Sapphire nitro+ Rx 580 OC broken bios switch

[Doquerino]

Hello, first message on this forum, I've been searching and googling about my issue, but nothing i found on this forum is exactly the same, so here's my trouble

New PC, everything except the GPU is new.
GPU works fine and temperatures are really good, but is locked in Principal/Discrete profile, and the switch for changing the dual bios is physically broken, there's no switch. Maybe someone did that for mining?
The noticeable things that happen with my GPU are:

- Adrenalin doesn't even control the fans correctly, but MSI Afterburner does, so no real problem here.
- Can't overclock a bit the GPU.

I reinstalled clean drivers a few times (always with Adrenalin) and no changes.
So at least my Sapphire works fine and monitoring ingame reach sometimes the 1411 mhz for core and 2000mhz for memory. But I wanted to OC it a bit to squeeze the card, so my questions are:

Is there any way to change the bios profile without the damned switch?
If not, Is it possible to flash the BIOS profile that is in current use? Is it worth it to just OC a bit the card? Any solutions?

Thanks!








System specs:

Intel I5 10400F 2.9 Ghz
Gigabyte b460m ds3h v2
16 GB RAM Hyperx 2666mhz
Sapphire nitro+ Rx 580 OC 8Gb
Seasonic GC-650 (650 W)

P.S.: Trying FurMark 1080p present GPU never surpasses the 1200 mhz. And I had a crash in my first attempt, usually crashed when I tried to OC by Adrenalin or Afterburner, this time crashed with default presets in Adrenalin.

 

[eidairaman1]

Message @delshay, he has a means of fixing switches

 

[Doquerino]

thanks!

Message @delshay, he has a means of fixing switches

 

[delshay]

Post a photo of the switch what's left of it. You don't need to take the card apart, just post close-up photo. I have a feeling it just the little tab that's just broken as it has happened to me too, but there are ways around it.

 

[Doquerino]

Here you have!

Thx man!

 

[delshay]

That's bad, you can't even flick it over to the other side with a pin.

The quickest way to fix that is to remove the switch & solder a short across the centre pin to either of the side pin. You can switch BIOS by soldering link to the other side. This is just a temporary fix just to get the card going. A 0 Ohms resistor will also work.

What you need is a permanent fix by replacing the BIOS switch. You need to take the card apart & look at the switch footprint.

For example both my cards use this type of switch Dual Bios VBIOS Switch: AMD RADEON VEGA Frontier 56 64 RX 5700 580 6800 XT 480 | eBay
Look around for cheaper prices, don't buy the above switch as you need to confirm your card switch footprint.


EDIT: As a general note, I set-up my cards the following way.

Internal BIOS has the original firmware by the manufacture (Including updates).

External/outer BIOS has whatever I want. The reason for this is, no matter what happens I can always recover without taking the card apart., ie change BIOS chip or use an external programmer. Having a external programmer makes me immune to bricking.

 

[Doquerino]

That's bad, you can't even flick it over to the other side with a pin.

The quickest way to fix that is to remove the switch & solder a short across the centre pin to either of the side pin. You can switch BIOS by soldering link to the other side. This is just a temporary fix just to get the card going. A 0 Ohms resistor will also work.

What you need is a permanent fix by replacing the BIOS switch. You need to take the card apart & look at the switch footprint.

For example both my cards use this type of switch Dual Bios VBIOS Switch: AMD RADEON VEGA Frontier 56 64 RX 5700 580 6800 XT 480 | eBay
Look around for cheaper prices, don't buy the above switch as you need to confirm your card switch footprint.

EDIT: As a general note, I set-up my cards the following way.

Internal BIOS has the original firmware by the manufacture (Including updates).

Outer BIOS has whatever I want. The reason for this is, no matter what happens I can always recover without taking the card apart., ie change BIOS chip or use a external programmer.

So, there's no way to change the bios without solding and touching physically the card...Can't i just flash the current profile (the one that i'm using right now) for other without limitations? I know this is maybe dangerous, but to repair the card too xd.
Dual Bios VBIOS Switch: AMD RADEON VEGA Frontier 56 64 RX 5700 580 6800 XT 480 | eBay In fact this same switch should work.

By the other hand, do i am loosing a lot of performance with my card as it is right now??


Thx!

 

[delshay]

So, there's no way to change the bios without solding and touching physically the card...Can't i just flash the current profile (the one that i'm using right now) for other without limitations? I know this is maybe dangerous, but to repair the card too xd.
Dual Bios VBIOS Switch: AMD RADEON VEGA Frontier 56 64 RX 5700 580 6800 XT 480 | eBay In fact this same switch should work.

By the other hand, do i am loosing a lot of performance with my card as it is right now??


Thx!

No, you can't change the BIOS without a hardware fix.

You could flash the card as you suggested to the current working BIOS, but photo seems to show centre pin is disconnect, so there must be some kind of connection otherwise it will not boot. Then again I've never seen the inside of these switches, so maybe I'm wrong..

Flash the card & see if anything changes. Don't be surprised if you get an error when flashing as I have no idea what that broken switch is doing until you put a meter across it. If I was going to flash a card in this state, then I would use a external programmer.

 

[Doquerino]

Okay, so i'm gonna try it if I understood well;

So the idea is flash another bios that changes the current one as if my card didn't had dual bios.

Okay, next question then (And I'm sorry for all my asking) ... Should I try to download the official bios for the performance profile?
I mean, the original card it should have two bios Bios A (silent) and B (performance), so what are we saying is to install/flash the B bios in the place is now A?

Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 8GB
299-1E366-001SA
11265-01
A182000006052

Silent BIOS:

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1340 MHz GPU, 2000 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

Performance BIOS:

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1411 MHz GPU, 2000 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

This might be the files? (came from this thread https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/rx-580-sapphire-nitro-8-gb-stock-bios-help.265547/ )

Because, thinking it properly there's only an indication in adrenalin that says that's discrete profile anyone knows how can I be sure in what profile I am?


EDIT: Looking closely the two bios, seems that 1411 mhz is the performance bios, so do I have my card in performance bios mode? I think I'm getting crazy, sorry nooby things

 

[Doquerino]

I'm gonna ask again (sorry for that)...

Someone knows if I'm already in performance mod in my card?

Looking GPU-Z this is what I have: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/sapphire-nitro-rx-580-8-gb.b4436
So, as you see in the photo my card is set at 1411 mhz (And in game reaches that 1411 mhz). I didn't found any bios with more frequency, just one with less, so I suppose I have my GPU set to performance bios.

So, If I'm right, why the hell I can't OC a bit without crashing?

 

[delshay]

Message @eidairaman1 about correct BIOS for your card, I'm mostly just a hardware modder.

 

[Doquerino]

@eidairaman1
I don't know why but I can't message you... I'll post my message

Hello Eidairaman, how are you?

Well, if you remember I'm the guy who wrote this thread: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sapphire-nitro-rx-580-oc-broken-bios-switch.285221/ about my Sapphire nitro+ Rx 580 OC 8Gb with broken switch...
Looking GPU-Z this is what I have: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/sapphire-nitro-rx-580-8-gb.b4436

So, as you see in the photo my card is set at 1411 mhz, but only reaches 1411 mhz for a short time while gaming, so Is my card set to performance bios? If really I'm not gonna be able to OC my card at least I want to use the performance bios.

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1411 MHz GPU, 2000 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1366 MHz GPU, 2000 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

If I'm right I'm currently using the first one of the two bios. I'm supposing the first one is performance mode because it have more freq...

I don't know if this is relevant but that's what I've been trying:
I've been doing some more testing, and I can OC using adrenalin or Afterburner like 1430 mhz and 2200 the memories, furmark crashes 100% of the time. Heaven Benchmark holds and it's stable.
Once I OC it gives me some graphical glitches and performance seems to low a bit, I mean frequencies are a little lower in Heaven Benchmark even when MSI afterburner or adrenalin are set at 1430 mhz. So or I'm doing wrong the OC, or my card can't be Oc now...

So by one shand, GPU-Z says that I have 1411 mhz, and with MSI afterburner I can see that sometimes reaches 1411 mhz in game.
By the other hand, I really think that something happens with the OC and furmark says lower frequencies if I do a 1080 fast test.

Sorry for the long message man, If you can help me I'll appreciate that a lot, only if you have the time, of course...
And thank you very much!

 

[eidairaman1]

@eidairaman1
I don't know why but I can't message you... I'll post my message

Hello Eidairaman, how are you?

Well, if you remember I'm the guy who wrote this thread: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/sapphire-nitro-rx-580-oc-broken-bios-switch.285221/ about my Sapphire nitro+ Rx 580 OC 8Gb with broken switch...
Looking GPU-Z this is what I have: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/sapphire-nitro-rx-580-8-gb.b4436

So, as you see in the photo my card is set at 1411 mhz, but only reaches 1411 mhz for a short time while gaming, so Is my card set to performance bios? If really I'm not gonna be able to OC my card at least I want to use the performance bios.

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1411 MHz GPU, 2000 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1366 MHz GPU, 2000 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

If I'm right I'm currently using the first one of the two bios. I'm supposing the first one is performance mode because it have more freq...

I don't know if this is relevant but that's what I've been trying:
I've been doing some more testing, and I can OC using adrenalin or Afterburner like 1430 mhz and 2200 the memories, furmark crashes 100% of the time. Heaven Benchmark holds and it's stable.
Once I OC it gives me some graphical glitches and performance seems to low a bit, I mean frequencies are a little lower in Heaven Benchmark even when MSI afterburner or adrenalin are set at 1430 mhz. So or I'm doing wrong the OC, or my card can't be Oc now...

So by one shand, GPU-Z says that I have 1411 mhz, and with MSI afterburner I can see that sometimes reaches 1411 mhz in game.
By the other hand, I really think that something happens with the OC and furmark says lower frequencies if I do a 1080 fast test.

Sorry for the long message man, If you can help me I'll appreciate that a lot, only if you have the time, of course...
And thank you very much!

Give me time to review

Restart your machine and then open gpu-z, post the screenshot

@Doquerino

 

[Doquerino]

Here you have my gpu-z

 

[eidairaman1]

Here you have my gpu-z

Okay 1411 is your performance bios, do you believe that you need more performance from that card?

Because if you do either you can use ATI Wattman or MSI Afterburner or Sapphire TriXX.

Or I can find you a bios with a higher clock rate.

 

[Doquerino]

Okay 1411 is your performance bios, do you believe that you need more performance from that card?

Because if you do either you can use ATI Wattman or MSI Afterburner or Sapphire TriXX.

Or I can find you a bios with a higher clock rate.

Excuse my delay eidairaman1, I've been out a few days...

Thanks, I just will keep my card as it is... No need to flash it if at least I have stock max performance.
OC in this card is another thread, so we can close this one!

Thx very much!

 

[eidairaman1]

Excuse my delay eidairaman1, I've been out a few days...

Thanks, I just will keep my card as it is... No need to flash it if at least I have stock max performance.
OC in this card is another thread, so we can close this one!

Thx very much!

I dont see another thread so

 

[Doquerino]

Well, I meant that is another subject for another day... I will do some more tests before open thread!

Thx again!

 

[eidairaman1]

I understand, If you later feel you want a little more speed here are these files.

Latest I can find
2018 07 19

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1430 MHz GPU, 2100 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

Well, I meant that is another subject for another day... I will do some more tests before open thread!

Thx again!

AMD RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1430 MHz GPU, 2100 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS

8 GB GDDR5, 1430 MHz GPU, 2100 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Doquerino]

Hello,

I've been some time really busy and now I finally decided to flash my bios to get a little more performance,

I tried to flash it with amdvbflashWin (I had to install some drivers viaAMDVBFlashDriverInstaller) but it gives me error everytime. Tried the 3 bios and give me that screen I attach...
I've been looking other methods as this one but gives me a invalid VBios message...

Any clues??


Thanks!

 

[VuurVOS]

I dont recommend flashing this bios. The bios belongs to a higher binned chip (XTR) instead of the usual XTX chip which are used for the RX 580.

 

[Doquerino]

oohh... So, you mean that I can brick the card doing it?

Thing it's I can't OC it a bit, and if I can't flash I'm running out of options... So maybe it's impossible to get more performance on my card, I dunno...
I was preparing to flash outside windows, but I'm kinda scared, right now

 

[VuurVOS]

Most likely your card will be unstable since the XTX chip isnt rated to run at much higher speeds. Another bios wont change this.

 

[Doquerino]

So, I'm stuck at stock performance?

I mean I tried really soft Oc... Like 1430 mhz and 2100 mhz... Do you think XTX chip can't even hold that?
mmmhhh...

Thx man, at least I'm learning a lot for my next GPU.

 

[VuurVOS]

The reference AMD RX 580 is running at 1340 MHz. Your Sapphire RX 580 is already factory overclocked at 1411MHz. Personaly I wouldnt change the bios for the few extra mhz.

Did you try to use Sapphire TriXX to see if those speeds are even stable?

SAPPHIRE TriXX Software

SAPPHIRE software can tune your card's performance to the max and save custom settings for your favourite games. A deceptively-simple interface lets you tweak your card's fan speeds dynamically, and find out anything you could possibly want to know about your card.

www.sapphiretech.com