Help with new hardware

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scalywag1

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Hi guys,

Ok so I bought a new motherboard, CPU, RAM and PSU from Prophecy.
I built the PC and put in my graphics card and HDD's from my old PC. Now when I turn it on, all seems to be fine but the screen doesn't seem to be picking up any signal. I assumed it was graphics card so I removed that and plugged the screen into the motherboard graphics to see if that would work, sadly no. The graphics card was working perfectly in the old PC.

Now my question is, which component could be causing the problem? I have tried a different screen on the old graphics card and motherboard graphics port but neither worked. PSU seems to be working fine, PC boots and everything, no beeps to indicate error from the motherboard. Any solutions or tests I could run to see where the problem lies?

Thank you very much for all your help, and if you need any more info I'll provide as much as i can :)
 
Well I turned it on now and there's a second long beep (roughly).
 
Beeeeeeeep! for roughly one second means RAM is faulty or your CPU isn't compatible. What hardware did you buy, exactly?
 
NAG - Wesley said:
Beeeeeeeep! for roughly one second means RAM is faulty or your CPU isn't compatible. What hardware did you buy, exactly?
Click to expand...

AMD FX-4100 Quad-Core 3.6GHz AM3+ Boxed Processor
Coolermaster RS-500-PCAR Extreme Power Plus 500W Power Supply
Asus M5A78L-M LX AM3/AM3+ Dual-Channel DDR3 PCI-E x16

Can't find a link to the RAM at the moment, will reply tomorrow morning :)
 
Did you upgrade your motherboards BIOS tot he latest version before you popped the FX-4100 into the socket? In many cases the motherboard you have purchased will definitely NOT support the FX series of CPU's straight out the box. You may therefore need to flash your BIOS to the latest version (1003) for this board:

Here is a handy link for you to Flash your BIOS to version 1003 to get your PC working: Asus CPU Support

If you are unsure of how to do this here is another link to help you out:

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/M5A78LM_LX/#CPUS
 
I'm sorry Scaly, but what you've bought there is an AM3/AM2+ motherboard, not an AM3+ model with an updated 800 or 900-series chipset (its actually a 760G chipset in there). I own a 785G board myself and there's no chance in hell of running a Bulldozer chip in it. Return the board and look for a 970-series chipset because those will work without any issues.

Also, you'd need a Athlon II or Phenom II chip to upgrade the BIOS.
 
Last edited:
dualmeister said:
According to the CPU support list on the product page it does support the AMD FX-4100 from BIOS 0510.
Click to expand...

I saw that too, but you'll first need an AM2+/AM3 chip to update the BIOS, which I'm assuming he doesn't have. In addition, there's a few things you'll miss out with putting an FX chip on a three-year old platform and you'll be crippling performance with the chip by running it on a board like that. Just because you can doesn't mean one should.

Tom's Hardware's Chris Angelini says so himself, "You need the 942-pin Socket AM3+ (AM3b) interface, though, in order to support Zambezi’s power and frequency management features." (source)

Without the proper platform, AMD's implementation of Turbo Boost won't work and the chip won't underclock itself to the right frequency and voltage levels when idle. I've seen this happen with a Phenom II chip on an AM2+ board before and FX displays the same behaviour because the pin arrangements are different between the socket revisions. Even though the chip may work, you won't be able to dynamically overclock it using Overdrive in Windows and there's a higher risk of frying the chip if the voltage is too high and the board doesn't shut down to prevent damage. AMD engineered the FX family specifically to require a motherboard upgrade, but that's nothing new.
 
Yes I am well aware of that. I was just correcting reply's that said the CPU is not supported at all.
 
Best advice would be for the OP to purchase and 800 / 900 series Mobo to gain full benefits of the CPU like NAG Wes said.
 
Thanks guys, will email prophecy about returning the mobo and see what they say :)
Also I checked the RAM and its Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 1333. Cant find it on prophecy anymore.

I found these two motherboards, I see on the CPU support list it supports bulldozer from a later BIOS, so I would still have to flash it? Would prophecy do this for me?

http://www.prophecy.co.za/asus-m5a97-am3am3-dualchannel-ddr3-crossfirex-p-98327.html#!tab2

http://www.prophecy.co.za/970ag46-dualchannel-ddr3-crossfirex-p-113411.html#!tab2
 
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Stick with the ASUS M5A97 board you chose. Prophecy maybe able to assist you by flashing the board for you if they have the facilities / components to do so. They may charge you for do this though.

Reason I prefer the ASUS board, better support and build quality.
 
Hi Scalywag1 seems like you purchased a few headaches here but thanks to the friendly colleagues on the site you now know what to replace and do. I got caught out with incompatibiloity before and now I plan upgrades and check with the suppliers regarding compatibility. It makes the upgrade generally painless and if you have to go back at leasst you have told the suppliers what you want to do and they would have confirmed compatibility or not.
Makes the argument for a refund a pleasant one.
Still when it is solved tell us how it performs. Sounds awesome.
 
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