nVidia GTX 465 flashing to GTX 470: Fact or Fantasy?

[plunx]

i've been reading a lot of threads here and on a few other forums about the legendary GTX 465 with the GTX 470 PCBs (with ten memory modules, etc, etc) that can be flashed into GTX 470s (for the most part, at least).

is this even really a feasible act, or is it something that's only been done by two or three people? at first i read that any that has the GTX 470 PCB with 10 memory modules can do it, then i read that it can have the 10 memory modules and still not unlock.

then i try to look for people that have actually successfully done it, and i can only see two or three people that have said to have successfully flashed their GTX 465 cards into what now reads as GTX 470 cards.

zotac's gtx 465 is ~$140 after rebates on newegg right now and i'm needing something that doesn't have to quite top a regular GTX 460 since it doesn't have to run any resolutions higher than 1280x1024. i'm needing something either like this, or like a 786mb GTX 460 and i can't figure out what the better bet is.

so, yeah.. has anyone actually flashed a GTX 465 to a GTX 470 and can vouch for it, or can anyone explain anything else? the last thing i want to hear is something like "it can be done with the old PoV GTX 465 and that's it" because i see that everywhere i go, but then the very next thread talks about it being possible on a wide range of GTX 465 models.

[AthlonX2]

it works on the first run of GTX 465's that used the same pcb's mainly PNY and ASUS cards

[plunx]

so does that just basically mean you don't know until you get the card, and any 465 card could be the one with the right PCB, but you just won't know until you get it...

..or does that mean that none of the ones currently being sold now have chances of having the golden PCB or whatever?

[AthlonX2]

i dont think any being sold now will unlock,but you have a better chance with pny or asus

[theonedub]

A couple weeks ago there were ~3-5 members @ OCN who were successful in unlocking EVGA GTX 465s as well.

Its def not fiction, cards have been unlocked, just getting rare now to find.

[TotalChaos]

MSI GTX 465 Twin Frozr II Golden Edition are unlockable in many cases

[puma99dk|]

plunx only way to be 110% sure is to take off the cooler of ur GTX465 and see if u have all 10 memorys are there if u have u can unlock it to GTX470 if not u can't unlock it simple as that.


This one can be unlocked:



This one can't be unlocked:

[Feanor]

Hi. Just buy yourself a nice gtx 460 768 mb. A LOT LESS heat that the gtx 465, a little more to around the same performance, and less noise. Unless you got some CRAZY (less than 130US$) on a confirmed unlockable gtx 465 (in general, this cannot be said before buying), in my opinion you will be better with the gtx 460.

Remember, NEVER buy something assuming it'll unlock.

[Benetanegia]

I agree with Feanor. A GTX460 is simply faster, even the 768 MB one if you are going to game at low resolutions and once you OC it's much faster. With the GTX460 I don't even call it overclock until you put it above 800 Mhz. Until then I call it "eliminating the deliberate underclocking". Nvidia deliberatelly crippled it so that it was not as fast as the GTX470 so they could still sell the more expensive (higher profit) card.

Considering your requisites (low resolution etc) just take the safest route and buy the cheaper/cooler/quieter 460 or if you are looking for a GTX470 kind of performance at stock clocks pay the premium and get a real GTX470 (there's a few for $200 after MIR I believe) or get a HD6870, but the difference in performance only really kicks off at high resolutions...

After a quick search I found this Galaxy GTX460 768 MB for $108 after MIR. which IMO is imposible to beat.

[qubit]

Cards being unlockable is certainly not fiction - I did it myself years ago with the ATI 9800 SE AIW. It turned 4 pipelines into 8.

However, it seems from the comments here that you are very unlikely to get an unlockable 465 now. Personally, I'd just go for a GTX 560 and be done wih it: better performance, much better thermals and really quiet. Have you seen W1zzard's reviews on TPU? If not, click the links below. The first one links to the reference 560:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N...ce_GTX_560_Ti/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A..._Direct_Cu_II/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Z...ce_GTX_560_Ti/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/P..._560_Ti_Sonic/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Z...i_Amp_Edition/

[plunx]

well I know that 'unlocking' in itself isn't a fantasy, because i heard of the ATI cards that you mentioned that could do it and i've done it with a 6800, same pipeline thing (seems like it went from 8 to 12 or something).

anyway, the one specific GTX 465 card that seems to be able to be unlocked in almost every circumstance is the MSI Twin Frozr II GE, but those are getting harder to find (and places that still have them are generally charging more for them, i wonder why).

about the 10 memory chip thing - i'd heard that there were some models that had 10 chips but still couldn't be unlocked, confirming that not all PCBs that have all 10 chips can be unlocked. that's basically where i'm at with the specific GTX 465 that i was thinking about getting; i already know it has 10 memory chips, i just don't know if it will unlock. to me it sounds like the only one way to be certain is to get an MSI Twin Frozr II GE, or an old ASUS or PNY that is confirmed to have 10 chips.

yeah, that 786mb GTX 460 by Galaxy for $108 was actually the other one i was looking at, and with the way things stand now, that seems to be the best buy for my system. the max resolution i use is 1280x1024, so i don't need a powerhouse card, but i just figured i'd get to the bottom of the GTX 465 thing since there's the one for $140 that i know has 10 chips, i just don't think it unlocks.

[brandonwh64]

Originally Posted by plunx

well I know that 'unlocking' in itself isn't a fantasy, because i heard of the ATI cards that you mentioned that could do it and i've done it with a 6800, same pipeline thing (seems like it went from 8 to 12 or something).

anyway, the one specific GTX 465 card that seems to be able to be unlocked in almost every circumstance is the MSI Twin Frozr II GE, but those are getting harder to find (and places that still have them are generally charging more for them, i wonder why).

about the 10 memory chip thing - i'd heard that there were some models that had 10 chips but still couldn't be unlocked, confirming that not all PCBs that have all 10 chips can be unlocked. that's basically where i'm at with the specific GTX 465 that i was thinking about getting; i already know it has 10 memory chips, i just don't know if it will unlock. to me it sounds like the only one way to be certain is to get an MSI Twin Frozr II GE, or an old ASUS or PNY that is confirmed to have 10 chips.

yeah, that 786mb GTX 460 by Galaxy for $108 was actually the other one i was looking at, and with the way things stand now, that seems to be the best buy for my system. the max resolution i use is 1280x1024, so i don't need a powerhouse card, but i just figured i'd get to the bottom of the GTX 465 thing since there's the one for $140 that i know has 10 chips, i just don't think it unlocks.

From that statement i would suggest the GTX 460 as well, if you unlock the voltage (JrRacinFan can help with that) then these things are proven up to 900mhz Core

[qubit]

plunx, as you want to get a 465 specifically to unlock it and the odds are against you getting an unlockable one, then I repeat my advice not to get this card.

I think the GTX 560 is the sweet spot right now, but if you want to spend less money, then perhaps get the GTX 550 which is out mid March.

Personally, I always recommend getting a card that's more powerful than you think you'll need, because in time, that power is going to be needed and might actually be needed right away to keep the action smooth during the most intensive gameplay.

[plunx]

lemme just ask this.. if i was able to get a GTX 465 that might not bee able to be unlocked, but i could get it for ~$110, would the Galaxy 768MB GTX 460 still be a better buy for my system? i also only have a dual core processor (e6850@3.6GHz) and 4GB of RAM (running at 1551MHz) and i doubt i'll be upgrading anything else for the next five or six months at least. are the GTX 465s just really that bad in terms of performance when compared to the GTX 460? i'd like to think the full 1GB of VRAM and 256-bit memory bus of the GTX 465 would be a better performer, or is it just better to get the GTX 460 and overclock it at least a 900MHz core? how do the GTX 465s overclock, even if they can't be flashed to GTX 470s? like i said, imagine both the Galaxy 768MB GTX 460 and Zotac/Palit/EVGA GTX 465 for ~$110, would the GTX 460 still be better to get?

[plunx]

well i've had the opportunity to try a PNY GTX 460 1GB and an XFX HD6870 1GB and i saw almost no performance difference on my system with either card, suggesting a bottleneck with my CPU and RAM most likely. it made me realize that the 460 series was what i was wanting (since buying anything 'better' than that would be wasting money at this point), but then i heard about the 465 thing and then now i have the opportunity to get one of the 465's for exactly $115, which is pretty much the cost of the Galaxy 768MB GTX 460 after shipping.

[Tatty_One]

It's no different to the HD 6950 unlocking to 6970, simply disabled shaders thru Bios, the highest success rate has come from PNY and POV I beleive on the 465, just look for the 10 memory chips AND a Rev 1 PCB....... very few around though now, maybe best bet is a small stockist that does not sell a lot, they may still have the odd one collecting dust.

[cdawall]

the 8 chip ones have a chance of unlock via an asus program. it contains a version of NV flash and has a possibility of unlocking.

[plunx]

that's actually something else that i forgot to mention i had heard about; the asus program that supposedly does it all for you. but this is my first time hearing that 8 chip ones can do it as well... how is that possible? i thought the whole point was getting the 320-bit memory bus and 1280MB of VRAM, how could the ones with 8 chips still hold a total of 1280MB? that would make each RAM chip 160MB... i dunno, but forced to only do 128MB per chip until unlocked? i'm not so sure about that..

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by plunx

that's actually something else that i forgot to mention i had heard about; the asus program that supposedly does it all for you. but this is my first time hearing that 8 chip ones can do it as well... how is that possible? i thought the whole point was getting the 320-bit memory bus and 1280MB of VRAM, how could the ones with 8 chips still hold a total of 1280MB? that would make each RAM chip 160MB... i dunno, but forced to only do 128MB per chip until unlocked? i'm not so sure about that..

they dont unlock the memory or bus it unlocks the chip. a 465 is still faster with more ROPs

[newtekie1]

There are not many unlockable GTX465 cards being sold on that market today. So I would not buy one with the hopes of unlocking it.

As for alternative cards, I don't believe the GTX560 is worth the price right now, maybe if it was down in the $200 range, but it is not worth $250 when the GTX460 is $70 cheaper and comes very close to matching it when overclocked. Of course, with some GTX470s being available for $200, the GTX560 doesn't stand a chance against them either.

[plunx]

oh, i see.. i didn't really think about that. but what do you think the odds are of getting first, one with 8 chips that can unlock like this or one with all 10 chips that can unlock? and also, i'm starting to wonder if it's only possible to do it on certain cards by using the asus program you mentioned, since it was made specifically for that.

also it seems difficult for people to compare the 465 to the standard 460. of course most people will say the 460 is a better, wiser buy, but if one were to be able to get a 465 for really cheap, just as much as a 768MB GTX 460, would it be worth it then?

[cdawall]

i would just get this instead

Recertified: PNY RVCGGTX470XXB GeForce GTX 470 (Fe...

if you want to take a chance PNY's have a good chance of being 10 chip and a black PCB

Recertified: PNY XLR8 RVCGGTX465XXB GeForce GTX 46...

[EarthDog]

Ehhh. Stock 560 vs stock 470 and the 560 beats it out across the board....and remember, you need to overclock BOTH cards if you were to make a fair comparison.

@ Plunx - I also have a nice overclocking 470 FS here at this site for $190 shipped...

[newtekie1]

A GTX460 1GB and a GTX465 are equal performance wise, but the GTX465 consumes more power. The GTX465 is better than a GTX460 768MB since the disabled ROPS really hurt the GTX460's performance, not to mention dropping below 1GB of memory actually does have an effect on certain current games.

Originally Posted by EarthDog

Ehhh. Stock 560 vs stock 470 and the 560 beats it out across the board....and remember, you need to overclock BOTH cards if you were to make a fair comparison.

I also have a nice overclocking 470 FS here at this site....

The GTX560 just barely beats it, and again that is because nVidia went way conservative with the first fermi clock speeds. I haven't seen a GTX470 yet that couldn't do 800MHz/1000MHz, and at 800MHz/1000MHz, a GTX470 beats any overclocked GTX560.

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

A GTX460 1GB and a GTX465 are equal performance wise, but the GTX465 consumes more power. The GTX465 is better than a GTX460 768MB since the disabled ROPS really hurt the GTX460's performance, not to mention dropping below 1GB of memory actually does have an effect on certain current games.



The GTX560 just barely beats it, and again that is because nVidia went way conservative with the first fermi clock speeds. I haven't seen a GTX470 yet that couldn't do 800MHz/1000MHz, and at 800MHz/1000MHz, a GTX470 beats any overclocked GTX560.

mine can't...it will not overvolt