Accidental build on the AsRock Z68

[itgoesto11]

I am totally lost. My son wanted to build a gaming computer and so he did all this research, and I bought him the parts... yeah I know. Don't EVEN go there please. Thing is, I was under the impression that I had a couple of friends who knew how to do this, so when I called them for help, poof! They disappeared into the woodwork. So today I figured out 4 beeps were due to the Bios needing to be updated for the Ivy Bridge after realizing the 4 beeps we got yesterday weren't fixed by going and replacing a non-compatible DRAM (by ONE friggin' serial code) He ordered the X instead of the L or something... so I'm in yet another computer store buying some crap tweezer tool that actually only managed to crack the Bios, that sucker is not coming out. So I tell my son I'm going to take the whole damn thing over to the manufacturer in Chino (3hr roundtrip) so they can reprogram or replace the Bios, but he wants to take this honking huge fan off the CPU first so he can put the motherboard back in the anti-static bag. He's nuts with this anti-static thing. He's so grounded you'd think he was a Tesla coil. Anyway that fan is stuck on the CPU like glue, big surprise considering the thermal paste that's on it. So I told him to re-secure the fan and he accidentally dug his fingernail into the motherboard and left a dent - he thinks. I don't see it, but ..... how sensitive are these boards? Honestly, I'm thinking the next thing I'll need to do is take that fan off because at this rate it's not like the CPU is actually going to work do you think? And I'm not a noob to be honest, I would be insulting noobs by calling myself a noob. I'm sure you techs have another name for what I am, but can someone out there with a reasonable sense of humor and patience just talk me through this build with some dignity??? Because right now I feel I'm just one Martini away from 4.

 

[sneekypeet]

quick answer is most boards wont flash without a CPU that works with that bios. Some of the newer boards will flash the BIOS without a CPU, but I am unsure which do.

As for a fingernail denting the PCB, I don't think so, but you can easily push a screw driver through a layer or two.

Seems you are sort of stuck, I mean you can make the three hour trip to have ASrock use their techs to flash it for you, seems like something a good PC shop could do local though.

 

[Aquinus]

He's nuts with this anti-static thing. He's so grounded you'd think he was a Tesla coil.

Hehe, there is method to this madness, but I do agree, some people go a little too gung-ho when it comes to anti-static bags and discharging static before messing with hardware and such. Honestly, it's good practice.

Could you give us a list of all the hardware in the rig?

 

[Solaris17]

I am totally lost. My son wanted to build a gaming computer and so he did all this research, and I bought him the parts... yeah I know. Don't EVEN go there please. Thing is, I was under the impression that I had a couple of friends who knew how to do this, so when I called them for help, poof! They disappeared into the woodwork. So today I figured out 4 beeps were due to the Bios needing to be updated for the Ivy Bridge after realizing the 4 beeps we got yesterday weren't fixed by going and replacing a non-compatible DRAM (by ONE friggin' serial code) He ordered the X instead of the L or something... so I'm in yet another computer store buying some crap tweezer tool that actually only managed to crack the Bios, that sucker is not coming out. So I tell my son I'm going to take the whole damn thing over to the manufacturer in Chino (3hr roundtrip) so they can reprogram or replace the Bios, but he wants to take this honking huge fan off the CPU first so he can put the motherboard back in the anti-static bag. He's nuts with this anti-static thing. He's so grounded you'd think he was a Tesla coil. Anyway that fan is stuck on the CPU like glue, big surprise considering the thermal paste that's on it. So I told him to re-secure the fan and he accidentally dug his fingernail into the motherboard and left a dent - he thinks. I don't see it, but ..... how sensitive are these boards? Honestly, I'm thinking the next thing I'll need to do is take that fan off because at this rate it's not like the CPU is actually going to work do you think? And I'm not a noob to be honest, I would be insulting noobs by calling myself a noob. I'm sure you techs have another name for what I am, but can someone out there with a reasonable sense of humor and patience just talk me through this build with some dignity??? Because right now I feel I'm just one Martini away from 4.

welcome

first can you give us a list of the parts? and possibly someware on the bored it might have a bios revision painted on.

As for the CPU fan/heatsink I know what you mean by stuck. the trick their is to make sure its unclipped and twist the cooler gently from left to right while pulling on it a tad more then gently. as for the grounding I guess he is getting a little more into it then he should. but with parts like that i imagine he is doing it because he wants to make sure you know he appreciates it. If my parents bought me a PC like that when I was a kid id probably be in a hazmat suit even if I didnt say thank you.

 

[Aquinus]

welcome

first can you give us a list of the parts? and possibly someware on the bored it might have a bios revision painted on.

As for the CPU fan/heatsink I know what you mean by stuck. the trick their is to make sure its unclipped and twist the cooler gently from left to right while pulling on it a tad more then gently. as for the grounding I guess he is getting a little more into it then he should. but with parts like that i imagine he is doing it because he wants to make sure you know he appreciates it. If my parents bought me a PC like that when I was a kid id probably be in a hazmat suit even if I didnt say thank you.

My parents bought me a barebone kit and a celeron from way back when for the first computer I built and after spending money on even a low-end rig they told me to get a job and pay for it myself. This is when I was 15.

 

[brandonwh64]

If you have a digital camera, could you take pictures of the damage to the board?

 

[itgoesto11]

My son is 13 and I'm so excited for him to be honest. I can see why people get into building. I'm a Mac user so I just go to the store and walk out with a much needed warranty. So thanks everyone, especially to sneekypete who may just have saved me a 3 hour trip... the humor is much needed too! And as for the hazmat suit and the thanks mom, well if my un-grounded hands go near the thing, you'd think he was going to stab me in the neck, that's the thanks I get. (that's a joke, he's a really good kid... just passionate about this thing as you all probably understand)

His build is:

AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Fan
Seasonic X Series 850W Power supply
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 Graphics card
Intel I5-3570K LGA1155 CPU
Kingston KHX16009D3K2/8GX DD3 DRAM
Cooler Master HAF ATX Case
HD Samsung HD1035J ????
DVD Burn LG GH24NS70 ????
Windows 7 SPI 64 bit operating system (if we're lucky)

And we had to get the very special thermal paste Artic Cooling MX-2... bleh. The last two items are next in line for me to read about so I'm only up to date with the specs I've read so far. He picked these components alone with no "priors", so it's his baby, not a kit build. That's why my "tech" friends bailed on me.

 

[Solaris17]

well thats a nice system. However looking it up it seems that the CPU in question is infact supported. though if the bios chip is cracked it does probably need replacing. make sure he puts the ram in correctly it should look like the following.


CPU |:|:

Were |=ram stick present
Were :=no ram stick.

the thing that bugs me is that the motherboard should not beep. every thing i seem to have read says that the motherboard has a digital screen that gives you a code in hex form like 0x04 etc and does not produce a beep code. Ill look into it more though. even though the manual itself also doesnt say anything about beeps maybe someone knows.

EDIT:: as an afterthought make sure he is plugging everything in. the graphics card and the motherboard will need extra power. next to the processor their is a connector were 8 other power wires need to go 2 clusters of 4 that come together as 8.

 

[sneekypeet]

I have to assume since the mobo doesn't have a built in speaker he used the one that came with the HAF to get audible beep codes

 

[Solaris17]

I have to assume since the mobo doesn't have a built in speaker he used the one that came with the HAF to get audible beep codes

thanks i kinda figured that out you know not having a speaker and getting beeps and all. at anyrate.

@itgoesto11 iv found that i can only confirm your suspicions. the 4 short beeps lead to 2 possible outcomes. ram error and CPU incompatibility.

 

[AsRock]

I have to assume since the mobo doesn't have a built in speaker he used the one that came with the HAF to get audible beep codes

The board shows ( 2 digit clock ) you codes which i believe are in the manual for the error.

 

[itgoesto11]

Actually I can't see any damage from his fingernail, although I do know a small sliver of plastic about 1/32" square came off the Bios but it's in an area on the top, part of the casing. There are threads between the plastic casing top and side and one popped off. That happened when I used the tweezer tool. My son will buy everything from now on, because that's good for building character Aquinis, but this build is a gift from my mom who just recently passed away. As for twisting the fan off the CPU, let's just hope it doesn't come to that....

 

[Solaris17]

Actually I can't see any damage from his fingernail, although I do know a small sliver of plastic about 1/32" square came off the Bios but it's in an area on the top, part of the casing. There are threads between the plastic casing top and side and one popped off. That happened when I used the tweezer tool. My son will buy everything from now on, because that's good for building character Aquinis, but this build is a gift from my mom who just recently passed away. As for twisting the fan off the CPU, let's just hope it doesn't come to that....

do you mean the fan itself or the big metal heatsink? I must confess it does sound horrible but im sure many members of the forums can attest that if the heatsink wont come off twisting it is the usual way to go and in most cases actually far better then pulling it, because if you pull to hard bad things tend to happen like cracked mother boards, stripped screws or bent clips and in AMD land processors just comming out of the socket.

 

[itgoesto11]

I have to assume since the mobo doesn't have a built in speaker he used the one that came with the HAF to get audible beep codes

Yep. Does the fact that it's beeping mean the CPU is operational? I'm very concerned about having to identify and troubleshoot a DOA component... which is why I joined this forum. We got 4 beeps and a 55 which was a pretty straightforward fix. DRAM was the first change out, now we are working on the Ivy Bridge update.... pulling stubborn tiny pieces off the motherboard, bleh. What kind of store would be able to boot that update for me? Some off the rack shop like Radio Shack? Or a specialty shop?

 

[Phusius]

Also, the thermal paste that comes with the Hyper 212 is just as good as the MX-2. Kids will be kids though. Also, I used to get the 55 error all the time on my Asus Z68, it was my 7970 that was causing it to reboot itself and shut off multiple times, ever since I switched to the gtx 680 no more getting stuck at 55 error and no more rebooting.

You really need to find someone who knows what they are doing, if your near a major city look for a microcenter and explain your situation, you might get some generous help.

edit: pulling stubborn tiny pieces off the motherboard... probably a bad idea, the stickers and stuff yeah... but I don't recall pulling anything else off a motherboard ever before.

 

[Solaris17]

Yep. Does the fact that it's beeping mean the CPU is operational? I'm very concerned about having to identify and troubleshoot a DOA component... which is why I joined this forum. We got 4 beeps and a 55 which was a pretty straightforward fix. DRAM was the first change out, now we are working on the Ivy Bridge update.... pulling stubborn tiny pieces off the motherboard, bleh. What kind of store would be able to boot that update for me? Some off the rack shop like Radio Shack? Or a specialty shop?

radio shack couldnt. A speciality shop like microcenter could. or a dedicated PC repair shop. I would call ahead if it was a PC repair shop though. and no to the CPU the motherboard has its own tiny processor that handles the diagnostics before it boots.

 

[itgoesto11]

do you mean the fan itself or the big metal heatsink? I must confess it does sound horrible but im sure many members of the forums can attest that if the heatsink wont come off twisting it is the usual way to go and in most cases actually far better then pulling it, because if you pull to hard bad things tend to happen like cracked mother boards, stripped screws or bent clips and in AMD land processors just comming out of the socket.

Crikey! The Armageddon Cooler Master ...

Yes there are two parts, one is a plastic fan that pops off fairly easily, but the copper heat sink is apparently the dismantle I will now pray to avoid.

 

[sneekypeet]

The speaker just means that the motherboard was somewhat functional. The beeps other than one short beep (indication of post) just mean that something is wrong. The codes the speaker and LED post code display are where you start to look for culprits.

Something that may make life easy is to just e-mail support for ASrock and ask them to send you a new bios chip, with the bios you need already on it (likely at a fee and of course like a day to 3 for shipping). If you were going to try a local shop, you need a PC specific shop, and a well stocked one. They are going to need extra bios chips and the ability to flash it with the correct bios.

If it were me, and I am a touch lazy, I would just get with ASrock and see if they can offer you a cheap-ish fix to the bios chip and version issues.

On topic of the cooler, with the Evo, remove the four screws and remove the top X plate used for mounting. Once that is out of the way spin the cooler 90 degrees and you can feel the paste loose its grip.

 

[Phusius]

I honestly think the best advice for this lady is not contact ASRock, her best bet is to RMA the motherboard if she bought it off Amazon and claim it was defective. They pay for shipping and will issue a full refund pretty easily.

Next step, go to a Microcenter, also you need to be bitchin' at your friends that said would help you build this, cause them bailing on you is kinda bs, especially since building a PC is super easy. You could probably even go to a place like Frys Electronics and bump into someone shopping the PC isle and explain your situation and ask for help. I find most PC nerds willing to help the female of the species in any scenario. xD lulz jk but seriously thats the best advice I can offer

 

[sneekypeet]

claim it was defective.

sorry for not wanting to raise pricing for others and trying to do the right thing

 

[Phusius]

sneekypeet, I understand what you are saying, but in this case I think an exception can be made. and honestly, such arguments don't really fly with me, considering coltan is used in most PC parts, and 2/3 of coltan comes from the Congo, and that has caused millions of rapes/deaths in that region over this mineral.

so forget the justice crap imo. no offense, I researched this a lot in graduate school.

 

[sneekypeet]

I'm not a big guy on discussing morals, but she says she broke it, and seems willing to do things to fix it the right way. I agree that is easier, but not the thing you will see me say is the right thing to do in my position here at TPU.

Commenting directly to your "exception" comment, they caused the damage, any warranty says that voids the warranty

 

[Phusius]

Fair enough Sneeky, and I agree, I would prefer not to debate the morals of it all... so tiring and useless, I know from experience lol

You are correct though overall. I agree and concede.

 

[LDNL]

sneekypeet, I understand what you are saying, but in this case I think an exception can be made. and honestly, such arguments don't really fly with me, considering coltan is used in most PC parts, and 2/3 of coltan comes from the Congo, and that has caused millions of rapes/deaths in that region over this mineral.

so forget the justice crap imo. no offense, I researched this a lot in graduate school.

Not sure if trolling or just trying to derail this thread.

Anyway take the mobo to the nearest place that has some computer expertise and have them check the health and update the bios.

 

[itgoesto11]

The speaker just means that the motherboard was somewhat functional. The beeps other than one short beep (indication of post) just mean that something is wrong. The codes the speaker and LED post code display are where you start to look for culprits.

Something that may make life easy is to just e-mail support for ASrock and ask them to send you a new bios chip, with the bios you need already on it (likely at a fee and of course like a day to 3 for shipping). If you were going to try a local shop, you need a PC specific shop, and a well stocked one. They are going to need extra bios chips and the ability to flash it with the correct bios.

If it were me, and I am a touch lazy, I would just get with ASrock and see if they can offer you a cheap-ish fix to the bios chip and version issues.

On topic of the cooler, with the Evo, remove the four screws and remove the top X plate used for mounting. Once that is out of the way spin the cooler 90 degrees and you can feel the paste loose its grip.

The Bios is on back order. From China. Several weeks away. They said to pull ours off and either send it in or bring it in and they will flash it, they sent us instructions on how to remove it, we went and bought a special tool that didn't work so well. Then the customer service girl told me she couldn't remove it either and she had tech there teaching her! They then told me to use a flat head screwdriver which is when I said, can I just bring the whole board over to you guys...? It might be a worthwhile trip since I can meet with an AsRock technician.

How do you check CPU function?