VBE7 - vBIOS Editor for Radeon HD 7000 series cards

[Ruski]

Editing via VBE7

Ok folks, got a few questions:

My card: ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II (HD7970-DC2T-3GD5)
Stock vBIOS version: 015.023.000.002.000000 (113-AD45600-203)
Overclocked via Afterburner to Max. Stock Values: 1125 MHz / 1575 MHz Card / 1.17 VDDC

1) I saved my Original vBIOS using atiwinflash & gpu-z. Both are identical is size. Should i still boot into DOS and save the vBIOS using atiflash or is it safe to say i can customize my vBIOS using VBE7 safely?


2) I loaded the vBIOS in VBE7 and changed the following:

• Powerplay (State 1 - Performance):
  #0 Core Clock: 1125
  Mem. Clock: 1575
  VDDC: 1181
• Overdrive:
  Max. Core Clock:1300
  Max. Mem. Clock: 1650
  TDP (W): 233 (= 280 w/+20%)
  
  Questions:
• Do the above #'s make sense? I basically put the max stock overclock as the default and plan to use Afterburner to overclock higher until i find a 24/7 stable OC.
• Not 100% clear on voltages. Will the VDDC become automatically unlocked after i flash this modified BIOS or should i be setting the maximum voltage i want to use back under "State #0"? For example, i know that 1125/1575 is stable at 1.18V but since i plan to test a higher clocks, do i need to proactively raise that #0 VDDC value to something higher just not to be limited by it?
• Finally, once i find the sweet spot in my OC, I can just flash the final Core/Memory/VDDC values directly to State #0 and not have to worry about Afterburner or any other program and just run the card that way. Makes sense?

I left all other values untouched (including State #6, as i didn't see the point).

Any other suggestions in terms of safe TDP value, Fan Profile or benefits of altering State #6 much appreciated.

 

[vidlak]

Hi!

I'd like to be able to lower my 2D/idle voltage from 825mV to 800mV on my HD7850. I can do it via software currently (Asus GPU Tweak) and it works but would like to be able to have it in BIOS all the time so I don't have to use any software. Unfortunately currently VBE7 doesn't allow modding 2D voltage for my card (why, btw?).

My Q is: could anyone kindly look at my bios file provided below and try to modify 2D voltage in it, and up it somewhere? Or tell me which offset to mod and to which value, and how to fix the checksum afterwards.

I provide my original and modded (without changing 2D voltage) bioses in attachment.

TIA!

 

[Veky]

If someone changed this value to lower value and having problems with screen flickering and Youtube gray screen on videos change it back to default because ATI changed something in drivers 13..11 Beta 3 and up.
I was having that value at 750MHz for 2-3 months and everything was Ok with every driver but from driver 13.11 Beta 3 and up it causing big problems.

 

[marjamar]

Hello,

I have been trying VBE7.0.0.7b to up the VDDC on my Asus HD7970 DCUII without any success. It changes the VDDC as indicated in some software, but checking with a meter on the card itself, it's not changing. VDDC on this card remains at 1.11 volts.

Is the card locked somehow?

I've tried alternate BIOS's and VDDC will not change no matter what I do.

Anyone else see this with this card? Any fix for it?

Thanks.

-Rodger

 

[MTDEW332]

Try this

I flashed my 7950's to 1100/1500 with vddc 1150 and change the overdrive max to 1200/1600.

The first time when I enabled crossfire the fan of my second gpu just stops , disable crossfire it started again..
After that flashed the cards seperately and when done, installed both cards again and the fan stops again when crossfire was enabled....

But I solved it, after enabling crossfire I turned off ulps with afterburner and the fan didn't stopped.

Ok, but got a question. I still use afterburner do change the powerlimit to +20%, otherwise the core will fluctuate and I don't want that.
How to change it so I don't have to use afterburner again at startup?

http://tweakers.net/ext/f/Rh0pbo6ES1qIDCvXJ4ocfGnA/full.jpg

I've flash it with 300tdp but still throttling, maybe it is because I use crossfire and turned off ulps? I'm still using msi ab for the +20% powerlimit.

Just looked at your bios, It's because of what you have set in your OverDrive & PowerTune tab.
You should have....
Max core clock - 1200
Max mem clock - 1600
TDP limit (%) - 20

TDP (W) - 300

Don't edit the core and mem clock values like you did on the powerplay tab.
Leave them at default values on the OverDrive & PowerTune tab like listed above. (1200/1600)
All you need to change is the TDP(W) to 300 on this tab and you're good to go. (leave everything else at the defaults of your original bios)
Your Powerplay tab is correct.

EDIT: The above is assuming your original default values were 1200/1600, if not, then set them to whatever was your defaults in your original un-modded bios.
Then just change the TDP(W) to 300.
(example...My defaults are actually 1200/1575, so I used those values)

Now.....all that is assuming that with your original bios, when you ran at 1100/1500 just adding +20% prevented it from throttling.
If you originally had to do some tricks to go over +20% to keep it from throttling at those clocks, then you're gonna have to go over 300 to prevent it here also.

Example: If you originally needed just +20% on your overclock with the original bios to prevent throttling then you use....
Your original 250 + 20% = 300....so if you set 300, now your new default is the 250 with +20% already added.
If you needed +30% before modding to prevent throttling it would be 250 + 30% = 325
Now your new default would be the original 250 with +30% already added which = 325.

 

[Ruski]

Overclocking Success!

Hey folks,

Have gotten some great info here and other tech forums so thought i would share my results so far:

My card: ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II (HD7970-DC2T-3GD5)
Stock vBIOS version: 015.023.000.002.000000 (113-AD45600-203)
Card ASIC Score: 70.1%

Stock Clocks:
Core Clock:925MHz
Memory Clock: 1375MHz Card (5500Mhz GDDR5)
VDDC: 1.17V


Current Stable 24/7 Overclock:
Core Clock:1150 MHz
Memory Clock: 1700 MHz Card (6800Mhz GDDR5)
VDDC: 1.3V
TDP (W): 250W(= 300W w/+20%)


Here is how i got there:
1) I saved my Original vBIOS using ATIFLASH (very important)

2) I loaded the original vBIOS in VBE7 and changed the following:

• Powerplay (State 1 - Performance):
  #0 Core Clock: 1125 MHz
  Mem. Clock: 1575 MHz
  VDDC: 1300 mV
• Overdrive:
  Max. Core Clock:1300
  Max. Mem. Clock: 1900
  TDP (W): 250 (= 300 w/+20%)

3) I flashed the modified version of my original BIOS using ATIFLASH.

3) The above means that my card boots up in windows at 1125 MHz / 1575 MHz / 1.3V (The only reason for 1.3V at these clocks is because with my original BIOS the only way i can actually manipulate the voltage is when editing the BIOS in VBE7, so i set it to 1.3V knowing the chip is stable at higher clocks with this voltage).

4) Since i set my Overdrive settings pretty high, i am able to push the card further via Afterburner. As mentioned above, my current max stable overclock is 1150 / 1700 / +20% TDP. What i find impressing is that these clocks are above the brand new Asus R9 280x Matrix Platinum which boosts to 1100 / 1600 respectively.

5) HEAT - One big thing to note is that at 1.3V and +20% TDP the heat gets pretty high. I am usually running my fan at 80% during gaming (BF4) to keep the temps bellow 80C.


This is basically my experience so far, the next steps will be try and and bring the voltage down a bit and see if i can remain stable at the current clocks. Heaven Bench and BF4 has run flawlessly with these settings and i can probably squeeze a bit more out of the card, just haven't had the time.

For $269 with 3 free games (courtesy AMD's Never Settle Forever Bundle), this is really a no brainer, as it should equal or outperform the R9 280X Matrix Platinum which costs $350+ with no free games!

 

[marjamar]

Nice, informative post.

I have the same card and have been trying various settings using VBE7. What you have done is actually about the same I have been doing. But I do not see a voltage increase in VDDC above the standard my card has always had, which is 1.11 volts. I have seen various testings software say it was has been at 1.4 volts (max that can be set in VBE7), but it is never that tested on the card with a voltmeter -- Always just 1.11 volts.

So, my question is, have you tested the cards VDDC with a voltmeter to confirm your VDDC settings? If not, could you and post back here?

Thanks.

-Rodger

Hey folks,

Have gotten some great info here so thought i would share my results so far:

My card: ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II (HD7970-DC2T-3GD5)
Stock vBIOS version: 015.023.000.002.000000 (113-AD45600-203)
Card ASIC Score: 70.1%

Stock Clocks:
Core Clock:925MHz
Memory Clock: 1375MHz Card (5500Mhz GDDR5)
VDDC: 1.17V


Current Stable 24/7 Overclock:
Core Clock:1150 MHz
Memory Clock: 1700 MHz Card (6800Mhz GDDR5)
VDDC: 1.3V
TDP (W): 250W(= 300W w/+20%)


Here is how i got there:
1) I saved my Original vBIOS using ATIFLASH (very important)

2) I loaded the original vBIOS in VBE7 and changed the following:

• Powerplay (State 1 - Performance):
  #0 Core Clock: 1125 MHz
  Mem. Clock: 1575 MHz
  VDDC: 1300 mV
• Overdrive:
  Max. Core Clock:1300
  Max. Mem. Clock: 1900
  TDP (W): 250 (= 300 w/+20%)
  
  3) I flashed the modified version of my original BIOS using ATIFLASH.
  
  3) The above means that my card boots up in windows at 1125 MHz / 1575 MHz / 1.3V (The only reason for 1.3V at these clocks is because with my original BIOS the only way i can actually manipulate the voltage is when editing the BIOS in VBE7, so i set it to 1.3V knowing the chip is stable at higher clocks with this voltage).
  
  4) Since i set my Overdrive settings pretty high, i am able to push the card further via Afterburner. As mentioned above, my current max stable overclock is 1150 / 1700 / +20% TDP. What i find impressing is that these clocks are above the brand new Asus R9 280x Matrix Platinum which boosts to 1100 / 1600 respectively.
  
  5) HEAT - One big thing to note is that at 1.3V and +20% TDP the heat gets pretty high. I am usually running my fan at 80% during gaming (BF4) to keep the temps bellow 80C.
  
  
  This is basically my experience so far, the next steps will be try and and bring the voltage down a bit and see if i can remain stable at the current clocks. Heaven Bench and BF4 has run flawlessly with these settings and i can probably squeeze a bit more out of the card, just haven't had the time.
  
  For $269 with 3 free games (courtesy AMD's Never Settle Forever Bundle), this is really a no brainer, as it should equal or outperform the R9 280X Matrix Platinum which costs $350+ with no free games!

 

[Kasmeri]

Congratulations Ruski!

As you say, you should be able to have stability at these clocks with lower voltage. You could try to see what your stable overclock will be with 1.25v. That should also bring your temps down considerably, so try it and let us know how it goes.

Check your VRM temperatures too btw. Make sure to settle at nothing higher than 85C maximum in worst gaming scenarios. 80C and lower would be great.

 

[Ruski]

Congratulations Ruski!

You should be able to have stability at these clocks with lower voltage. You could try to see what your stable overclock will be with 1.25v. That would also bring your temps down considerably, so try it and let us know how it goes.

Thanks, i will give it a go with lower voltages probably over the weekend (there was definetely a spike of about 10C-15C when i upped the voltage to 1.3V

Has anyone found a way to edit the BIOS and unlock voltage control on these cards? Would be so much easier to test the overclocks without having to constantly flash a new BIOS to get desired voltages.

 

[SetsunaFZero]

connect a watt-meter and see how the cards powerdrow goes rocket high. Something at 1100MHz+ the powerdrow behavior isn't linear anymore.

 

[kael]

Figured with something like this, it's better to post and ask.

I successfully overclocked my Sapphire 7950 Boost card to 1170(c),1500(m),1250(v),+20(power) with the Trixx software provided by Sapphire. It seems perfectly stable except in BF4 I noticed it reverts to the 500mhz state (#2, I think). It never passes 70c in Heaven3d and FurMark stability testing.

Does this look correct, to put this in Bios?

OD & PT:
Max Core: 1200
Max Mem: 1575
TDP Limit: 20%
^^ Stock Values

PT:
TDP(W) 167 is stock, would I make this +20% .. so 200 value here?

PowerPlay (core,mem,voltage):
#0: 1170, 1500, 1250 <-- Proposed new setting
#1: 300,150,950 <-- stock
#2: 501,1250,950 <-- stock
#3: 850,1250,1125 <-- stock
#4: 300,150,800 <-- stock
#5: n/a
#6: 1170, 1500, 1250 <-- Proposed new setting
^^ I want boost disabled.

What are #1, #2, #3, and #4? I don't mind it downclocking in 2d. But if it's using 3d, I'd like it to go to the OC settings. I do have 3 monitors connected, if that matters.

Much obliged for any insight.

 

[Kasmeri]

Does this look correct, to put this in Bios?

Until one of the gurus here replies, I'll say that it looks good. Don't change anything in the 2d settings, some people reported problems when doing that. You can experiment with that later. Your proposed TDP looks ok to me, it's not a massive raise so it should be ok but I don't have a 7950 so make a quick search and see what other owners of 7950s have been doing with the TDP.

As far as your 3d clocks go, I personally decided to set them slightly lower than my max stable overclock, so from 1175c/1500m I put them at 1150c/1500m just to be super safe in case future drivers create problems of stability. You could do the same and set your core at 1150 in the bios, then squeeze some more using CCC, Afterburner, Trixx or whatever you like to get to 1170 or higher.

Since i am using Radeon Pro anyway to set a framerate cap of 60 which really makes a difference in my cf setup, setting my bios clock rates a little lower to be super safe and squeezing some more (1175-1180 core) with Radeon Pro loading with Windows made sense to me. If you would rather not use any such program loading with Windows and you are 100% sure your intended overclock is super stable, then set that at the bios instead, which is what most people seem to be doing anyway.

Good luck!

 

[marjamar]

Tried once again following exactly what Ruski did and although 1.3 volts VCCD is reported when running MSI Kombustor, testing it on the cards VDDC pin shows only 1.11 volts. So, unless VDDC isn't the voltage changing, there isn't any actual increase on my card. Also, the temp rise over time is the same with using the original BIOS or the modified BIOS on any given benchmark software I've tried.

I've tried 3 different overclocking utilities, MSI Afterburner, Asus GPU Tweek, and Sapphire Trixx. None of them get my VDDC any higher.

I took the waterblock off this card to see greater difference in temps as I can only reach 38C with the waterblock on. The card can get over 70C on stock fans.

-Rodger

 

[Kasmeri]

Tried once again following exactly what Ruski did and although 1.3 volts VCCD is reported when running MSI Kombustor, testing it on the cards VDDC pin shows only 1.11 volts. So, unless VDDC isn't the voltage changing, there isn't any actual increase on my card. Also, the temp rise over time is the same with using the original BIOS or the modified BIOS on any given benchmark software I've tried.

At this point if I were you I would be talking to Ruski to make sure you have the exact same card (yours might be a later hardware voltage-locked revision) and if so then ask him for his modded BIOS to try out. Before flashing it though I would mod it again with your own stable overclock numbers, because his OC might be unstable with your card. See if you manage to really set the voltage higher with his BIOS first, then raise the clocks further.

 

[Ruski]

Hmm thats very interesting.

I haven't measured with a voltmeter so can't be sure mine doesn't max out either.

On stock clocks, all software reports my VDDC as 1.17V.

What leads me to believe that voltage does increase is that when i bumped it up in the vBIOS from 1.21V to 1.3V, I saw a massive spike in heat. So if there is a wall, it must be somewhere above 1.21V on my chip.

I will see if i can located my voltmeter and measure for ya though...

Nice, informative post.

I have the same card and have been trying various settings using VBE7. What you have done is actually about the same I have been doing. But I do not see a voltage increase in VDDC above the standard my card has always had, which is 1.11 volts. I have seen various testings software say it was has been at 1.4 volts (max that can be set in VBE7), but it is never that tested on the card with a voltmeter -- Always just 1.11 volts.

So, my question is, have you tested the cards VDDC with a voltmeter to confirm your VDDC settings? If not, could you and post back here?

Thanks.

-Rodger

 

[levelord]

Hi guys, i'm new here but i got some info to share.
Recently i've bought an Asus 7970 DC2T card, v2 i guess, can't tell for sure.
Read somewhere that it could be flashed to 280x one. Skipping to the end of this story, i've mistook a R9280X-DC2T-3GD5 bios with a MATRIX-R9280X-P-3GD5 and flashed it to my card and it WORKED.
Now i got a 280x Matrix card for the price of 7970 DC2T
A VBE was also a great help in overclocking and adjusting vddc, thank you darkhmz
And a bios i used, if anyone wanna try But it gotta be tuned first.

 

[marjamar]

Didn't work like that on mine. Doesn't show the card to be a 280x and doesn't give me any additional "real" VDDC. Thinking about using hotwire to see if I can get VDDC up.

-Rodger

Hi guys, i'm new here but i got some info to share.
Recently i've bought an Asus 7970 DC2T card, v2 i guess, can't tell for sure.
Read somewhere that it could be flashed to 280x one. Skipping to the end of this story, i've mistook a R9280X-DC2T-3GD5 bios with a MATRIX-R9280X-P-3GD5 and flashed it to my card and it WORKED.
Now i got a 280x Matrix card for the price of 7970 DC2T
A VBE was also a great help in overclocking and adjusting vddc, thank you darkhmz
And a bios i used, if anyone wanna try But it gotta be tuned first.

 

[marjamar]

I guess this program is more or less only setting a reference VDDC, not any actual VDDC. If it is actually setting VDDC as measured on the card itself, I've not seen anyone in this discussion show that it is by true measurements with a voltmeter. It does allow clocks to set higher for sure, but seems that's about it. Without getting vcore higher, higher clocks will be of limited value, at least to me.

I hope the author of this can fix it.

-Rodger

 

[Kasmeri]

I hope the author of this can fix it.

There is nothing to be fixed. The program works. You have a voltage-locked card, that's all. I advised you to use Ruski's bios or other bios known to work with your card model to see if yours is software (bios) or hardware voltage-locked. You won't find out until you try a different bios to mod than your original. If you tried and can't raise the voltage, you got a card that is hardware-locked.

There are indeed some hardware voltage-locked models, and some of them are later revisions of models that weren't voltage-locked when they first came out. So you may have the same model as Ruski but a different revision.

If it is actually setting VDDC as measured on the card itself, I've not seen anyone in this discussion show that it is by true measurements with a voltmeter. It does allow clocks to set higher for sure, but seems that's about it.

Like Ruski said, there is no voltmeter needed when you mod your bios voltage with this tool and you see your temps shoot up 15C, which is what happened to my cards as well. And going from 1040 maximum stable core with stock voltage to 1175 stable core also proves voltage is indeed raised. There is no way a program can magically "allow clocks to set higher" 135MHz stably without actually raising the voltage. And btw, there were in fact some people here who did measure voltage with a voltmeter in the beginning of this thread, reporting also actual numbers of vdroop under load.

Look, I understand your frustration but you shouldn't tell people that the program doesn't work when it is your specific card and revision that has the problem, and I'm only saying that assuming you did try to mod other bioses than your original one, thus making sure that your card is hardware-locked and not bios-locked. Again, if you didn't, try other bioses and find out. Get Ruski to upload his. If you did, you are one of the unlucky ones who have a hardware-locked card.

 

[Ruski]

Uploading my BIOS, if anyone is interested...

1st file (hd7970.rom) is the original BIOS i saved before flashing and the 2nd file (custom5.rom) is the VBE7 modded version with the latest settings i used.

I am also thinking of trying the R9 280X Matrix BIOS to see what happens

Haven't had much time to overclock, as BF4 is addicting but I will update my progress as things develop.

 

[leeb2013]

There is nothing to be fixed. The program works. You have a voltage-locked card, that's all. I advised you to use Ruski's bios or other bios known to work with your card model to see if yours is software (bios) or hardware voltage-locked. You won't find out until you try a different bios to mod than your original. If you tried and can't raise the voltage, you got a card that is hardware-locked.

There are indeed some hardware voltage-locked models, and some of them are later revisions of models that weren't voltage-locked when they first came out. So you may have the same model as Ruski but a different revision.



Like Ruski said, there is no voltmeter needed when you mod your bios voltage with this tool and you see your temps shoot up 15C, which is what happened to my cards as well. And going from 1040 maximum stable core with stock voltage to 1175 stable core also proves voltage is indeed raised. There is no way a program can magically "allow clocks to set higher" 135MHz stably without actually raising the voltage. And btw, there were in fact some people here who did measure voltage with a voltmeter in the beginning of this thread, reporting also actual numbers of vdroop under load.

Look, I understand your frustration but you shouldn't tell people that the program doesn't work when it is your specific card and revision that has the problem, and I'm only saying that assuming you did try to mod other bioses than your original one, thus making sure that your card is hardware-locked and not bios-locked. Again, if you didn't, try other bioses and find out. Get Ruski to upload his. If you did, you are one of the unlucky ones who have a hardware-locked card.

I also confirm VBE does work and it's fantastic that someone has taken time to write something like this. I've tried it with both XFX and HIS ICEq 7950 and it works perfectly. Sometimes other s/w doesn't work for increasing the voltages, like MSI AB, although Trixx and HIS turbo did work, but Turbo has an issue where it sets the high voltage permanently, so the voltage never drops (and this is HIS s/w provided with their card!). The GPU volts can be monitored with GPU-z and the V-drop can easily be seen as the GPU take more and more power. This editor is great to remove the dumb boost function, which set the max V (1.25v) for a small clock increase, the card then heat up and hits it's TDP before throttling back. With this removed, you can get a higher clock at a lower voltage, with no throttling.

But I expect that some cards are voltage locked, so that even changing their BIOS won't change their voltage.

 

[marjamar]

Thanks for answering some of my concerns with good, honest replies people. I've download Ruski's bios (thanks) and it is different then mine by it's descriptors given in both VBE7 and ATIFlash. I am testing it now and it absolutely does ramp up temps and fans much faster then my bios did. I do not however see any ramp up in VDDC reading from the pins on the card. I have a wattmeter on my PSU and a second on the power plug going to the computer itself. Both read identical so I will be testing actual wattage going into the computer with both bios'. This will absolutely show if the card is drawing greater current from either bios.

If there is a greater current being drawn with identical settings in both bios running identical testing software, there is an internal difference in the 2 bios'. I will also test using just my bios with different VDDC settings in VBE7, that will tell whether or not that setting has any effect on my bios to my hardware.

As to this software, it for sure serves a very useful purpose, even if it cannot adjust VDDC on certain hardware or BIOS'. I am grateful to it's designers, even if my particular hardware/BIOS isn't or won't cooperate the way I wish it would.

-Rodger

 

[Kasmeri]

Ok, please let us know the results of your tests. I am very curious myself.

Good luck man!

 

[levelord]

marjamar
As far as i know, in order to unlock voltage control of DC2T card you have to do the following:
1. Install ASUS GPU tweak and see how is your card named there. If it's name ends with TOP - the voltage control will be locked. If it's a simple DC2T - unlocked.
2. Flash a simple DC2T bios to your card, software adjust clocks/voltage and flash those settings with the same bios.
3. Flash a 280x bios if you like it.

And a couple words about voltages. It is absolutely safe to put values up to 1.256v in vddc line, moreover MSI Lightnings can do over 1300v with air cooling.

 

[marjamar]

I don't have the "TOP" version, just the DirectCU II.

I hope today to be able to test for any differences in wattage use. That would tell me something is going on with different VDDC settings. Strange thing would be if there is a different wattage, why isn't there a different VDDC reading from the cards pinouts -- Which there isn't. Guess I'll cross that bridge if I get to it.

-Rodger

marjamar
As far as i know, in order to unlock voltage control of DC2T card you have to do the following:
1. Install ASUS GPU tweak and see how is your card named there. If it's name ends with TOP - the voltage control will be locked. If it's a simple DC2T - unlocked.
2. Flash a simple DC2T bios to your card, software adjust clocks/voltage and flash those settings with the same bios.
3. Flash a 280x bios if you like it.

And a couple words about voltages. It is absolutely safe to put values up to 1.256v in vddc line, moreover MSI Lightnings can do over 1300v with air cooling.