7950 custom bios

[XiandreX]

I asked about this a long time ago but I want to have another crack at it.
I am looking for a custom bios for my PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV5E.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131499

Apparently my card has dual bios.
I am struggling to find a custom bios for this card to fix the fluctuating boost
and I would like to increase the Powertune to 50% if possible.

I have never flashed a video cards bios and I want to be careful. Alternatively I could switch it to non boost and see if that fixes the issue.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[3DVagabond]

TechPowerUp is the "Keeper of the Bios"

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...r=&model=HD+7950&interface=&memType=&memSize=

Not sure if they have what you are looking for, but they have more than anyone else.

 

[XiandreX]

TechPowerUp is the "Keeper of the Bios"

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...r=&model=HD+7950&interface=&memType=&memSize=

Not sure if they have what you are looking for, but they have more than anyone else.

They list 5 Powercolor bios downloads but none mention my exact card and I
don't want to brick my card. :\

 

[EvilNeverSleeps]

Hello!

You might want to try out VBE7 Bios Editor and do the changes by yourself:

VBE7 Bios Editor @ Techpowerup

All required information about how to use the tool is in that thread so good luck!

Also: Thread about it on AnandTech

 

[XiandreX]

Hello!

You might want to try out VBE7 Bios Editor and do the changes by youself:

VBE7 Bios Editor @ Techpowerup

All required information about how to use the tool is in that thread so good luck!

Also: Thread about it on AnandTech

Thanks for the link. I have heard about people doing this, but honestly I am nervous.
I guess if I take it slow and ready carefully I should be ok.
Has anyone here gone this route and modded the bios themselves?

 

[EvilNeverSleeps]

Thanks for the link. I have heard about people doing this, but honestly I am nervous.
I guess if I take it slow and ready carefully I should be ok.
Has anyone here gone this route and modded the bios themselves?

I modded it on my Asus 7950 DCUII without any issues at all. Just remember to keep the original bios around if something would have gone wrong.

It runs a happy 1150 core without Boost right now. Helped me a lot when playing ENB enhanced games (Skyrim. F:NV. GTAIV etc) due to ENB conflicting with GPU OC software like Sapphire Trixx, MSI Afterburner.

So i would say: Don't worry and use the tool.

 

[MTDEW]

Thanks for the link. I have heard about people doing this, but honestly I am nervous.
I guess if I take it slow and ready carefully I should be ok.
Has anyone here gone this route and modded the bios themselves?

Yes, I modded my two Sapphire 7950's and set the PowerTune limits myself along with custom clocks/voltages and my own fan profile and flashed them so I don't need 3rd party software anymore.
It's pretty easy and straight foward.

And since your GPU has a dual bios, you don't have to be that nervous....if you screw up, just switch to the other good bios to bootup....then flip the switch back to the bios with the bad flash and reflash the bad one to fix it.
So just ALWAYS leave one of the bios's alone and never touch it, so you KNOW its always there for backup.

And You're much better off doing it this way, because you're modding your original bios vs using someone else's bios.
Some people report weird stuff when using other bios's on their cards like HDMI no longer working....so its always best to just mod your GPUs original bios.

 

[MTDEW]

Here is a quick guide.
1: Dump your original bios with something like GPUZ...and save it to where you know where it is.
2: Now open the VBE7 bios editor program
3: Once its running, click the OPEN tab up top and select your bios you just saved and want to edit.
4: Once the bios is loaded...do the following steps VERY CAREFULLY.
To edit your 3d clocks and voltages.
1: Click the PowerPlay tab....you'll see settings #1 , #2 , #3 , #0 and they all have core clock, memory clock and VDDC settings.
2: Change #3 and #0 to the settings you want and KNOW are stable!!!
Be sure to change the core clock, memory clock and VDDC(voltage) to the exact same values in #3 and #0 only.....leave #1 and #2 alone.

Now lets set your PowerTune
1: Click the OverDrive & PowerTune tab
2: DO NOT touch the first set of values AT ALL!!!!....
Max. core Clock / Max Memory Clock / TDP Limit(%) should all be left alone.
3: Instead, Look down at the Powertune box ....this is what you want to edit.
You'll see...
TDP (W) - xxx (this is your default)
Power Limit (w) xxx(default low) - xxx(default +20%)
Now when looking at the two values next to the Power Limit (w)....the higher value on the right is what your power limit is set to when you move the slider in CCC to +20%....you can verify it yourself, just by adding +20% to the TDP value and it should equal your high value.

So if you want your GPU to always have a +20% Power limit, then just change the top TDP (W) - xxx value to match your max value that's listed below.
Now your GPU will have +20% by default and you'll see the two values below changed also to reflect your new low and high.....this because you are now starting with a higher value, so now moving the slider in CCC to +20% will now actually be adding +40% since you modified the default value to be +20% already.....now moving the slider to +20% in CCC will add an additional +20%.
So when you do this, you have to remember that when you're set to 0% in CCC, you are actually at +20% already since you modded what the default was already in the GPUs bios.

EXAMPLE BELOW
USE YOUR OWN BIOS(s) values...this is just an example!

Original
PowerTune
TDP(W) - 167
Power Limit (W) - 130 - 200 (think of this as your slider in CCC for -20% - +20%)
See how the TDP of 167 + 20% = the 200 max power limit?

Would be changed to..
PowerTune
TDP(W) - 200
Power Limit (W) 160 - 240 (think of this as your slider in CCC for -20% - +20%)
Now see that changing the TDP to be +20 value by default now changes the max power limit to +40% of your original TDP value.
(Actually its around 44% of your original 167 value.)

 

[XiandreX]

Yes, I modded my two Sapphire 7950's and set the PowerTune limits myself along with custom clocks/voltages and my own fan profile and flashed them so I don't need 3rd party software anymore.
It's pretty easy and straight foward.

And since your GPU has a dual bios, you don't have to be that nervous....if you screw up, just switch to the other good bios to bootup....then flip the switch back to the bios with the bad flash and reflash the bad one to fix it.
So just ALWAYS leave one of the bios's alone and never touch it, so you KNOW its always there for backup.

And You're much better off doing it this way, because you're modding your original bios vs using someone else's bios.
Some people report weird stuff when using other bios's on their cards like HDMI no longer working....so its always best to just mod your GPUs original bios.

The more I read the more comfortable I am in attempting this.
Being able to up the powertune limit and TDP should fix my issues.
I am excited to get my card running around 1050-1100 core without the silly boost issues.

I modded it on my Asus 7950 DCUII without any issues at all. Just remember to keep the original bios around if something would have gone wrong.

It runs a happy 1150 core without Boost right now. Helped me a lot when playing ENB enhanced games (Skyrim. F:NV. GTAIV etc) due to ENB conflicting with GPU OC software like Sapphire Trixx, MSI Afterburner.

So i would say: Don't worry and use the tool.

What issues do those utilities have with Afterburner? I am not familiar with ENB.

 

[XiandreX]

Here is a quick guide.
1: Dump your original bios with something like GPUZ...and save it to where you know where it is.
2: Now open the VBE7 bios editor program
3: Once its running, click the OPEN tab up top and select your bios you just saved and want to edit.
4: Once the bios is loaded...do the following steps VERY CAREFULLY.
To edit your 3d clocks and voltages.
1: Click the PowerPlay tab....you'll see settings #1 , #2 , #3 , #0 and they all have core clock, memory clock and VDDC settings.
2: Change #3 and #0 to the settings you want and KNOW are stable!!!
Be sure to change the core clock, memory clock and VDDC(voltage) to the exact same values in #3 and #0 only.....leave #1 and #2 alone.

Now lets set your PowerTune
1: Click the OverDrive & PowerTune tab
2: DO NOT touch the first set of values AT ALL!!!!....
Max. core Clock / Max Memory Clock / TDP Limit(%) should all be left alone.
3: Instead, Look down at the Powertune box ....this is what you want to edit.
You'll see...
TDP (W) - xxx (this is your default)
Power Limit (w) xxx(default low) - xxx(default +20%)
Now when looking at the two values next to the Power Limit (w)....the higher value on the right is what your power limit is set to when you move the slider in CCC to +20%....you can verify it yourself, just by adding +20% to the TDP value and it should equal your high value.

So if you want your GPU to always have a +20% Power limit, then just change the top TDP (W) - xxx value to match your max value that's listed below.
Now your GPU will have +20% by default and you'll see the two values below changed also to reflect your new low and high.....this because you are now starting with a higher value, so now moving the slider in CCC to +20% will now actually be adding +40% since you modified the default value to be +20% already.....now moving the slider to +20% in CCC will add an additional +20%.
So when you do this, you have to remember that when you're set to 0% in CCC, you are actually at +20% already since you modded what the default was already in the GPUs bios.

Thanks very much for all the help. This is exactly what I am looking for. So basically when it says 20% power (after the 20% mod in bios) its actually sitting at 40%?

 

[XiandreX]

Yes, I modded my two Sapphire 7950's and set the PowerTune limits myself along with custom clocks/voltages and my own fan profile and flashed them so I don't need 3rd party software anymore.
It's pretty easy and straight foward.

And since your GPU has a dual bios, you don't have to be that nervous....if you screw up, just switch to the other good bios to bootup....then flip the switch back to the bios with the bad flash and reflash the bad one to fix it.
So just ALWAYS leave one of the bios's alone and never touch it, so you KNOW its always there for backup.

And You're much better off doing it this way, because you're modding your original bios vs using someone else's bios.
Some people report weird stuff when using other bios's on their cards like HDMI no longer working....so its always best to just mod your GPUs original bios.

Makes sense, I was just worried about messing it up, but with all the help I am getting from anand members, I am getting more and more confident.

 

[MTDEW]

Thanks very much for all the help. This is exactly what I am looking for. So basically when it says 20% power (after the 20% mod in bios) its actually sitting at 40%?

Yes, once you change the default Power Limit to 20% to be the new default in the bios......that is your NEW default 0% in CCC
CCC still starts at 0% and goes to +20%
Since you modded the Powerlimit in the bios, your new 0% in CCC already has +20% added to its value.....so adding +20% in CCC will add an additional +20% and will be a total of +40% from your original default value of 167.
(Actually its around 44% of your original 167 value.)

I edited my post above above to show an example.


Here is the example again.
USE your GPUs own values if they are different, this is just an example!
Original
PowerTune
TDP(W) - 167 (this is +0% in CCC)
Power Limit (W) - 130 - 200 (this is your slider in CCC for -20% -to- +20%)
See how the TDP of 167 + 20% = the 200 max power limit?

Would be changed to..
PowerTune
TDP(W) - 200 (this is now +0% in CCC)
Power Limit (W) 160 - 240 (this is your slider in CCC for your new -20% -to- +20%)
Now see that changing the TDP to be +20 value by default now changes the max power limit to +44% ....(and also raises the minimum too since your default is now a higher value to begin with)

edit: Had to fix my wording....its been awhile....sorry....all good now and should make sense. :thumbsup:

Multiple edits.....
Sorry, had to check some figures and my estimate of +40% is actually about +44%....so I edited to avoid confusion.
My bad for not checking the exact % the first time.....I was going by memory and remembered it being around 40%, so I was close...LOL

 

[MTDEW]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that when editing your 3D clocks as above, setting all the #3 and #0 values to the exact same settings for both is how you remove the annoying boost "throttling". :thumbsup:

 

[XiandreX]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that when editing your 3D clocks as above, setting all the #3 and #0 values to the exact same settings for both is how you remove the annoying boost "throttling". :thumbsup:

MTDEW you rock...!!! Furmark would make it go from 800-925 down to 500 and all over the place. Games less so but still an issue.

 

[MTDEW]

MTDEW you rock...!!! Furmark would make it go from 800-925 down to 500 and all over the place. Games less so but still an issue.

LOL, that just removes the Boost throttling/jumping down to 850mhz and back up to full 3D clock settings, you'll still need to edit the power limit, to avoid all throttling.
But once you do both, you're good to go, my cards never throttle when gaming, or benchmarking after the changes.

I do admit I don't run Furmark, but I have seen others mention that GPUs will throttle with that particular benchmark no matter what you do.(i dont know how true that is though)
So i just stick with 3Dmark, Heaven, Valley etc...etc.. and actual games for benchmarks & testing.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

MTDEW you rock...!!! Furmark would make it go from 800-925 down to 500 and all over the place. Games less so but still an issue.

At what temps? It is easy to mod bios but less simple to keep these cards cool enough to use the new limits.

 

[XiandreX]

LOL, that just removes the Boost throttling/jumping down to 850mhz and back up to full 3D clock settings, you'll still need to edit the power limit, to avoid all throttling.
But once you do both, you're good to go, my cards never throttle when gaming, or benchmarking after the changes.

I do admit I don't run Furmark, but I have seen others mention that GPUs will throttle with that particular benchmark no matter what you do.(i dont know how true that is though)
So i just stick with 3Dmark, Heaven, Valley etc...etc.. and actual games for benchmarks & testing.

Aye I know that I need to set both the clocks and power limit and I intend to.
Heat is not an issue. It fluctuates immediately, temps, low to mid 70's.
Furmark really is brutal, whether needed or not.

At what temps? It is easy to mod bios but less simple to keep these cards cool enough to use the new limits.

As per previous reply, temps are way down and not an issue. It goes from medium spikes at stock clocks running around 1.050 - 1.1v to huge spikes the moment I try and put clock higher. It doesn't crash or overheat, just feels like the 20% is not enough. If the Powertune is set to 0% forget about it.

 

[MTDEW]

Yeah, the temps depend on your fan speed ,3D clocks & voltage as usual.
Modifying the Powertune just allows the card to draw as much power as it needs under load.

And the boost cards are a bit different than the non-boost cards... using +20% PWR is good up to something like 1,000mhz core (around there, I don't remember exactly, it could be up to 1100mhz)......but anyway.... after a certain point, you need a bit more than +20% PWR.
Which no doubt the OP already has figured out.

What i personally did was....
The boost cards come with an already high default 3D voltage of 1.250v.
So I modded mine to run @ 950/1350 clocks with 1.050v with a custom fan profile, boost clocks removed and +20% PWR by default.
note: i used these conservative values on purpose to ensure 100% stability with as low of voltage & temps as possible with a custom fan profile that was still quiet... I tested A LOT before editing to ensure those settings were 100% stable before editing.
So now by default, my 7950's now run just a bit faster than stock , with lower voltage and temps. ( a WIN/WIN all around :thumbsup: )

Then anything I wanted higher, I just used Afterburner to overclock further just as you normally would.....keeping in mind I was already starting with a +20% PWR limit when making adjustments.

As I said, I was conservative when editing my bios, because I intended the changes to be PERMANENT and the new "default" settings for my cards.
And any overclocking above that I wanted, I could just do manually on my own as usual using Trixx or MSi AB as usual.

But now they're in my backup PC, and are perfectly happy at their modified "default" bios settings still.

 

[XiandreX]

So everything (so far) went very smooth.
Pushed the TDP a lot higher (room for more overclocking) I think 230 which equated to something like 184-276. My Asic score is terrible, 68% I think so not expecting much.

I am running 1025 core 1250 mem (this memory hates overclock)
@1.138 volts and running TR benchmark temps are around 75. (1080P Ultra runs)
I imagine I can tweak more and reduce volts slightly and I know during day temps, it will go up.
This is with a very relaxed fan profile not going above 59%.
I do not need excessive overclocks but what I am glad for mainly is no more stupid boost/voltage fluctuating. Holds 1025 core and holds voltage.
Furmark still throttles like a pita, so I suspect something else is at play.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I think furmark throttle is built into drivers. Tahiti will drain massive wattage in furmark. I think I remember either a Tahiti or GK110 card drawing near 400w while at 1.2v under furmark.

 

[XiandreX]

I think furmark throttle is built into drivers. Tahiti will drain massive wattage in furmark. I think I remember either a Tahiti or GK110 card drawing near 400w while at 1.2v under furmark.

That would explain the throttling regardless of Powertune boost or Volts.

 

[XiandreX]

Small update...

So after playing around the last couple of days I am able to run 1100 Core using around 1.185 Volts, with fan profile around 67-70%. Temps on a hot day would probably be an issue. Clock and Volts do not fluctuate at all.
I am now hooked on bios modding. :thumbsup:
What is the max safe temp I can push up to for 24 hour use?
I am probably going to run lower overclock to keep noise/temps in line but curious.
Ran Unigine - 30 minutes, TR benchmark for around 10-15 mintues and Middle earth for over an hour.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I'd say stay below 80c.

 

[XiandreX]

I'd say stay below 80c.

That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure. I should be able to run 1050 without hitting 80. 1100 not so much.