650 Ti Boost to 660 BIOS flashing question.

[customcarvin]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker here looking for some guidance...

Let me start by giving a quick explanation on what I'd like to accomplish. So, about two years ago, I purchased an XFX 6950, and by reading a tut found here on the TechPowerUp forums, I was able to unlock this card to a 6970 with a simple BIOS flash, unlocking the disabled components of the GPU. This got me thinking...

I have an MSI N650Ti-2GD5/OC BE GPU, and after doing some quick research, I found that this card seems identical (specs & design) to this version of MSI's GTX 660: N660-2GD5/OC. Now, I found more info, and the 650 Ti Boost BIOS here, as well as the BIOS for the 660 here; again, besides some card identifying information, like SKU, BIOS version, and MSINV287MS extension, all other info's line up. Also, from what I can find, the difference between the cores on these two cards comes down to: Stream Processors (768 vs 960) and Texture units (64 vs 80). Once again, everything else seems to line up...

Finally, my question: Would I be able to flash the 660 BIOS onto the 650 Ti Boost to unlock the disabled GPU core components, or is this just crazy talk?


tl;dr: Is it possible to unlock a 650 Ti Boost to a 660?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[haifisch]

Have you tried it? I want to do the opposite, as I have a faulty 660 and I got the crazy idea that maybe if I flash with 650 ti boost bios its gonna work

 

[newtekie1]

Not possible, nVidia laser cuts their shaders now so they can't be unlocked. The last card that could be unlocked like this from nvidia was from the GTX400 series, IIRC.

 

[OneMoar]

not possible at all ./

 

[Nordic]

Do not try, you will brick your card.

 

[haifisch]

Thank you very much guys. I didn't know about nvidia not just disabling but laser cutting parts of the chip. But maybe it works the opposite way? 660 -> 650 Ti Boost?

 

[BiggieShady]

But maybe it works the opposite way? 660 -> 650 Ti Boost?

There is no maybe, there is only bricked card.

 

[Schmuckley]

In for bricking!

 

[Dbiggs9]

I have thought about trying 660ti to 680

 

[OneMoar]

you people are gonna brick your cards.. and I am going to laugh

 

[Frick]

I'm just glad the OP asked first. The "halp i bricked my card"-threads have died down.

 

[Jetster]

Those threads always start with "Can someone upload and BIOS for Bla Bla Bla" It never gets old

 

[krusha03]

I have thought about trying 660ti to 680

Why not 980 it has more cores and 4GB instead of 2

 

[haifisch]

you people are gonna brick your cards.. and I am going to laugh

You can always flash back the original bios if it's bricked

 

[Jetster]

You can always flash back the original bios if it's bricked

Not always. Then it wouldn't be bricked

 

[Dbiggs9]

Why not 980 it has more cores and 4GB instead of 2

i could wait for the new 1000's series bios to release.

 

[coderex182]

Well laser cutting every single gpu or cude, have any idea what costs it brings by changing your production line to just laser cut a single series of graphics cards.
As it seems it's a more simple approach by either removing or adding 2 or 3 resistors, on the graphics card it self, that's a way cheaper solution then the expensive laser cutting idea.
Don't believe me have a look at these 2 sites, and how this works, ps it's still work in progress, but it seems legid.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1372770/...rmware-crippling-from-nvidia-graphics-card/10
and here for a more detailed information on how and what they do, warning contains lot's of reading before you even try doing something like that.
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/hacking-nvidia-cards-into-their-professional-counterparts/

 

[haifisch]

Well laser cutting every single gpu or cude, have any idea what costs it brings by changing your production line to just laser cut a single series of graphics cards.
As it seems it's a more simple approach by either removing or adding 2 or 3 resistors, on the graphics card it self, that's a way cheaper solution then the expensive laser cutting idea.
Don't believe me have a look at these 2 sites, and how this works, ps it's still work in progress, but it seems legid.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1372770/...rmware-crippling-from-nvidia-graphics-card/10
and here for a more detailed information on how and what they do, warning contains lot's of reading before you even try doing something like that.
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/hacking-nvidia-cards-into-their-professional-counterparts/

Those are some really interesting topics, mate! Are you sure about laser cutting not being used? I sold the faulty card a while ago, but the information you found can come handy later. Thanks!

 

[coderex182]

I can't be sure haifisch but i have been diving into these cards for a long time now and have seen some odd things that just got my attention, for example how some cards have all the same gt(number), but one is more expensive/faster then the other, but if you compare the specs there is no difference except on the power usage and bus/mem speed, or the number of active cores.

Consider this i may have forgotten one or two, you have 0 no resistor 1 is with resistor, that makes 000,001,011, 010,110.101,111 thats 7 poseblities, that chance is increased if you calculate the resister type, either 10,20,30,40k thats a crazy high number , and just from one production line, then what do you think the manufacturer would do, chose laser expensive cutting with production change for each gpu card, or go for option 2, the power of 3 costs 20 dollar, per gpu card, make a pick.
Read and see that there is a guy who removed r1 and r2, from a 650ti-boost, and got a 680 in return, flashed the damn thing with the 680 bios, and gues what it seems to be working.
I have no card lying around if i had one i would try this, after all it's a spare card, you either brake or you get lucky you upgrade it.
Ps don't mind the typos.

 

[haifisch]

I can't be sure haifisch but i have been diving into these cards for a long time now and have seen some odd things that just got my attention, for example how some cards have all the same gt(number), but one is more expensive/faster then the other, but if you compare the specs there is no difference except on the power usage and bus/mem speed, or the number of active cores.

Consider this i may have forgotten one or two, you have 0 no resistor 1 is with resistor, that makes 000,001,011, 010,110.101,111 thats 7 poseblities, that chance is increased if you calculate the resister type, either 10,20,30,40k thats a crazy high number , and just from one production line, then what do you think the manufacturer would do, chose laser expensive cutting with production change for each gpu card, or go for option 2, the power of 3 costs 20 dollar, per gpu card, make a pick.
Read and see that there is a guy who removed r1 and r2, from a 650ti-boost, and got a 680 in return, flashed the damn thing with the 680 bios, and gues what it seems to be working.
I have no card lying around if i had one i would try this, after all it's a spare card, you either brake or you get lucky you upgrade it.
Ps don't mind the typos.

Thanks for the answer, you may be right, if I still had the card I'd try it out but maybe sometime... Do you think it's the 600 series only?

 

[coderex182]

Thanks for the answer, you may be right, if I still had the card I'd try it out but maybe sometime... Do you think it's the 600 series only?

No it's with all the nvidia cards apparently, they have all these r1 to r3 resistors near the gpu core, wich set the type and speed either socketed with resistors or without them, based on the type of resistor or the resistors value you get different outcomes what type of card and speed it's going to be.
Best is to compare the card you wanna change with a card in the same range, but has slightly higher speed or extra cuda cores, but same core gt series, and mem size, you should technically change it to that speed and gpu type.
I have a 650 ti boost and tried the speeds of a 660ti, mem, bus and gpu speeds, and that seems to work when overclocking it, so why should this then not work.
Again if i had a spare card any type, i would try it definnatly, just make the correct changes, that do not kill your card, but does increase you gpu speed and type and possebly unlock gpu cores this way.
This is a early stage, sure there are resitors on each nvidia graphics card that cripple the number of cores and the total number of cuda cores, it's just a matter of time to find those hardware resistor settings.

 

[Toothless]

Sooo is there a short version of this..?

 

[Caring1]

Sooo is there a short version of this..?

Can I? No!
short enough?