Failure in video system

Sometimes, instead of shutting down the entire system on my bedroom computer, which is attached to an HDTV, I just shutoff the TV, leaving the computer running. That normally works fine, but last night it didn't. When I turned on the TV, instead of returning to a normal display of the desktop, all that I got were audio and video static.

It was late and I didn't feel like messing with it, so I shutdown both the TV and computer. When I just turned them back on, the moment that I touched the power switch on the computer, I got 1 long and 2 short BIOS beeps, which I found were for the problem of the thread title, and the description was

An error was encountered in the video BIOS ROM, or a horizontal retrace failure has been encountered

However, it continued to desktop, and the TV is displaying it as always. Is this a problem with the video card or just some kind of fluke?

It has been a very long time since I used it, but I thought that I might try benching the system with one of Futuremarks program's"

Futuremark - Download

But I had no idea which it should be? It appears that the primary difference is based on which DX version it is designed for, but the highest that I saw was only DX10, and nothing for DX11 as I would have thought. Would running a bench on the card be of any use diagnosing the problem it is having, or would that be a waste of money?

Just taking a stab at it here, it sounds like when the error happened that night it posted that pop up code and it reappeared when you turned everything back on in the morning letting you know what had happened. Apparently it has corrected it self with the reboot. The real question is; has it happened again? Have a look at this....all I could find.

1 Long Beep And 2 Short, How Do I Fix It? - Suggest A Fix PC Support Forums

I rebooted (no beep) and shutdown/restarted (beeped as before), so the problem is not going to disappear on it's own. I suspect that the card should be replaced, but I'm not inclined to do so, unless it is broken, or so crippled that it effects normal operation in some fashion. This leave the question of just how critical the video BIOS ROM is, if it can display desktop normally?

After finding that the GPU temp is burning up (84°C), I found an artcle that said:

On startup, the BIOS initializes the video card:
Initialize the GPU
Detect number of memory chips, chip size, access mode
Enable memory access and set proper timings
Detect if external devices (analog VGA, DVI, TV-out) are connected and enable them
Set core and memory clock
Enable power management
Set fan speed (if supported by the board)

The last item makes it appear that the reason for the temp is that the fan isn't running, or running to slow. The card isn't going to last very long in this state, so I'm wondering if it is possible to flash the BIOS, or replace the BIOS chip on the card?

seekermeister said:

After finding that the GPU temp is burning up (84°C), I found an artcle that said:

On startup, the BIOS initializes the video card:
Initialize the GPU
Detect number of memory chips, chip size, access mode
Enable memory access and set proper timings
Detect if external devices (analog VGA, DVI, TV-out) are connected and enable them
Set core and memory clock
Enable power management
Set fan speed (if supported by the board)

The last item makes it appear that the reason for the temp is that the fan isn't running, or running to slow. The card isn't going to last very long in this state, so I'm wondering if it is possible to flash the BIOS, or replace the BIOS chip on the card?

move the jumper on mobo to return bios to original settings.
first i would try to take the card out and put it in another computer, if it works on another computer then its your originating computer's problem, if not, the card.
most cards do not reach 80 farenhegiht when starting up, only during gaming or heavy use (even at idle, temps should not be that high). if you can, try booting with integrated graphics to isolate other problems (that are not gpu related), since i have had a plethora of unrelated things affect other, unrelated things.

then if it is a problem of the gpu, i would try to replace the fan, or run it with the case open, put a fan next to opened case(a real fan, not the pc ones) blowing inside the case to cool the gpu (that is, if you gpu fan doesnt work).

if you find out that it is not temperature related, check pcie x16 slot.

but if u want to update bios, get a flashdrive and put all the .sys files and follow mfg instructions( i dont know how to flash bios, the only related thing i did to this was put ddrt on a router).

then replace gpu if you are sure that it is dead.