How to edit 6950 2GB bios to make it run hotter?

[Ihmemies]

So I have a reference card with stock cooler. The radial fan makes terrible noise so I switched to quieter cooling system.

Originally my idle temps were 50C but now they are 30C and even less for some parts like VRM.

I get artifacts at low temps which go away when I get up to stock cooler's temps.

My fans run at the lowest possible speed (the speed they manage to start) but it is not low enough. When I remove the fan from GPU heatsink temps rise enough, but without a GPU fan temps rise very high (over 80C) with Furmark. With fan they stay at 60C which I think is OK.

I tried adjusting the fan profile but I couldn't find a way to keep the fan OFF before card hits 40-50C. Fan was always on no matter what I did. Is it even possible to keep the fan OFF with bios settings?

I blocked some airflow to VRM's so they now run at 30C when idling and I don't get as much artifacts as before, but still get some. Also in games I get artifacts before the card warms up. The card seemingly needs to run hotter so I'm willing to try to increase the clocks/voltages to achieve that. I just don't know what kind of settings I need to input to the bios.

Bios currently looks like this:



If I put 1.1V to Clock info 01 Windows crashes before login screen. What kind of values I should input to make the card run hotter? Or is there some other solution to the artifacting at low temps? I'm not willing to go back to stock cooler because of the noise it makes.

 

[arroyo]

I think your card is damaged. If it runs properly only when has high temps ... this is not normal. There is no way to get VRM in range 30C. Maybe it is burned already and temperature sensor do not work properly.

You can remove all cooling from this card and see if it helps (do not do this, just trolling).

Do the RMA.

 

[Law-II]

Hi

If you had no artifacting with stock cooler!, looks like you may have bad contact between VPU, MEM or VRM; try re-seating you custom cooler make sure you have good contact with thermal pads and paste (TIM)

hope this helps

atb (all the best)

Law-II

 

[Ihmemies]

Memory chips shouldn't need that much cooling anyways, I've seen many cards like Evga GTX580 SC where the memory chips have only the card's fans cooling them.

I checked the gpu contact earlier and it is fine. Memory/vrm/etc heatsinks also are firmly in place. I've built computers for my living and I at least think I know how to handle delicate components. I did the cooler swap very carefully so I have no idea what could have gone wrong.

I've seen other users with similar problems, did they damage their cards too? If yes, how? Why the card is not unstable and does not produce artifacts under load?

How can I know I damaged the card in 1st place? Stock cooler kept the card and components at comfortable 50C even when idling, 70C+ on load and the card doesn't have problems at those temps, only lower. If something is damaged, how is it possible that the temperature increase fixes the problems? It doesn't sound very plausible that if some solder for example was broken a mere 10-20C change in temperatures causes enough thermal expansion..

 

[Ihmemies]

Anyways if for whatever reason the card is gone then it is gone. Removing the cooler voids warranty so the only option I see here is to get as much use out of this card as possible

 

[Canzara]

This definitely sounds like a problem. I also have a 6950 and I've never seen these kinds of problems, or for that matter heard of them.
I'm with the other guy, contact the company. Something isn't right here.

I would say that just because others have this issue doesn't mean its not a problem with the card. There could be 100s, even 1000s of flawed cards out there the manufacturer isn't aware of, or is aware of and thought nobody would never notice the issue, since its when the card is cool, cool isn't normally a problem in high end PC's.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Notwithstanding the possible issues with damage, the answer is simple, overclocking and/or overvolting. If you wish to overvolt .... if my memory serves me, you need to use the GPU register only (you will see the tab), otherwise just overvolt in Afterburner?

 

[Ihmemies]

Notwithstanding the possible issues with damage, the answer is simple, overclocking and/or overvolting. If you wish to overvolt .... if my memory serves me, you need to use the GPU register only (you will see the tab), otherwise just overvolt in Afterburner?

Of course in theory I could put the stock cooler back on and try to take the card back, say nothing and see what happens. But that's so much work again cleaning the card and applying thermal paste, seating the cooler & all those 16 or so screws...

Then I get another card with a noisy cooler and I'm back to square one. And while waiting for replacement I'd have to use my low profile radeon which has no dual link dvi so max res even on desktop was 1280x800.

I will try adjusting the voltages from GPU registers and see if that works better

 

[Tatty_Two]

Of course in theory I could put the stock cooler back on and try to take the card back, say nothing and see what happens. But that's so much work again cleaning the card and applying thermal paste, seating the cooler & all those 16 or so screws...

Then I get another card with a noisy cooler and I'm back to square one. And while waiting for replacement I'd have to use my low profile radeon which has no dual link dvi so max res even on desktop was 1280x800.

I will try adjusting the voltages from GPU registers and see if that works better

it will But just the 3D voltage. Assuming of course that the card is reference.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

OK....

If you still have a warranty then RMA this sucker immediately. If not, then there's two things you can do.

1) Overheating has slightly distorted the card. Distortions have caused improper contact with heat sinks, so only once heated does the proper heat sink contact take place. To solve this remove the stock heat sink, clean the card thoroughly, then reapply the heat sink with fresh and new thermal paste (or thermal adhesive if you're ballsy).

2) Reflow the board. A minor defect has caused some trace to partially separate on the board, and only come into proper contact once heated. Remove everything from the card (fan, shroud, etc...), heat toaster oven to about 450 F, check card every 2-4 minutes to make sure it is not being damaged by uneven heating, remove card from oven after about 20 minutes, finally allow the card to cool slowly. The resulting solder reflow should solve the problem, though this process can harm the card as well and should be a last ditch effort to fix problems.

 

[arroyo]

OK....
2) Reflow the board. A minor defect has caused some trace to partially separate on the board, and only come into proper contact once heated. Remove everything from the card (fan, shroud, etc...), heat toaster oven to about 450 F, check card every 2-4 minutes to make sure it is not being damaged by uneven heating, remove card from oven after about 20 minutes, finally allow the card to cool slowly. The resulting solder reflow should solve the problem, though this process can harm the card as well and should be a last ditch effort to fix problems.

I do not recomend this solution for 250$ card.
I had the same problem with my old GF 6800 GT. It started to artifact some day. Always after 15 minutes of Furmark artifacting dissapeared. I have made oven trick but it helped for 2-3 months. Without proper reballing, overheating trick is just temporal solution. I still have this card. I have made oven trick 3 times and right now I feel stupid because i could just RMA card when it was still under warranty.

There is a good article about reballing/reflow method in one of Polish sites:
http://translate.google.pl/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=pl&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.purepc.pl%2Fnotebooki%2Fzepsuty_laptop_lub_karta_graficzna_uwazaj_na_reballing_bga&act=url

 

[cadaveca]

BIOS mods don't work for 6-series cards. No matter what you change, cards will crash when drivers load on clock/volt modded BIOSes.

 

[scooper22]

I have a reference 6950 myself and was able to change voltages with RBE. However i lowered them but in theory it should be able to raise them. Voltages CAN be changed on a ref 6950 with RBE without the driver locking up. Certified and 100% true by me Whoever says anything else...... . What you can NOT change with RBE are the clocks. If you change them with RBE the driver WILL lock up. So be sure not to touch the clocks at all and ONLY the voltage values. Use the backup BIOS of the card to be sure to have an untempered BIOS. If you also want to change the clocks use Afterburner or anything else that runs AFTER the drivers have been loaded. Oh and you can unlock the shaders with a modified BIOS without the driver bailing out, however a new driver install might be necessary after that so it notices the hardware changes (use GPU-Z and lookup the shaders count to check if it worked).

 

[cadaveca]

Neither my Sapphire HD6950(reference) or XFX 6950 (non reference) wil laccept volt changes to BIOS. Also tried MSI cards, and ASUS Direct CU II. Over teh year since the 6970/6950 launch, you are the FIRST report of volt changes in BIOS working.


Try raising voltages, see what that gets ya. Both my cards do 900 MHz @ 1.1v with shaders unlocked. You bet I tried for more.

You can tell it won't work with the OP's card, as even the 1.1v option is not there(look at 3D clocks). Perhaps a different BIOS may work, but you cannot input values that aren't already there in the BIOS. IF the value is there, it will work.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Mine does/did, it is actually a 6950 and at first I just used the shader unlock and then added volts through bios to 1.15V although since then I just flashed it with the full 6970 bios.... I had one of the first release reference cards.... maybe I was just lucky.

 

[cadaveca]

Interwesting.

Both of my current cards are from the launch. The Sapphire card was from the very first batch here in town. The XFX was sent to me direct from XFX before the non-reference cards launched, about 8 weeks after the initial release.


I wonder why some cards can, and some cannot. Msut be the BIOS, but even Bagzzlash who wrote RBE said it was not something he could figure out.

If ya wanna email me your BIOS, Tatty_One, that'd be awesome.

My card didn't work with the full 6970 BIOS...memory artifacts. Maybe that's what the deal is...


EDIT:

IF your BIOS works on my card, then it's the BIOS version that is causing the problem. If it doesn't, then it must be something physical on the card.

Just so we're clear, I try a RBE-modded BIOS with every driver version release, no luck os far, so getting this one sovled would be nice.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Am at work at the moment but I will gladly dump and upload what I am using for you later...... I will have to find it as I have the full XFX 6970 Bios flashed on it now..... you don't think it could be regional differences? I only ask because there are several guys in the UK (a couple frequent the UK Clubhouse) that have the 1st release XFX reference and theirs all mod.

 

[cadaveca]

Honestly, I have no idea why it doesn't work for me or others.

I know that modding my own BIOSes does not work. I tried yesterday, even, before taking my rig in the -30c outside weather.

I know that software voltage control works fine.

I also know that my BIOSes do not appear as the OP's in RBE..the clocks are in different positions(which is kinda normal).


I am hoping it's just BIOS version, but it could be hardware. IF it IS BIOS, then I'll actually watercool my cards again. Without BIOS mods, watercooling adds very little for me, other than lower temps.

 

[Ihmemies]

Thanks for all the tips!

I simulated the reference cooler with some hard plastic sheets around the GPU heatsink so the case fans play a smaller part at cooling the card. Artifacting is a lot smaller problem now but it seems it will be hard, if not impossible to completely fix :|

I will need to try to RMA the card some day when I have time to swap the ref cooler back and don't need my computer for a couple of days.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Honestly, I have no idea why it doesn't work for me or others.

I know that modding my own BIOSes does not work. I tried yesterday, even, before taking my rig in the -30c outside weather.

I know that software voltage control works fine.

I also know that my BIOSes do not appear as the OP's in RBE..the clocks are in different positions(which is kinda normal).


I am hoping it's just BIOS version, but it could be hardware. IF it IS BIOS, then I'll actually watercool my cards again. Without BIOS mods, watercooling adds very little for me, other than lower temps.

I think this is the origional 2GB Bios that came with the card that I modded the volts to 1.15V in the Bios, this is the only one I can find because as I said, I now run the full 6970 bios and with the switch I didn't keep any more copies. This has not got the shader unlock as I tested voltage the day I got the card before I got to the shaders...... hope it helps.

 

[cadaveca]

And so BIOS it is. Works great.

Thanks Tatty!

 

[Tatty_Two]

And so BIOS it is. Works great.

Thanks Tatty!

So you have the added voltages and thats confirmed in AB? Fantastic if you do.... silly question as I know you know what you are doing but you did try ONLY the "GPU Registers" ( it's a common mistake to try the mod thru the Tuning wizard or whatever the other tab is called)and nothing else to do the adjustment in RBE? That is the only way it can be done. If you needz more voltzzzz let me know, more than happy to give you 1.5V!

 

[cadaveca]

NO, yeah, i think the problem might be related to my BIOS being an "ATI" BIOS on both my cards. The BIOS you provided works fine. I've already increased the voltage to 1.2v.

I made the exact same changes to my BIOS including the PowerPlay voltage...no go.

Very exciting..it's not often I run into issues like this, and now I can change my stance when people ask questions about volt mods in BIOS.


I wonder if the situation is similar to those cards that don't shader unlock...

 

[Tatty_Two]

NO, yeah, i think the problem might be related to my BIOS being an "ATI" BIOS on both my cards. The BIOS you provided works fine. I've already increased the voltage to 1.2v.

I made the exact same changes to my BIOS including the PowerPlay voltage...no go.

Very exciting..it's not often I run into issues like this, and now I can change my stance when people ask questions about volt mods in BIOS.


I wonder if the situation is similar to those cards that don't shader unlock...

Good question, I would like to get my hands on one of their Bioses and have a play, see if anything can be acheived.

 

[scooper22]

whoops, missed the party it seems

Glad to hear something new regarding the different cards and BIOSes, that's actually a very misty playground. FYI I also own a Sapphire, manufactured in december 2010. Sapphire's product number for the card is 21188-00-40R. The card and the BIOS were very forgiving as I was able to unlock the shaders, modify voltages (e.g. 2D voltage to 0.8V) and overclock with only a little additional juice to 930 MHz (there's more headroom but I actually run the card at lowered volatges at 800 MHz). Lucky coincidences I think (or they successfully locked down these in following releases)

Nice to hear it now works for you with the alternative BIOS.

If someone is interested in my BIOS too then shout out