My new computer won't boot.

S

Squid Corona

Member
Hi,

I just bought a new machine from PCS, and sadly it won't boot at all.

Originally I thought I needed to update the bios as I bought it without windows, but after doing that it still won't boot.
It does one long beep, followed by 3 short ones. Upon googling this for my mobo, it seems like it might actually be a graphics card issue? LED on the card is coming through so there's definitely power, and I've tried different ports, cables and two monitors and still nothing.

Currently calling and on hold with PCS support (number 17 on the queue.. lol). Wondering how they could possibly miss this when testing the machine?

Any other ideas?
Thanks :(
 
Last edited:
S

Squid Corona

Member
Specs are as follows:
Case
NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 17 to 19 working days
Promotional Item
Get CoD:Cold War & 1YR GeForce Now w/ select RTX Graphics Cards
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
 
S

Squid Corona

Member
Nursemorph said:
Have you opened the case and checked the connections between the GPU and the motherboard? Sometimes things can work loose in transit
Click to expand...
Yep, connections are fine, I've unplugged them and plugged them back up to no avail. Just now I've also tried removing the graphics card completely, (also took the time to take off the cmos battery for a few mins) and reinstalled everything to no avail. It feels like a faulty gpu :(
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Touching the BIOS impacts the warranty. It could be argued that you have installed the incorrect BIOS and caused the issues that you are observing. How did you update the BIOS? How did you know what the current BIOS version was in order to ascertain the correct one to install?

A non-functioning system wouldn't pass any tests so it certainly wouldn't have left the building not booting. Any system without an OS is still provided with Windows installed on it. It's just not licensed.
 
S

Squid Corona

Member
Scott said:
Touching the BIOS impacts the warranty. It could be argued that you have installed the incorrect BIOS and caused the issues that you are observing.
Click to expand...
I did it as I bought the machine without windows preinstalled and the B550 board needs an updated to work with the Ryzen 9 5950X - I assumed as it didn't have an OS, and it BIOS wasn't coming up, I'd have to update this myself. Only after I found out PCS includes a "free trial" for their tests (which means they'd have to update the bios anyway).

But in any case, the beeping pattern and VGA all point it it clearly being a GPU problem - nothing to do with the BIOS so hopefully they won't get on my case for this.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Squid Corona said:
I did it as I bought the machine without windows preinstalled and the B550 board needs an updated to work with the Ryzen 9 5950X - I assumed as it didn't have an OS, and it BIOS wasn't coming up, I'd have to update this myself. Only after I found out PCS includes a "free trial" for their tests (which means they'd have to update the bios anyway).

But in any case, the beeping pattern and VGA all point it it clearly being a GPU problem - nothing to do with the BIOS so hopefully they won't get on my case for this.
Click to expand...

I'm still not sure how you have got "in" to update the BIOS if it wasn't booting from the get-go? How did you install it if the BIOS wasn't coming up. What did you install? What made you choose the version of the BIOS you chose to install?

You have literally made some of the worst choices you possibly could given the circumstances.

The BIOS beeps relating to the GPU simply show an incompatibility between the BIOS and the GPU....... which can be as much down to an incorrect BIOS as it can the GPU.

The system is fully tested with Windows 10 on it. I'm fairly certain you are told this during multiple click-through posts. The forum is here to help before making catastrophic errors.

PCS can be quite accommodating, even with user error, so stay on hold and see if you can get it sent back for them to assess and fix. Unbricking a motherboard isn't the easiest but it's not THAT bad a job with the correct kit. If it's simply the GPU then it will be swapped out.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Squid Corona said:
I did it as I bought the machine without windows preinstalled and the B550 board needs an updated to work with the Ryzen 9 5950X - I assumed as it didn't have an OS, and it BIOS wasn't coming up, I'd have to update this myself. Only after I found out PCS includes a "free trial" for their tests (which means they'd have to update the bios anyway).

But in any case, the beeping pattern and VGA all point it it clearly being a GPU problem - nothing to do with the BIOS so hopefully they won't get on my case for this.
Click to expand...
I do wish you'd read the Terms and Conditions before you flashed your BIOS....
7.9 We reserve the right to suspend the warranty or refuse service if your Case, Motherboard, CPU or BIOS have been replaced without authorisation.
Any tampering, repair or modification by unauthorised personnel voids the warranty.
Click to expand...
PCS don't include a 'free trial' at all, that's a Windows system that PCS used for testing purposes, that's all it is. If it passed PCS's testing with the BIOS it came with then that was clearly good enough.

I would advise you to contact PCS as soon as convenient and establish the ongoing validity of your warranty.

There should be four LEDs on the motherboard that light up and go out during the POST process. If you're getting beep error codes one of those lights should stay on. From the top down they are; Boot, VGA, CPU, DRAM. Given your beep codes I'd expect the second one down to be on, or possibly the last.
 
S

Squid Corona

Member
ubuysa said:
I do wish you'd read the Terms and Conditions before you flashed your BIOS....

PCS don't include a 'free trial' at all, that a Windows system that PCS used for testing purposes, that's all it is. If it passed PCS's testing with the BIOS it came with then that was clearly good enough.

I would advise you to contact PCS as soon as convenient and establish the ongoing validity of your warranty.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the response, I have sent them an email as my calls don't seem to be going through. Page 28 of the welcome book says "we install a trail for Windows 10 in order to conduct testing on the system. If you are looking to activate a copy of windows 10 that you have purchased elsewhere, just add in your Windows 10 product key into this trial version and Windows 10 will be fully activated."

As mentioned on my initial message, this error happened before I did anything with the BIOS, and the behaviour hasn't changed at all since updating the BIOS.

Please ignore the BIOS, this is a complete red herring in this case. Had I not touched it, the problem would still be there. Me updating it has done nothing to aggravate the issue.
 
BlessedSquirrel

BlessedSquirrel

We love you Ukraine
Squid Corona said:
Thank you for the response, I have sent them an email as my calls don't seem to be going through. Page 28 of the welcome book says "we install a trail for Windows 10 in order to conduct testing on the system. If you are looking to activate a copy of windows 10 that you have purchased elsewhere, just add in your Windows 10 product key into this trial version and Windows 10 will be fully activated."

As mentioned on my initial message, this error happened before I did anything with the BIOS, and the behaviour hasn't changed at all since updating the BIOS.

Please ignore the BIOS, this is a complete red herring in this case. Had I not touched it, the problem would still be there. Me updating it has done nothing to aggravate the issue.
Click to expand...
Just to be clear, you're getting a BIOS image, but then it's failing to show the windows page?
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Squid Corona said:
Thank you for the response, I have sent them an email as my calls don't seem to be going through. Page 28 of the welcome book says "we install a trail for Windows 10 in order to conduct testing on the system. If you are looking to activate a copy of windows 10 that you have purchased elsewhere, just add in your Windows 10 product key into this trial version and Windows 10 will be fully activated."

As mentioned on my initial message, this error happened before I did anything with the BIOS, and the behaviour hasn't changed at all since updating the BIOS.

Please ignore the BIOS, this is a complete red herring in this case. Had I not touched it, the problem would still be there. Me updating it has done nothing to aggravate the issue.
Click to expand...

It really isn't.

The fact that you're not stating how you managed to update the BIOS suggests to me that the system was working just fine until fettled with. Regardless of how it's viewed, either case can be argued.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Squid Corona said:
No BIOS image, nothing at all. No signal to monitor, motherboard does 1 long beep and 3 short ones. It then cycles to "try again" I assume and so on.
Click to expand...

So how did you install the BIOS if it's been like that since day 1?
 
S

Squid Corona

Member
Scott said:
It really isn't.

The fact that you're not stating how you managed to update the BIOS suggests to me that the system was working just fine until fettled with. Regardless of how it's viewed, either case can be argued.
Click to expand...
Why in the world would I update the BIOS on a system that's working just fine? That makes literally zero sense in context with everything else.
I updated it with a flash drive, into the "BIOS" USB slot, and pressing the BIOS button. As I said, the computer never came on in the first place.
 
S

scarpa1

Enthusiast
Squid Corona said:
No BIOS image, nothing at all. No signal to monitor, motherboard does 1 long beep and 3 short ones. It then cycles to "try again" I assume and so on.
Click to expand...
I think what Scott is trying to ask is how you updated the bios if nothing was showing up including the bios image from the off.
Edit
Just seen your reply above.
 
BlessedSquirrel

BlessedSquirrel

We love you Ukraine
Squid Corona said:
Why in the world would I update the BIOS on a system that's working just fine? That makes literally zero sense in context with everything else.
I updated it with a flash drive, into the "BIOS" USB slot, and pressing the BIOS button. As I said, the computer never came on in the first place.
Click to expand...
Just to be sure, are there 2 separate PSU power cables going into the GPU or is it one with a splitter cable?
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Squid Corona said:
Why in the world would I update the BIOS on a system that's working just fine? That makes literally zero sense in context with everything else.
I updated it with a flash drive, into the "BIOS" USB slot, and pressing the BIOS button. As I said, the computer never came on in the first place.
Click to expand...

Indeed, everyone's first port of call to a non-booting system is to install a BIOS update via the USB flash. How silly of me.

I'll leave you to it, best of luck with the system.
 
S

Squid Corona

Member
Scott said:
Indeed, everyone's first port of call to a non-booting system is to install a BIOS update via the USB flash. How silly of me.

I'll leave you to it, best of luck with the system.
Click to expand...
Tends to be, when you have a newer CPU like the Ryzen 9 5950X on a motherboard like the B550 - BIOS may need updating out of the box, when no signal is coming through to the monitor but everything else looks fine (ram installed in correct ports, led on gpu coming through, and so on).

I really don't understand why you seem to think I'm lying about this, and even if I hypothetically bricked my motherboard my removing the flashdrive halfway through installing the BIOS update, I guarantee you the board wouldnt be signalling a GPU error.
 
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