Ok so a while ago my computer randomly refused to turn itself on. The computer would power up and the fans would run, however all I would get is a Long beep followed by three shorter beeps from the computer. This would repeat over and over whilst nothing would boot up - no image displayed on the screen - nothing.

Upon some reasearch about my motherboard it appears that the beeps are reporting a graphics card linked problem - so I tried removing the graphics card and RAM and reseating it - however that still failed to produce any change. I then tried resetting the motherboard by remove the battery for a few moments - since then the unit now shuts down after each series of error beeps and restarts - to again beep and then shutdown.

From what I have found so far it appears to be saying that either:

1) the motherboard is dead
2) the graphics cards is dead
3) both components are dead.

Sadly I don't have a second compatable computer to try testing the graphics card in - however I was wondering if any here would beable to shed some light on the situation and maybe suggest some possible alternatives before I try replacing the components.

For reference the components I have are :
Asus P5B Delux motherboard
Asus Nvida Geforce 8800 GTX
Intel Pentium duel core processor (I've honestly forgotten the details and unless I can only read the front of the fan component details on this)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. At the moment I am thinking that I will have to search out a replacement motherboard to install with a mind to looking for another graphics card as well. The worry is if I replace the motherboard first and attach a possibly duff graphics card is there a risk that the graphics card might break the motherboard through its own error (should the card be all that is at fault)

I also have the problem that all the hard pack details (CDs, manuals etc..) for the setup I have is not at my current address (I didn't expect the whole rig to die on me)After doing some reaserch, there are (I think) two possable problems:

1) Bad hard drive. To test this, try SWAPPING hard drives with another computer. If it does not boot, you have your problem!

2) If you have an extra RAM stick, try taking out all the current ram in the pc, and swap them for just that one stick. If it boots, you have your problem!Sadly I've no harddrive spare to swap in and out from the existing computer - I did wonder about the harddrive failing (it was getting very overfilled!) though the only references to the beep pattern I found listed it being the graphics aspect rather than the harddrive - something that appears to be supported by the fact that the screen doesn't even flickr when the power is turned on (the screen is on but is getting no messages from the graphics card at all).

If it is theharddrive I do SEEM to recall reading somewhere that you can boot up from a USB stick with something like Linux (Umbatu) though I've never used this software nor know if its possible to do so

I'll try to see if I can find a comptable stick of ram to swap in and out to fully test. I have two sticks in the computer at present and have removed each and tested them one by one to no luck. Quote from: overmind on JULY 29, 2010, 06:22:42 AM

...all I would get is a Long beep followed by three shorter beeps from the computer. This would repeat over and over whilst nothing would boot up - no image displayed on the screen - nothing...
From what I have found so far it appears to be saying that either:
1) the motherboard is dead
2) the graphics cards is dead
3) both components are dead...

To update the cheap card arrived in the post and the computer has powered up as normal. Not a single error beep or slowdown. So somewhere on the mass of graphics card I'm sure there is one little blown resistor or something!

So now the hunt begins for a new card!