Some simple questions from a simple mind!

Nice job man! You're doing great for a first mod. :good::)

If the new BIOS supports AM3 CPUs (notably Phenom IIs) then if you're going all-out you might be able to use the Phenom II X4 970. That's the fastest quad-core to date, and it has an unlocked multiplier (that you may or may not be able to take advantage of.) This means that if you ever try overclocking, you don't have to mess with the FSB if you don't want to. If you want even better performance, then you can go for one of the Phenom II X6s (the 1090t being the current best model, also with an unlocked multiplier.)
 
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unfortunately, things have turned sour. After downloading a BIOS update from HP, my PC won't turn on, and lets out a sucession of 3 beeps, 2 short and one long, which i believe indictates a memory error with AMI BIOS. The startup won't even initiate, and i feel like i am totally stuck here using my dad's awful laptop, what possible solutions are there for solving this, and how much is it going to cost..?

EDIT: i believe this is my problem: 'Video system failure: Error in video card BIOS, or a horizontal retrace has failed.' This is what 2 short one long indictates. Now what to do?
 
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Deluded said:
Seems that BIOS update followed through, but after boot it said default BIOS had been loaded. Don't know what this means but it's a step further than the last attempts.
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Deluded said:
unfortunately, things have turned sour. After downloading a BIOS update from HP, my PC won't turn on, and lets out a sucession of 3 beeps, 2 short and one long, which i believe indictates a memory error with AMI BIOS. The startup won't even initiate, and i feel like i am totally stuck here using my dad's awful laptop, what possible solutions are there for solving this, and how much is it going to cost..?

EDIT: i believe this is my problem: 'Video system failure: Error in video card BIOS, or a horizontal retrace has failed.' This is what 2 short one long indictates. Now what to do?
Click to expand...

What happen between the post? Have you tried resetting the bios by the jumper or if there is not one taking the battery out for a minute.
 
The two posts were about 2 different updates, the first one had no effect, and the second has sent the pc into this state. I don't know how to perform the jumper reset, but i can try taking the battery out for a minute.
 
Deluded said:
The two posts were about 2 different updates, the first one had no effect, and the second has sent the pc into this state. I don't know how to perform the jumper reset, but i can try taking the battery out for a minute.
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Yeah, just do that. After a few minutes of no battery, all the bios settings should be reset. That will change all the settings back to normal, but still keep the updated bios. Hopefully that will solve the problem.
 
Great, I also found out about the jumper so I'll give that ago, and take the battery out for a minute to cover all bases.
 
No use. I took the battery out twice, and tried to reset the CMOS, but i am still getting the beeps. I'm going to try the battery once more, and then the CMOS.
 
Deluded, for you to have such a "simple" mind, you're doing great. :-) Did you try contacting HP? If that's what you meant by "tech", forgive me for being redundant.
 
Thanks PC Man. :) By tech i meant more along the lines of an IT shop that could take a look at this and sort it. This is really annoying me just for the fact that it's scarring me out of modding before I've even started! HP's support seems to only be for customers under warranty, or they charge a fee, so i think taking it into a shop is the only real option for me now.
 
Deluded, please be sure to report back what the tech says at your local shop. I'm interested in finding out what the resolution was.
 
StrangleHold said:
It looks like that last update you did was for a HP Pavilion.
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Ouch, yeah that might be a bit of a problem. :( When the BIOS gets messed up on a motherboard, you usually have to send it to the manufacturer to get fixed, I think. Although, I believe some mobos have removable CMOS memory. My Asus P5PL2 might.
 
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StrangleHold said:
It looks like that last update you did was for a HP Pavilion.
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God damn. Some idiot elsewhere recommended it. Well guess that teaches me! It won't be going off to the tech for a while, but i can survive on what seems to be the slowest laptop in existance for now. Might just buy the PSU i need and when i get that and my graphics card arrives, I'll take it up ad get it fied and all installed. Just asking, would a 400W PSU support the GeForce GTS 450 which is recommended minimum 400W? Tight budget at the moment considering this also needs to be fixed.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMP...DV0Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1290534141&sr=8-2


Again thanks for all the help and support you guys. Best PC forum ever! :D
 
Deluded said:
God damn. Some idiot elsewhere recommended it. Well guess that teaches me! It won't be going off to the tech for a while, but i can survive on what seems to be the slowest laptop in existance for now. Might just buy the PSU i need and when i get that and my graphics card arrives, I'll take it up ad get it fied and all installed. Just asking, would a 400W PSU support the GeForce GTS 450 which is recommended minimum 400W? Tight budget at the moment considering this also needs to be fixed.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMP...DV0Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1290534141&sr=8-2
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Being a Corsair, I think it should work fine. ;) Also, for the laptop, try running some cleanup programs:
-Defraggler, for disk defragmenting: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler
-CClearner, for a bunch of different things. Make sure to uncheck all the programs that you DON'T want to delete: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
-Also, hit {Windows Key}+R to go to the run menu, and type "msconfig". Then go to startup, and google all the startup programs. If they're unnecessary, then uncheck them. They'll waste valuable RAM.
Deluded said:
Again thanks for all the help and support you guys. Best PC forum ever! :D
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I <3 CF. :D
 
If all else fails you could get a cheap AM2+ board to replace it. Can get like a Foxconn/Biostar/Asrock for like under 50 bucks. Then it would run just about any AMD processor you wanted.

Replacing the board you might run into OS Validation problem if its a OEM copy. I have talked to them on the phone and got them to with a board replacement. The board went out and this was the closest cheap replacement I could find.
 
Well I guess the shop will explore the problem, and if it can't be fixed, this upgrade is going to turn into a full scale build! My next report will have to be then unless something else comes up and it magically starts up again. :D
 
Seems like we won't be going to the shop any time soon, so i was wondering about any other solutions, such as reseting to default settings or reinstalling Vista? Any other solutions would be great. Remebering i can't see a thing while doing this, of course, because it's the video card BIOS according to the beep code.
 
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