Is GeForce GTX 1650 compatible with Gigabyte M3970AM-HP?

[Lukon]

Installed, it issues the HP “Press Enter key” screen. Seems not to respond to keyboard.

Reset BIOS. Tried summoning the BIOS with keyboard. BIOS appeared after 1 minute.

Set BIOS to post messages. Reboot. Then it very slowly began trying to boot into Windows but apparently gave up.

Computer: Pavilion HPE h8-1300z / Gigabyte M3970AM-HP / Angelica2, BIOS v7.05, with PCIE 2

Power Supply: Kingwin ABT-450MM 450 Watt

GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Ventus XS OCV1 Edition, Allegedly PCIE 3

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I believe that you need to update the BIOS to a version 8.xx in order for a nVidia graphics adapter newer than one of the GT 6xx models to work.

It won't work on the 7.05 version.

The problems are...the BIOS update was only written to be run on Windows 7 or Windows 8, and HP retired support for your PC, so you would have to get the BIOS update from this reputable 3rd party website.

HP Pavilion HPE h8-1300z CTO BIOS (driverscollection.com)

I have copied and pasted the release notes from this update below after extracting the file contents from the BIOS exe file from the above site.

Title: M3970CMNR-HP Motherboard BIOS Update

Version: 8.10

Description: This package provides an update to the M3970CMNR-HP Motherboard BIOS for the supported desktop models and supported operating systems.

Purpose: Critical

Category: BIOS

Operating System:

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic (32-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise (32-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Starter (32-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit)

Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)

Language(s):

Global English

Enhancement/Fixes:

- Resolves issue with TV Tuner still appearing in Device Manager when disabled in "PCI Express X1 Slot2" in BIOS Setup.

- Resolves "Secure Boot Manual Logo" test failure.

Prerequisites:

- You must be logged on as an administrator to install this update.

- You must have a Microsoft Windows 7 or 8 operating system.

Installation Instructions:

1. Click the Download Only button.
2. At the File Download screen, click the Save button.
3. At the Save As screen, save the file to your Desktop.
4. If a message appears stating that the file already exists, click YES to overwrite file.
5. Double-click the icon for the update downloaded to your desktop, and then click NEXT.
6. Follow on-screen instructions.
7. If prompted to restart the system upon completion of the update, click YES and allow system to restart.

Copyright © 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

[Lukon]

Thank you very much, Paul_Tikkanen.

Is there any chance this BIOS upgrade is compatible with Windows 10?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If you want to roll the dice and risk permanently wrecking your PC, that will have to be your decision.

Theoretically it should work, but there is no way I can assure you it would be safe to do so.

You could run the update in W7 or W8 compatibility mode to lessen the odds of it not working, but no guarantees.

[Lukon]

I was thinking more of this:

Remove the Windows 10 hard drive.

Put a blank hard drive in.

Install Windows 7 on it.

Do the BIOS upgrade.

Remove the Windows 7 hard drive.

Put the Windows 10 hard drive back in.

This would insure the BIOS upgrade would work. But would it still work when I put the Windows 10 disk back in and booted it up? That's what I don't know.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I think that is a great idea and have no reason to believe that after you reinstall the W10 drive that the PC wouldn't boot up.

[Lukon]

That sounds hopeful. I may do this in a week or so when I've got the time to commit to it.

Thanks again!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Hopefully the v8.10 BIOS update will be enough to make a difference.