How to "really" unlock voltage control on an ASUS HD7970-DC2-3GD5.

[chesley96]

Hello everyone, I have had this card for a couple years now and have been trying to unlock voltage control since I purchased it when it was $499 at Newegg. I finally found a solution. The Asus GPUTweak 2.2.1.4 option does not work... All HW monitor programs never read over 1.170v with any overclocking software. GPUTweak (all versions) never read anything over 1.084v. Now that has all changed.
I found out that the Asus ROG MATRIX-R9280X-P-3GD5 has the same video out layout as my HD7970-dc2-3gd5. Furthermore, all R9 200 series cards are essentially the same as the HD 7000 series as we all already know.
So I flashed this bios "http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/149810/asus-r9280x-3072-130827-3.html", with the latest AtiFlash on a bootable USB flash drive : . Now My idle Temps have lowered from 40c to 34c average. It can reach 1130mhz core and 1650mhz mem without hitting over 66c or displaying artifacts in the Valley Benchmark 1.0 on the Extreme HD preset.
With the HD7970 original bios, clocked at 1040/1500 the card was hitting 70c in Valley 1.0, and would display artifacts at 1090mhz.... It will go higher but I need better cooling to achieve stability when going much over my current overclock (displayed in the posted image)
The second image is proof that GPUTweak reads that the voltage is above the 1.170v limit that these cards have.

Also GPUZ reads 1.256v

[edit] so thanks to Dave(cadaveca) I have learned that this only seem's to work for version 1.00 cards, I am posting another pic of My cards PCB with the backplate off showing the revision number.

I hope this helps someone to unlock their voltage on a ASUS HD7970 DC2 3GD5. Rev. 1.00x

 

[eidairaman1]

Cool

 

[buildzoid]

I'm suprised the VRM didn't screw you over but I guess Asus just used doublers on the ROG MATRIX with the same controller as the DCUII. If they didn't rebrand the controllers we would know for sure.

 

[cadaveca]

what software reads, and what the card actually gets, is not correct with v1.01 cards. Voltage control works on V1.0 cards only.

 

[cadaveca]

Here GPUZ reads 1.256v

I had this card, I know what it does. the VID set, and the VRM actually supplying that voltage, are two different things. This is what I did to mine:

You'll notice my mod point is different than the one shown with the backplate on, and I'll just say that this topic has been beaten like a dead horse many times over. Even the built-in voltage controls some ASUS boards have, or the OC panel offers, doesn't work on v1.01 cards..it LOWERS voltage instead of raising it, since the VRM controller design is different depending on which version of card you have.

I ended up modding the card myself for voltage control, and even then, the gains were minimal, since once vGPU does actually go up, the VRM voltage drops more.

GPU-Z doesn't even actually show GPU voltage...it shows VRM voltage. ROFL.

That said, flashing the 280X BIOS can work, for sure, and you can also flash the MATRIX 7970 BIOS, too. Neither will enable voltage control if you have the wrong card version (which most cards except the first batch of cards are).

That's why voltage controls don't work right...what gets set is VRM voltage no VGPU. Unfortunate, but since the card PCB was revised and voltage control was then removed, I'll just say ASUS did it intentionally.

 

[chesley96]

I had this card, I know what it does. the VID set, and the VRM actually supplying that voltage, are two different things. This is what I did to mine:

You'll notice my mod point is different than the one shown with the backplate on, and I'll just say that this topic has been beaten like a dead horse many times over. Even the built-in voltage controls some ASUS boards have, or the OC panel offers, doesn't work on v1.01 cards..it LOWERS voltage instead of raising it, since the VRM controller design is different depending on which version of card you have.

I ended up modding the card myself for voltage control, and even then, the gains were minimal, since once vGPU does actually go up, the VRM voltage drops more.

GPU-Z doesn't even actually show GPU voltage...it shows VRM voltage. ROFL.

That said, flashing the 280X BIOS can work, for sure, and you can also flash the MATRIX 7970 BIOS, too. Neither will enable voltage control if you have the wrong card version (which most cards except the first batch of cards are).

That's why voltage controls don't work right...what gets set is VRM voltage no VGPU. Unfortunate, but since the card PCB was revised and voltage control was then removed, I'll just say ASUS did it intentionally.

Interesting, you must really know your stuff. I am not sure which version I have but I know it was right when they first came out when I purchased it. So I assume I must have the 1.0 version?

 

[cadaveca]

Interesting, you must really know your stuff. I am not sure which version I have but I know it was right when they first came out when I purchased it. So I assume I must have the 1.0 version?

I do the motherboard and memory reviews here @ TPU, so yeah, I do have a decent general understanding of how things work, but that doesn't mean I always know what I'm talking about. ROFL.


As to your card, yeah, if card now OC's more than 50 MHz better than with original BOIS ,then voltage control may be unlocked. In this case (which can be easily figured out by pulling the backplate and looking at the PCB itself like you see in my first pic), I'd suggest using the 7970 MATRIX BIOS rather than the 280X MATRIX BIOS. I still have my 7970 MATRIX that I got after my DCUII, and the difference was amazing. After doing LOTS of testing (I also used these cards in my reviews for quite some time), I ended up using the 7970 BIOS version.

There are two different versions of the DCUII BIOS clock-wise (and about 15 different ones all told), and two different versions of the MATRIX BIOS... You can flash BIOSes and play a bit more and maybe find that one of them works better than the other three.

Manyy BIOSes here for you to try:

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?architecture=&manufacturer=Asus&model=HD 7970&interface=&memType=&memSize=

I'd focus on the 1000/1400 and 1050/1500 BIOSes. Certain versions will make the card not work properly at all, since there are these PCB revisions, but since the card has dual BIOS, recovering from a "bad" flash is pretty easy.

If you have version 1.00 card, you'll see that the area on the front of the card, next to VRM controller, which I showed in the second pic, is different by the "N" in that pic (north of that "N", left of the VRM controller DIGI+ chip))

 

[chesley96]

I do the motherboard and memory reviews here @ TPU, so yeah, I do have a decent general understanding of how things work, but that doesn't mean I always know what I'm talking about. ROFL.


As to your card, yeah, if card now OC's more than 50 MHz better than with original BOIS ,then voltage control may be unlocked. In this case (which can be easily figured out by pulling the backplate and looking at the PCB itself like you see in my first pic), I'd suggest using the 7970 MATRIX BIOS rather than the 280X MATRIX BIOS. I still have my 7970 MATRIX that I got after my DCUII, and the difference was amazing. After doing LOTS of testing (I also used these cards in my reviews for quite some time), I ended up using the 7970 BIOS version.

There are two different versions of the DCUII BIOS clock-wise (and about 15 different ones all told), and two different versions of the MATRIX BIOS... You can flash BIOSes and play a bit more and maybe find that one of them works better than the other three.

Manyy BIOSes here for you to try:

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?architecture=&manufacturer=Asus&model=HD 7970&interface=&memType=&memSize=

I'd focus on the 1000/1400 and 1050/1500 BIOSes. Certain versions will make the card not work properly at all, since there are these PCB revisions, but since the card has dual BIOS, recovering from a "bad" flash is pretty easy.

If you have version 1.00 card, you'll see that the area on the front of the card, next to VRM controller, which I showed in the second pic, is different by the "N" in that pic (north of that "N", left of the VRM controller DIGI+ chip))

Awesome! And thank you! Hey I will get back to you on this. A friend just showed up so I'll reply back in a few hours at most.

 

[chesley96]

I do the motherboard and memory reviews here @ TPU, so yeah, I do have a decent general understanding of how things work, but that doesn't mean I always know what I'm talking about. ROFL.


As to your card, yeah, if card now OC's more than 50 MHz better than with original BOIS ,then voltage control may be unlocked. In this case (which can be easily figured out by pulling the backplate and looking at the PCB itself like you see in my first pic), I'd suggest using the 7970 MATRIX BIOS rather than the 280X MATRIX BIOS. I still have my 7970 MATRIX that I got after my DCUII, and the difference was amazing. After doing LOTS of testing (I also used these cards in my reviews for quite some time), I ended up using the 7970 BIOS version.

There are two different versions of the DCUII BIOS clock-wise (and about 15 different ones all told), and two different versions of the MATRIX BIOS... You can flash BIOSes and play a bit more and maybe find that one of them works better than the other three.

Manyy BIOSes here for you to try:

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?architecture=&manufacturer=Asus&model=HD 7970&interface=&memType=&memSize=

I'd focus on the 1000/1400 and 1050/1500 BIOSes. Certain versions will make the card not work properly at all, since there are these PCB revisions, but since the card has dual BIOS, recovering from a "bad" flash is pretty easy.

If you have version 1.00 card, you'll see that the area on the front of the card, next to VRM controller, which I showed in the second pic, is different by the "N" in that pic (north of that "N", left of the VRM controller DIGI+ chip))

Hello Dave, and thank you again , I have posted an image of my card's PCB in the initial post. It is rev. 1.00x

I will try the bios from a Matrix 7970 as you suggested, I will flash it to the 2nd bios and let you all know the results.

As of now, the results with the Matrix 280x bios far surpass the overclocking ability than with the original bios. I would lose stability going past 1040mhz core. But now, raising the voltage in GPUTweak definitely increases the temps without even changing clock speeds., and I have achieved 1130mhz stable at 1.163v. When I raised the clock to 1150mhz, I also raise the voltage to 1.188v, when i do that I get instability, displaying artifacts running Valley Extreme HD preset at about scene 14 with temps around 67c

I just did some more tests and it seems that the more I raise the voltage slider, even without changing the frequencies from 1150/1650, the more unstable it gets. That is with the 280x bios.

 

[cadaveca]

Sounds like you lucked out on the PCB, then. You card should have supported proper voltage control, anyway, so in regards to whatever problems you encounter, it could be related to the memory OC, the memory voltage, the GUP's quality, or just even the BIOS itself. Try the 7970 BIOS, maybe it works better for you. It did for me, even without voltage control, hence why I recommend it.

 

[chesley96]

Sounds like you lucked out on the PCB, then. You card should have supported proper voltage control, anyway, so in regards to whatever problems you encounter, it could be related to the memory OC, the memory voltage, the GUP's quality, or just even the BIOS itself. Try the 7970 BIOS, maybe it works better for you. It did for me, even without voltage control, hence why I recommend it.

I literally just got done trying every Matrix 7970 bios I could find from TechPowerUp's GPU bios database. And to my surprise everyone of them cause a bsod. I should mention I am running Windows 8.1 Pro x64 in UEFI mode. Not sure if there is a conflict in the 7970 bios with UEFI mode. At first I didnt touch my drivers before trying the 7970 bios...flashed...rebooted...bsod at windows login.. So I went into safe mode, uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, tried to install Catalyst 14.7 and it hangs at the checking hardware step of the install. I did this with all the matrix 7970 bios's.. "scratching my head" lol Idk why they wont work.. So now I am back to the Matrix Platinum 280x bios.

 

[cadaveca]

I literally just got done trying every Matrix 7970 bios I could find from TechPowerUp's GPU bios database. And to my surprise everyone of them cause a bsod. I should mention I am running Windows 8.1 Pro x64 in UEFI mode. Not sure if there is a conflict in the 7970 bios with UEFI mode. At first I didnt touch my drivers before trying the 7970 bios...flashed...rebooted...bsod at windows login.. So I went into safe mode, uninstalled the drivers, rebooted, tried to install Catalyst 14.7 and it hangs at the checking hardware step of the install. I did this with all the matrix 7970 bios's.. "scratching my head" lol Idk why they wont work.. So now I am back to the Matrix Platinum 280x bios.

Maybe they only work with the v1.01 PCBs, since I know that original BOISes that work on your card don't work on the v1.01. That's why I mentioned that could happen in the first place. Sounds like the 280X BIOS has info for both types of VRM design in it. Welcome to the weirdness that is the DCUII.

At least you got voltage control back, but as far as I know, it should have worked since day 1. So you still had some good info to share with you OP; that's cool.

At the same time, there are distinct differences in the BIOSes. If yyou get yourself RBE (Radeon BIOS Editor), you should be able to check which version the BIOS is, without having to flash it on the card.

you might also want to try Sapphire Trixx for voltage control; it has a simpler interface for software clock/voltage controls, and might work with your original BIOS, too.

 

[chesley96]

Maybe they only work with the v1.01 PCBs, since I know that original BOISes that work on your card don't work on the v1.01. That's why I mentioned that could happen in the first place. Sounds like the 280X BIOS has info for both types of VRM design in it. Welcome to the weirdness that is the DCUII.

At least you got voltage control back, but as far as I know, it should have worked since day 1. So you still had some good info to share with you OP; that's cool.

At the same time, there are distinct differences in the BIOSes. If yyou get yourself RBE (Radeon BIOS Editor), you should be able to check which version the BIOS is, without having to flash it on the card.

you might also want to try Sapphire Trixx for voltage control; it has a simpler interface for software clock/voltage controls, and might work with your original BIOS, too.

Yeah that's what I was thinking as well. You have confirmed that for me. Makes sense, since you say the rev 1.00 bios's dont work with the rev 1.01 boards. Very weird indeed.

Yes voltage control does work and performance is better than stock by a good margin. About it working since day 1.. Idk, for some reason I never had control with any other 7970 bios, MSI Afterburner voltage options were always grayed out. I am about to try that and TRIXX and I will let you know the results. Although I have tried TRIXX as well with the original bios with no success.

Its funny you should mention RBE because I literally just tried that an hour or two ago and all I get is a error while attempting to load any of the bios's I downloaded stating "Invalid file specified. Not an ATI BIOS? - Debug information:'CheckValid' reported error." I tried in compatibility mode for Win7 but still no luck.

Now to install Afterburner and TRIXX for some more experimenting

[edit]
I tried MSI Afterburner 4.0.0 and The latest Sapphire TRIXX as well.. Afterburner still has voltage control grayed out whether its enabled in the settings or not. TRIXX crashes every time I click the "settings" button.

 

[cadaveca]

If you run more than one tool at a time, yeah, stuff doesn't work right. You can only use one software tool to access GPU settings at a time.

 

[suraswami]

I had this card, I know what it does. the VID set, and the VRM actually supplying that voltage, are two different things. This is what I did to mine:

 

[OneMoar]

man dave your soldering work is worlds better then mine lol
I lost the ability todo shit that small ages ago