Hi
TBH: this has nothing to do with the OP and should have been addressed in a separate post; that out of the way
Would a bios update increase overclocking potential thou? im very interested on updating a gtx 550 ti for research purposes if possible.
Short answer is - No [manufacturers bin GPU wafers for the vga card series to perform within recommended guidelines; core, memory speeds and voltages that are used to achieve warrantied performance]
Note: due to the GPU wafer fabrication process; a Vbios update cannot directly influence the overclocking potential of a GPU Wafer: saying that if the vga card is fitted with programmable VRM's; making small adjustments to voltages may be an influencing factor at the outer edge of the GPU's over clock potential, in regard to stability.
Warning: pushing a vga card hard may course premature failure and or wafer/gpu die degrading and invalidates any warranty
[all GPU's have a limit on return thus become electrically redundant even if using liquid helium to cool the integral parts]
layman's terms [example]
GPU clocked at 1000GHz that achieves a maximum of 100fps that's a return of 10fps for every 100Hz
the same GPU clocked at 1100GHz may only achieve a return of 5~10fps above and the same or less returns per 100Hz at 1200GHz and so on; due to (variables), heat, voltage and thermal throttling.
Note: always make a backup of the vga card Vbios image before editing
atb
Law-II