Tuesday, July 5th 2016
AMD Retail Radeon RX 480 4GB to 8GB Memory Unlock Mod Works, We Benchmarked
Earlier this week, we heard reports of some early adopters of the 4 GB variant of AMD Radeon RX 480 claiming that their cards shipped with 8 GB of memory physically present on their cards, but their graphics card BIOS somehow prevented the GPU from addressing more than 4 GB of it. In its Reddit AMA, the company presented a vague answer to the question of whether such 4 GB cards are moddable to 8 GB by flashing it with the BIOS of the 8 GB variant, by stating that the ability to mod is restricted to review samples. This is both true and false. Short answer: retail 4 GB RX 480 can be flashed to 8 GB, and the modified card perfoms on par with the 8 GB variant.
AMD sent out review samples of the 8 GB variant, and to enable reviews to also put up reviews of the 4 GB variant, it sent a special BIOS that converts the 8 GB card to 4 GB, by reducing its address-space and memory clocks, perfectly simulating the 4 GB variant. AMD's claims of 4 GB cards with 8 GB physical memory being restricted to review samples was proven false when early adopters of retail 4 GB cards discovered eight Samsung 8 Gbit memory chips on their card amounting to 8 GB. We currently have an AIB partner-branded retail 4 GB Radeon RX 480 card which we bought online (invoice posted), and which we're using to prepare our 4 GB RX 480 review. We first discovered that our 4 GB retail card had the same exact Samsung 8x 8 Gb chips (including the same bin, specc'd for 8 Gbps) as the 8 GB card. We flashed this card with the 8 GB card's BIOS, and were successful in doing so. The trick here is to extract the BIOS of the 8 GB card with ATIFlash 2.74 and then transplanting that BIOS onto the 4 GB card. The 8 GB card BIOS image which we used, can be found here. Use at your own risk.
To confirm that this mod works, we first tested our 8 GB review sample with its untouched 8 GB BIOS, and used that as control. Next, we tested the retail 4 GB card with the BIOS it shipped with. Lastly, we flashed this 4 GB card using ATIFlash with the 8 GB BIOS, which we extracted from our 8 GB card using ATIFlash. We ran "Call of Duty: Black Ops III," on the three. This game can consume dedicated video memory beyond 4 GB at 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160).
The 8 GB control and the modified 4 GB to 8 GB card performed on-par with each other. The 8 GB control card produced 24.6 fps, the 4 GB to 8 GB modified card produced 24.7 fps. The 4 GB card with its original retail BIOS produced 23.3 fps. To make sure that each GPU runs at a predictable GPU frequency (usually thermal and power limit reduces clocks), we've set both fan and power target to maximum, which results in a constant frequency of 1266 MHz on both cards.
Also, to prove that the game-test (COD: Black Ops III) was able to consume more than 4 GB of video memory on the modified card, as it does on our 8 GB control card, we observed the "Memory Usage (dedicated)" graph of GPU-Z. The modified card was indeed able to address >4 GB of video memory on the card, just as it does on the 8 GB card.
In conclusion, flashing the reference 4 GB Radeon RX 480 to 8 GB works, if you're sure your card has 8 GB of memory physically present. Sadly the only way to know for sure is disassembling your card, which will definitely break some seals and void your warranty. You also need to be sure how to use ATIFlash correctly.
AMD sent out review samples of the 8 GB variant, and to enable reviews to also put up reviews of the 4 GB variant, it sent a special BIOS that converts the 8 GB card to 4 GB, by reducing its address-space and memory clocks, perfectly simulating the 4 GB variant. AMD's claims of 4 GB cards with 8 GB physical memory being restricted to review samples was proven false when early adopters of retail 4 GB cards discovered eight Samsung 8 Gbit memory chips on their card amounting to 8 GB. We currently have an AIB partner-branded retail 4 GB Radeon RX 480 card which we bought online (invoice posted), and which we're using to prepare our 4 GB RX 480 review. We first discovered that our 4 GB retail card had the same exact Samsung 8x 8 Gb chips (including the same bin, specc'd for 8 Gbps) as the 8 GB card. We flashed this card with the 8 GB card's BIOS, and were successful in doing so. The trick here is to extract the BIOS of the 8 GB card with ATIFlash 2.74 and then transplanting that BIOS onto the 4 GB card. The 8 GB card BIOS image which we used, can be found here. Use at your own risk.
The 8 GB control and the modified 4 GB to 8 GB card performed on-par with each other. The 8 GB control card produced 24.6 fps, the 4 GB to 8 GB modified card produced 24.7 fps. The 4 GB card with its original retail BIOS produced 23.3 fps. To make sure that each GPU runs at a predictable GPU frequency (usually thermal and power limit reduces clocks), we've set both fan and power target to maximum, which results in a constant frequency of 1266 MHz on both cards.
In conclusion, flashing the reference 4 GB Radeon RX 480 to 8 GB works, if you're sure your card has 8 GB of memory physically present. Sadly the only way to know for sure is disassembling your card, which will definitely break some seals and void your warranty. You also need to be sure how to use ATIFlash correctly.
110 Comments on AMD Retail Radeon RX 480 4GB to 8GB Memory Unlock Mod Works, We Benchmarked
ps. the 4 extra gigs dont make much of a difference from what i can see..
card is still too weak to my taste. not really interested getting 4gb more vram because it's already low end card.
..and I sure love TPU for it. :D
Is this your doing again, W1zard?
As far as I know I'm the first to have tested it, and successfully.
AMD really ought to learn - but good luck to those that flash from 4 to 8Gb! :toast:
Thats exactly why early HD 6950 were also able to unlock into HD 6970s
It wouldn't surprise me if AMD release a new BIOS to fix the excess power issue which also stops the mod from working. Then again they might not, because they really need to push up sales, so this trick could have been deliberately put in for enthusiasts to discover.
I think its utterly stupid from their part ... they could just sell the 8GB variant and let people wait for the 4GB for the time when it will come.
If they never intend to make a 4GB version then this is another story.
If they wanted more money for the same card, they could have done the nvidia move and have a founders edition, which brings nothing extra but it is more expensive.