Acer Predator G3-605 shuts down immediately after powering on - two short beeps.

Acer Predator G3-605
Core i7-4770k
GeForce GTX 1070
8GB RAM
2x 500GB SSDs
Windows 10 64-bit

I bought this Predator G3-605 in the fall of 2013 and it's served me faithfully since then, but a couple months back it started restarting while gaming, mostly while games were loading new areas. One day after about a month of this, it stopped booting up entirely. The machine would power on briefly - lights, fans, etc - and then give two short fast beeps before powering back down a few seconds later. Nothing on the monitor, no other result after dozens of attempts. I figured the problem might be the power supply.

It took me a while to justify the expenditure, so for a few weeks all I did was try and turn the computer on every couple of days and see if it might start working. Two weeks ago, immediately after hitting the power button, there was a loud pop inside my PC. I immediately disconnected the power. Once I was sure nothing was going to catch fire or explode, I connected the power cable again and found that my PSU was completely unresponsive. Nothing was happening when I hit the power button.

I got a new EVGA PSU a week back. I ended up having to buy an adapter so that the PSU's 24-pin motherboard power connector could connect to the G3-605's 12 pin motherboard power socket. The good news is that the PSU works and my PC is turning on again! The bad news is that it's the same story as before - a temporary bit of power, two quick beeps, and then it goes dark.

I've tried to research what this code could mean but I can't find anything definitive. I've read that it means there's some sort of error in the bios. I've also read that it means bad RAM. And then I've also read that it means a problem with the CMOS battery.

I've already reset the CMOS battery and swapped it out for a spare, so I don't know if that could be the problem. If it's the RAM, then I'm going to have to buy some. I have only one functional 8gb stick. The Predator came with 12 total, I believe, but the second 4gb stick failed a couple years ago. I'm wondering if maybe the remaining stick has failed as well now.

That's about all the information I can think of. I guess my next move will be to buy new RAM but I figured I'd post here and see if anyone might know anything about what those two beeps mean or what the issue could be (or could not be - anything helps to narrow down my options). I know it's an older machine but I feel like the CPU and video card are still quite good, and I don't have the money or the technical chops to transplant both those components onto a new motherboard.

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the verbosity - just trying to provide as much info as I can.

Accepted answers

All comments

Spelunker

treadstone,
I'm sorry to hear about the troubles with your PC. Based on the info you've posted I believe the issue is with the memory. But I don't thinks it's a very serious issue. In my experience it's dust/dirt that settles on the RAM Gold Contacts that causes it to shut down with 2 beeps.
I would recommend removing the RAM from it's slot and wiping it clean with a soft cloth thoroughly, especially the RAM Gold Contacts part of it.*
After giving it a thorough wipe, you can inset the RAM back in the slot and power on the PC. It should work fine.

But it fails to fix the issue, please make sure to contact the manufacturer or a local tech.

But please make sure that during the whole process, the PC is not damaged because it will void the warranty.

*http://johnsonyip.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Memory-RAM-and-Slot-Diagram.png

billsey

As our friendly cave explorer suggests, two short beeps on the AMI BIOS used in your machine indicates a memory problem, specifically a parity circuit failure. The memory has a parity bit built in and when it doesn't match with the other bits it fails and generates the error. This means you have one of two things going on, you either have a bad memory stick or sticks or the motherboard has failed. The 'clean the dust' thing would help if that's what's causing the memory to look bad. You have four slots for memory, how many are populated? You can try one stick at a time if you have more than one. If you plug only one in it needs to be in slot 1.

treadstone

Thanks to both of you for your replies! It took a good while for my new RAM to arrive thanks to Amazon's free shipping, but I put it in today and - sadly - my PC continues to power on, beep twice and then shut off a few seconds later.

I took the motherboard out and 'breadboarded' my PC - just the motherboard, CPU, one stick of RAM, and my PSU. Still two beeps and automatic shutdown. If I remove the RAM entirely, it does one long beep and stays on indefinitely. But with RAM it beeps twice and then it's gone.

So what now? Do I get a new motherboard? I feel like I'm slowly building a new PC from scratch here. What if the motherboard isn't the issue and it's my core i7 CPU? I've never had such a vague and annoying problem before. I wish I knew exactly what was wrong.

billsey

...

Time to bag it and replace the computer IMHO. That model was released in 2013, so its design is now five years old. With a likely bad motherboard the fix is going to want a new MB, new processor and new memory. You'd likely want to upgrade the graphics and probably the power supply as well, and (why not?) put an SSD in as your boot drive. Not a whole lot left of the original machine at that point.

Send the memory back for a refund and pick up one of the newer Predators, 7th or 8th gen CPU models most likely will match your needs and it'll be a whole lot faster than the old one.

If that's just not in the budget try a used or refurbished machine. Trying to do more than just recovering what's on the disk will probably be painful, since things like electrical 'pop's usually zap more than just one component.

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 265

Jack22 160

RenanVilela 95

Diya1811 90

GAMING6698 75

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™