Anyone knows how exactly Bios Switch works on GPUs ?

BenchAndGames · Jan 2, 2021

Anyone knows how exactly Bios Switch works on Video Cards ?

I mean is always some bios set as default in case that something going wrong ? like lets say, the switch will be broke, the graphic is dead ? or will still works with default bios ?
Or dirrectly the card will be so silly and will not know which bios to read ?

nuggdoctor · Jan 2, 2021

Are you talking about a physical switch like i have on my ftw3 1080 ti hybrid? or having 2 different bios on a card at once?

ThrashZone · Jan 2, 2021

Hi,
Dual vbios yeah just power off completely and flip the switch.
Power up and on and you may have to reinstall the driver usually best too.

nuggdoctor · Jan 2, 2021

backup your current bios to a thumbdrive or external hdd. so if it doesnt work properly, or you decide it wasnt worth the switch, it makes it easier to switch back. And make sure that the bios are compatible with your gpu or you CAN brick it. And that will void your warranty. And if you plan on doing overclocking then be sure that when you power off your system you unplug it for a few seconds and push the power button and hold it for a few seconds to clear any residual power from your system. then plug it back in and boot it up. thats an easy trick to get from the 117 to 127% power

ThrashZone · Jan 2, 2021

Hi,
Using gpu-z you can upload your existing vbios here.

nuggdoctor · Jan 2, 2021

I use the standard issue evga bios and drivers for my ftw3 1080 ti hybrid gpu. NOTHING custom or "LEAKED". just officially approved bios and drivers. I just fine tune both sets. one with the factory setting switch on. and then I switch the physical switch to the oc bios and run afterburner and run a custom fan curve. I dont run any of the modded stuff like the guys that run kingpins ln2 aka liquid nitrogen overclock bios.

BenchAndGames · Jan 2, 2021

I dont want to flash anything, Im just asking how the mechanism work on the card, if someone knows, if the card is capable of reading 1 bios as default, or this DIP switch are acting like a jumper, and if lets say it will broke, the card will be completly dead as a consecuence that will dosent know how to read the bios.

freeagent · Jan 2, 2021

BenchAndGames said:
Anyone knows how exactly Bios Switch works on Video Cards ?

I mean is always some bios set as default in case that something going wrong ? like lets say, the switch will be broke, the graphic is dead ? or will still works with default bios ?
Or dirrectly the card will be so silly and will not know which bios to read ?

On my card my bios switch has three positions. first position is out of the box, 0 fan mode. Fan kicks in around 60c. Second bios is oc mode, fans are enabled and have a nice curve, opens up extra power available to use. Third mode is LN2 mode, says not to use it on air. I have.. didn't help lol.

Anyways.. I think that's what you were asking about..

nuggdoctor · Jan 2, 2021

and for cpu im running an 8700k delidded at 5.1Ghz on 1.365 volts.

the ln2 mode is for liquid nitrogen. that means youve got a hall of fame or kingpin edition

You can have 2 sets of bios if you want but it can get stuck and brick the card. ive seen it a couple times.

better to just run 2 sets of settings. one as a daily driver and one as extreme oc. thats how i use mine

I use my regular for everything. and then my oc when im gaming/streaming. save a lot on electricity and life of components.

ThrashZone · Jan 2, 2021

BenchAndGames said:
I dont want to flash anything, Im just asking how the mechanism work on the card, if someone knows, if the card is capable of reading 1 bios as default, or this DIP switch are acting like a jumper, and if lets say it will broke, the card will be completly dead as a consecuence that will dosent know how to read the bios.

Hi,
Depends on which manufacture
Some will have two/.. vbios chips and yes it is just a simple switch.

Jacky_BEL · Jan 2, 2021

I guess there isn't a standardized way the manufacturers implement this VBIOS switch feature, so yes it depends on the manufacturer.
But lets assume these are designed by intelligent people, so that there will always be just one VBIOS selected, no matter what position the switch is on, or even when the switch gets broken.
This must somehow be done by a logic circuit, which translates switch position to VBIOS selected

Shou Miko · Jan 2, 2021

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
Dual vbios yeah just power off completely and flip the switch.
Power up and on and you may have to reinstall the driver usually best too.

True, with the shut down, even with my old Sapphire PULSE RX 5700 XT I could do it through the Sapphire Trixx software which is also possible for some cards if their vendor has made application for this.

ThrashZone · Jan 2, 2021

puma99dk| said:
True, with the shut down, even with my old Sapphire PULSE RX 5700 XT I could do it through the Sapphire Trixx software which is also possible for some cards if their vendor has made application for this.

Hi,
EVGA says drain all power too so, unplug and hold power button down for 45 seconds or so and then flip switch
Think that is overkill but doesn't hurt to be safe

DeathtoGnomes · Jan 2, 2021

BenchAndGames said:
Anyone knows how exactly Bios Switch works on Video Cards ?

R.T.F.M.

Unless you bought 2nd hand (and without the manual that comes with it), then check the Manufacturers website to download the manual to check for specific procedures.

BenchAndGames · Jan 2, 2021

Exactly my question is on terms of circuit, how exactly the switch will chose what bios tu run, I guess is working as a jumper between 3 pins, at least is what I can see that all this common switches with 2 positions they have 3 pins, so I guess with position A will bridge 1 and 2 pins, and with position B will bridge 2 and 3.

But here is coming my question, what happens if the switch broke and cannot be able to bridge those pins, the card will just broke aswell cuz no posibility of reading any bios ?

ThrashZone · Jan 2, 2021

Hi,
I'm sure TPU has reviews/ tear downs about gpu's with dual bios so just search for some.

BenchAndGames · Jan 2, 2021

Yeah I know but in reviews does not talkign about what Im asking, its just saying that with X position will load one bios, with other position will load the second bios.

Im asking here in case some guy has the necessary knowledge for what I'm asking.

ArdWar · Jan 3, 2021

One thing I'm fairly sure is that most implementation of dual BIOS is not a simple switchover SPDT switch (or switchover jumper). There's only one trace leading out from the switch, so most likely it's a pulldown or pullup SPST switch (or any switch working such way). If that's the case then there's no case where the position is neither in one of the two selection, even if the switch is broken midway. There would be "default position" wherever the line is pulled up/down.

As for the actual implementation, IDK, I never have dual BIOS card. BIOS is just SPI flash which can be simply paralleled. Switching, or gating the CS line would be quite simple.

freeagent · Jan 3, 2021

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
EVGA says drain all power too so, unplug and hold power button down for 45 seconds or so and then flip switch
Think that is overkill but doesn't hurt to be safe

That's exactly what I do :toast:

Zach_01 · Jan 3, 2021

Just curious @BenchAndGames
Why are you asking this about the a GPU BIOS switch? I find it unlikely for this switch to be broken, unless you flip it 100 times a day, for many days...
Or maybe you want to remove it your self from PCB?

Fouquin · Jan 3, 2021

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
EVGA says drain all power too so, unplug and hold power button down for 45 seconds or so and then flip switch
Think that is overkill but doesn't hurt to be safe

AMD cards just flip between the two EFI tables and will actually read out the BIOS from whatever position the switch is set to, without ever powering off. Makes it really easy to plug in a modded card and flip the switch to check if it still has a factory UEFI on it or if it's been overwritten, dump both to files and then do all the flashes.

R-T-B · Jan 3, 2021

BenchAndGames said:
I dont want to flash anything, Im just asking how the mechanism work on the card, if someone knows, if the card is capable of reading 1 bios as default, or this DIP switch are acting like a jumper, and if lets say it will broke, the card will be completly dead as a consecuence that will dosent know how to read the bios.

I don't know. If the switch breaks you'd probably be stuck on whatever you set it to last, I'd assume. I really doubt short of physically removing the switch it would brick, however.

INSTG8R · Jan 3, 2021

With most cards one is “Quiet Standard” the other being the “performance” BIOS

BenchAndGames · Jan 3, 2021

Zach_01 said:
Just curious @BenchAndGames
Why are you asking this about the a GPU BIOS switch? I find it unlikely for this switch to be broken, unless you flip it 100 times a day, for many days...
Or maybe you want to remove it your self from PCB?

Just out of curiosity, nothing special. There have been some things that I had seen on the internet, and I was curious what might happen in that case.

Anyway thanks all for the answers

delshay · Jul 28, 2021

I've modded my Vega 56 Nano from single BIOS to dual BIOS, by adding the missing switch, extra BIOS chip & moved a jumper, but the second BIOS is still not working. I've made an error somewhere so as soon as I have the second BIOS up & running I will post photos what I changed to convert card from single to dual BIOS. ...I just know it's got something to do with pin 1 or pin 3 why the second BIOS is not recognized/detected

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Motherboard	z490 Maximus XII Apex \| x99 Sabertooth
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Memory	Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb \| Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp-water \| evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage	970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb \| 860 pro 256gb \| Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb\| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
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Mouse	Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard	G710+x3
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Benchmark Scores	Are in the benchmark section

Anyone knows how exactly Bios Switch works on GPUs ?

BenchAndGames

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