Gigabyte "GV-R929XD5-4GD-B-GA" BIOS update

[razielkernel]

Hi, everyone !

Yesterday I checked Gigabyte site for BIOS updates for my product (product code in the thread title) and found this:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4812#bios

If you unpack the archive, you will see two ROM files in the "BIOSFILE" folder:
R929XD5-4GD-B-M.ROM
R929XD5-4GD-B-P.ROM

The R929XD5-4GD-B-M.ROM binary file contains:

113-C6710100-X01 HAWAII PCI_EXPRESS GDDR5
C67101 Hawaii XT A0 GDDR5 4GB 64Mx32 300e/150m
(C) 1988-2010, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.041.000.000.003518 AB276978.bin 973653 276978 AMD_HAWAII_C67101_MBA_A0_GDDR5_4GB\config.h $

ATOM Ày²
Q
ž  , ´ PCIR°g  € ) AMD ATOMBIOS

The R929XD5-4GD-B-P.ROM binary file contains:

xxx-xxx-xxx HAWAII PCI_EXPRESS GDDR5
C67101 Hawaii XT A0 GDDR5 4GB 64Mx32 300e/150m
(C) 1988-2010, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ATOMBIOSBK-AMD VER015.041.000.002.000000 R929X4DB.F2 985881 280123 GBT_HAWAII_XT_POR_50_DDR5_4G_DB\config.h $

ATOM Àq
I

–  $ º PCIR°g  € ) AMD ATOMBIOS

If using default Gigabyte flash executable file (found in the archive), it will flash the "M" variant.

So, does anyone know what is the difference between them (functionally speaking at least, heh) ?

I would be glad to help with other infos on request.

Thank you.

 

[The Mac]

one is most likley the legacy bios and the other one UEFI enabled.

 

[turbogear]

Hi,
I was looking also for the same answer when I found your post.
I have the same card as you and I was trying to flash the new bios also using the flash tool that Gigabyte provided in the zip file but it did not work for me under both windows 7 and windows 8.1.
I always get an error that flashing has failed.

I was thinking to flash it manually (with ATIflash) but I don't know which of the new bios files is for which mode.

I am not sure but I was thinking that one bios file could be for the Uber mode and the other for the Quiet mode.

What I would like to know is in which mode are you running your card (Quiet or Uber)?
You said that the flash tool flashed the R929XD5-4GD-B-M.ROM.
Did you turn the bios switch into the other position and see if the bios utility will flash the R929XD5-4GD-B-P.ROM file then?

My card is currently running in Uber mode.
The bios versions that I can read with GPU-Z on my card are different depending on either if I have bios switch on the card in Quiet mode or Uber mode.
Quiet mode: 015.039.000.006.003518
Uber mode: 015.039.000.006.003515

By the way, I am running my card with a water block.

 

[razielkernel]

You can use "ATi Winflash 2.6.7 (final version)" for flashing.
I'm running my card in Uber Mode, though it doesn't matter for me in which mode runs, as I'm using MSI's Afterburner for custom fan curve.
I didn't tried the "switch - flash again" thing, but I'll try it and post the result. Anyway... I have not found differences between "M" and "P" version, at least performance-wise.
It's funny about the firmware versions... I had .003515 on Quiet Mode.

 

[razielkernel]

After further investigation I come up with this output for the "M" version (highlighted differences):

AtiFlash.exe -biosfileinfo R929XD5-4GD-B-M.ROM

Image 1 -- Offset 0x0
=======================
ROM header contents:
Signature 0xAA55
PCIR offset 0x022C
PCI Data Structure
Signature PCIR
Vendor ID 0x1002
Device ID 0x67B0
PCI Revision 0x00
Image size 0x10000
Code revision 0x0F29
Indicator 0x00 (Not last image)
Code type 0x00 (PCAT Image)
Legacy BIOS File Name AB276978.bin
Legacy BIOS Part Number 113-C6710100-X01
Legacy BIOS Build Number 276978
Legacy BIOS Change List 973653
Binary BIOS_IDTF 0x33DFC1BC
ByteCheckSum 0
Image 2 -- Offset 0x10000
=======================
ROM header contents:
Signature 0xAA55
PCIR offset 0x001C
PCI Data Structure
Signature PCIR
Vendor ID 0x1002
Device ID 0x67B0
PCI Revision 0x00
Image size 0xE200
Code revision 0x0000
Indicator 0x80 (last image)
Code type 0x03 (EFI Image)
EFI Signature 0x0EF1
Compression Type 0x0001 (compressed)
Machine type 0x8664 (X64)
Subsystem 0x000B (EFI boot service driver)
EFI image offset 0x0058 (abs: 0x10058)
Uefi Ids from EFI_PCI_EXPANSION_ROM_HEADER:
UefiSourceRevision GOP AMD REV: x.x.x.x.x
UefiSourceChangeList xxxx
UefiBiosBuildNumber xxxx

Dump Gop Driver Info:
Machine type code X64
The GOP Driver appears to be Authenticode signed.
Size Of Gop Image 95744 (93 KB)
GOP Driver Name: AMD GOP X64 Release Driver Rev.1.53.0.0.0.Oct 23 2013.17:03:41
GOP AMD_Build 2619
GOP AMD_CL 966193
GOP BIOS_IDTF 0xDEADBEEF
GOP Driver does not carry tables!

And for the "P" version (highlighted differences):

AtiFlash.exe -biosfileinfo R929XD5-4GD-B-P.ROM

Image 1 -- Offset 0x0
=======================
ROM header contents:
Signature 0xAA55
PCIR offset 0x0224
PCI Data Structure
Signature PCIR
Vendor ID 0x1002
Device ID 0x67B0
PCI Revision 0x00
Image size 0x10000
Code revision 0x0F29
Indicator 0x00 (Not last image)
Code type 0x00 (PCAT Image)
Legacy BIOS File Name R929X4DB.F2
Legacy BIOS Part Number xxx-xxx-xxx
Legacy BIOS Build Number 280123
Legacy BIOS Change List 985881
Binary BIOS_IDTF 0xAD1D3CEA
ByteCheckSum 0
Image 2 -- Offset 0x10000
=======================
ROM header contents:
Signature 0xAA55
PCIR offset 0x001C
PCI Data Structure
Signature PCIR
Vendor ID 0x1002
Device ID 0x67B0
PCI Revision 0x00
Image size 0xE200
Code revision 0x0000
Indicator 0x80 (last image)
Code type 0x03 (EFI Image)
EFI Signature 0x0EF1
Compression Type 0x0001 (compressed)
Machine type 0x8664 (X64)
Subsystem 0x000B (EFI boot service driver)
EFI image offset 0x0058 (abs: 0x10058)
Uefi Ids from EFI_PCI_EXPANSION_ROM_HEADER:
UefiSourceRevision GOP AMD REV: x.x.x.x.x
UefiSourceChangeList xxxx
UefiBiosBuildNumber xxxx

Dump Gop Driver Info:
Machine type code X64
The GOP Driver appears to be Authenticode signed.
Size Of Gop Image 95744 (93 KB)
GOP Driver Name: AMD GOP X64 Release Driver Rev.1.53.0.0.0.Oct 23 2013.17:03:41
GOP AMD_Build 2619
GOP AMD_CL 966193
GOP BIOS_IDTF 0xDEADBEEF
GOP Driver does not carry tables!

We see that both versions contain both Legacy and UEFI BIOS images. It seems to me that the "P" version is only a Gigabyte BIOS branding...

 

[razielkernel]

After a few more stress-tests I can now confirm that the "P" version is the "Uber" BIOS. After 20 minutes of Furmark stress, the GPU never reached 95°C, and the fan kept a steady 59% speed with couple of spikes at 60%, GPU clock between 900-935 MHz.
The "M" version keeps the temperature at 94-95°C, fan speed 44% maximum, GPU clock between 700-725 MHz.
If you are using whatever overclocking tool with the possibility to define a custom fan curve (temperature vs. fan speed), like MSI Afterburner (I'm using the Power Limit function, too), you can flash any of them.

 

[turbogear]

After a few more stress-tests I can now confirm that the "P" version is the "Uber" BIOS. After 20 minutes of Furmark stress, the GPU never reached 95°C, and the fan kept a steady 59% speed with couple of spikes at 60%, GPU clock between 900-935 MHz.

Hi Razielkernel,

I checked again and as I mentioned before the original 03518 bios on my GPU is for the Quiet mode bios switch position and the 03515 is for the Uber mode.

Your latest results would explain my original assumption that one of the new bios files would be the Uber bios and the other Quiet bios.

I flashed both the M and the P bioses yesterday in the evening on the two bios chips (Uber and Quiet) and did some testing with Furmark and as well as 3dMark.
Beacuase I don't have the original Gigabyte blower fan any more on my GPU as it is cooled with the EKWB full-cover water block, I could not see the difference that you would observe due to the different fan profile on the both bioses. I have in my water loop R9 290X and CPU (i7-3770K). Under full stress Furmark + Prime95 small FFTs, the GPU temperature usually stays around 52°C (room temps 21°C).

For both bioses the clock on my GPU was between 900-925MHz which is similar to what I had with the older bios which came pre-intalled.

I also tested with GPU Overdrive but without any CPU overclock. I increased the Power Limit by 10% and GPU Clock by 5% which gave an increase in the 3dMark total percentage score from 81% to 88%.
This setting corresponds to a base clock increase on the MSI Afterburner from 1000MHz to 1050MHz.
A temperature increase of the GPU core under Furmark + Prime95 small FFTs stress test went from 52°C to 54°C. The GPU clock was between 950-975MHz all the time during this stress testing.

 

[razielkernel]

I'm running permanently with the Power Limit at maximum (+50%). GPU clock stays constantly at 1 GHz, GPU temperature 85°C, fan speed around 62% under Tomb Raider.
I'm glad we solved the issue.