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    dv9740us bios and graphics questions

    Discussion in 'HP' started by unknowable, Feb 6, 2008.

  1. unknowable

    unknowable Newbie

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    recently purchased an hp dv9740us with the following specs:
    Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.67GHz
    3gb of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
    5400RPM 360gb HD (2X160gb)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M graphics card w/ 512MB onboard ram, capable of sharing an additional 1279mb of ram

    first off, great laptop for the most part. one issue that I'm having leads into the other. the bios is the only thing I hate about this machine - it sticks to high heaven - i've seen anorexic supermodels with more meat on them than this bios. does anyone know of a flash for the bios that beefs it up a little bit? the one option i really want to change (and my second issue), is the amount of shared RAM that the video card uses. i'm only playing WoW and Orange Box on this machine, 512mb of ram works perfectly for me. i don't really see the need to waste potentially more than a third of the system ram when i don't need it, but there isn't an option there! hp support told me they have no control as it's a "seller" model, i.e. one that you can't buy from them direct, which is BS in my mind, and Circuit City says it should be a bios option, but it's not. any help ANYONE can give me is welcome at this point.

    thanks in advance
     
    unknowable, Feb 6, 2008
    #1
  2. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    All consumer-level laptop BIOSes are stripped bare. The shared memory for the video card dynamically allocates, and will never slow your system down.
     
    Lithus, Feb 6, 2008
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  3. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

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    didnt even know you could share this ram to begin with... and just where might this option be???
     
    Johnksss, Feb 25, 2008
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  4. jong81

    jong81 Notebook Consultant

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    I have the dv2740se and I can changed the shared RAM in the BIOS. Only two options though - 64MB or 128MB ... You have to look around. Also, you'll notice that the BIOS is strange for most HPs. Like for half a second, they'll flash the keys to hit when your computer first starts up.

    It's not like other systems where you just hit DEL or F2 and get ALL the options. They have separate keys depending on which option you want and you have a split second to decide - really annoying.
     
    jong81, Feb 25, 2008
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  5. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

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    yeah, the dv9740 doesn't have a shared memory setting in the bios. already checked there.
     
    Johnksss, Feb 25, 2008
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  6. jong81

    jong81 Notebook Consultant

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    I checked the specs for the dv9740us and the memory is listed as "dedicated" meaning there's no way in heck you can change it. That's annoying. How do they have shared dedicated memory!?!?! It's either shared or it's dedicated. Who does that?!?!
     
    jong81, Feb 26, 2008
    #6