, something like DFI, ASUS, and ABIT...

edit: doesent the Nforce4 firewall exibit problems like this too if its enabled, i do know lots of people hate it and disable it from the beginning because of interruptions....

Just throwing an idea out there. What if it's just the speaker? or wiring?. Hook up a spare one from another case and test it if u have one.

A couple of ideas:

Have you tried running just one video card?
Are you overclocking? if you are, drop it to stock speed and test again.
When you say that the voltages are OK, do you mean that you have checked with a voltmeter or with mobo sensors?
Have you tried swapping the memory or using one stick at a time?

I would approach this problem without trying to look for the logic (only happens during gaming), I would treat it as if the machine was BSOD'ing. That way you are more open minded in your search.

Edit: BTW if we help you fix the problem you have to start folding for team 596

Fu3lman,
While I appreciate your suggestions I am using the ECS board because it is one I am reviewing and therefore will get to keep with no cash outlay. Besides, while it may not be as good as an Asus it seems to be apretty good board, except for this beep of course. If I was going to buy a board it would probably have been an Asus or MSI.

PurpleDiamond,
I didn't try all that yet as I was simply too tired last night, so I will try it tonight when I get home from work. The voltages also look fine, but I have only tested with the motherboard. I have not pulled out a multimeter at this point.

Thrillkill,
Been there, done that already.

I really appreciate all the feedback, at least now I won't be sitting there going "D'oh" when I get home. Of course last night that might have been from spending a 3 day weekend with my 4yr old including a trip to the aquarium yesterday....

How close to the speaker is the speaker to the Video cards (maybe Interferance).

Other thought .. could it be a fan failing at higher speeds or starting to squeel when playing games?

Whats the temp of the chip (chipse) benieth that fan between the two PCIe 16 slots? And the fan speed for that matter...

DN ,
tryed doin a bit of research on yer problem, an didnt really come up with any REAL GOOD answer or advice. I tend to agree with Thrill Kill though, as a long constant beep genraly indecates memory. Maybe try taking out one of your two sticks, then doin' whatever it is that sets off the beep, then do the other stick by itself.

I did have one real "out there" idea, dont know if its even possible but maybe your game sounds are partialy feeding through the speaker??

next question , is your proformance affected in ANY way at all when the beeping starts ???

I figured it out, and will tell you what it was in a minute. First I just wanted to thank everyone for their input and suggestions as it led to the solution, just not the way any of us expcted. So here is what happened...

I sit in my office to think for a bit and decide to start by pulling one of the 7800GT cards. Do it, everything works great. Ok, put it nback in and fire up 3DMark06 and about 5 seconds into the first demo it starts again. Someone had suggested that maybe a fan was failing under load so I crawled under my desk to get a better look at the GPU fans, which were spinning fine, and I realzied that the sound wasn't coming from the right spot for it to be a PC Speaker. Turning my head slightly I triangulate the source of the sound and see a glowing red light on the front of my APC SmartUPS 1500, which goes off when the beep stops between the benchmarks.

So the problem is an overloaded UPS. WHen that 2nd video card kicks in the PSU pulls too much power. Of course the problem now is that I gotta figure out what all I have plugged into the UPS between the daisy chanied power strips and rats next of wires under my desk.

Mystery solved.

Glad you got the problem , if not solved, at least figured out , but i gotta admit i was laughin' when i read what it was.......................... all that kept commin' to mind was

"THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX"

Yeah, I figure I'm gonna get ribbed a bit for this one, but everyone who reads this thread will do just what you said the next time they have a weird problem like this.