unlock bios

[cheyannecool]

I have a E machine T6532 my question is...my CL is 3 but I cant change it to 2 or 2.5 so I can buy better memory..since its a retail machine are the bios locked up? I cant even get in there to overclock if I want to..Am I stuck with CL3 memory?

 

[fishmahn]

Maybe. If you buy CL2 memory, the mobo is supposed to know that by reading the SPD chip on the RAM, but some mobos ignore that and use their own. Don't know about emachines, however.

Mike.

 

[4745454b]

Agreed. The bios on an OEM machine would most likely be set at auto. (with no way to change them as you've found out. Welcome to OEM hell.) They don't want you to overclock, hense the reason why changing memory timing and FSB settings aren't there. Its also possible that emachines locked everything at the "worst" settings. By forcing all ram to work at CL3, your chances of having a memory problem are few. Even bad sticks work at this setting...
If you have a friend with CL2 or 2.5 timings, ask to borrow his for awhile. If it boots and runs (at CL2/2.5) then its ok to buy them. If it fails to run, or runs at CL3, then you know your hosed.
Finally, from what I've read, running an Athlon with better CL timings doesn't give a big boost to performance. A couple of % points, but nothing big.

 

[kobe08]

I have a Gateway GT4010 that currently has CAS 3 memory. I don't think I can change settings in my bios either. I plan to buy new memory. Does this mean it is moot to buy CAS 2 latency or will it automatically set to CAS 3 if I buy CAS 2 memory?

 

[fishmahn]

Does this mean it is moot to buy CAS 2 latency or will it automatically set to CAS 3 if I buy CAS 2 memory?

It means we don't know. Beg, borrow, or buy (stealing's evil :twisted: ) some CAS2 RAM and see if it runs at CAS2.

Mike.

 

[4745454b]

Uhmmmm, I agree with fishmahn. Go back and reread my post. If you don't understand something, ask about it. Each vendor would have different rules. (emachine might lock, HP might not.)
If you are refering to my last comment, I would argue it doesn't matter. Don't spend the extra ~$25-50 on high end ram, but on a better video card. That will provide more FPS then the ram.

 

[angry_ducky]

I have a Gateway GT4010 that currently has CAS 3 memory. I don't think I can change settings in my bios either. I plan to buy new memory. Does this mean it is moot to buy CAS 2 latency or will it automatically set to CAS 3 if I buy CAS 2 memory?

Don't waste your money.

 

[JonathanDeane]

I have a Gateway GT4010 that currently has CAS 3 memory. I don't think I can change settings in my bios either. I plan to buy new memory. Does this mean it is moot to buy CAS 2 latency or will it automatically set to CAS 3 if I buy CAS 2 memory?

Don't waste your money.

I agree with Agry_Ducky total waste of money... Unless !!! you have like 512MB's of RAM and no free slots AND you want like 1 or 2GB's so since you would already be buying go for the lower CAS time but going to the lower CAS doesnt get you alot of performance. To be honest I wouldnt even buy DDR1 right now unless you realy needed it. Save up for some DDR2 and a AM2 system or a Conroe the performance there will be something to get excited about (more then a few % anyway)

 

[kobe08]

That's the thing. I have 1GB RAM but also have onboard GeForce 6100 video so that takes up a considerable amount of system RAM. So if it is a waste of money to buy more RAM, would buying a dedicated video card be a better solution?

 

[fishmahn]

If you have a slot to put it, yes. Hang on - don't recognize the model #. brb.
...

Ok, it says you have a PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot, so as long as that's still open, getting a better video card is easy enough and will make a big difference.

That is as long as you're gaming or using the video card's capabilities some other way. So I guess that means we need to know what you use it for.

 

[kobe08]

So if I just buy a video card I don't have to increase my RAM to get better performance? I play Age of Empires 3, will play the next C&C. Just ran 3DMark03 and got 1283 score. Also, my PSU is only 300W will I be able to install a X1800XT on my comp? Thanks for your help. I just want to make my comp run as fast as possible w/o upgrading mobo and CPU, since you said that upgrading memory is a waste of money.

 

[Il_palazzo]

I have a Emachines W2040 and yes my bios was very locked but I mannaged 2 flash bios with the regular FIC bios. (The original bios locked me out from installing a agp card and no im not kidding 8O )
The info i have may not work for you but there is a chance it will help (you have a MSI board my board was FIC)

I would run sandra or cpuz and get your board model and download the bios, and try and flash it. But there may be a catch emachines may also block you from flashing your bios but there is a command that can force it to flash. This post has the info i used to flash my bios http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic37041.html
*Example A:> awdflash.exe VLB44.BIN /nbl*
With out /nbl command (no boot lock) my bios would not flash
And flashing my bios unlocked almost everything.

And no kobe08 a 300w psu will not power a x1800xt, I would get Atleast a good 400w psu, but it would be best to ask people who know more about psu's. And this is the link for the psu calculator.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

Well i hope this info helps even if all it ends up doing is remove that emachines logo from your start up.

This post makes me so glad im not in OEM hell anymore, needless to say I built my last pc