Why we should flash gpu BIOS

[pollianaftw1]

Hi guys! I am newbie here and sorry for dumb questions.

Firstly, i want to buy GPU in a 2 week that's why learning some interesting things.

As you see in the title why we should do that bios flashing?
What kind of pros/cons are we expecting?

 

[Sithaer]

You don't, especially if you are not experienced.

Chances are there would be +1 of those bricked Bios topics around here.

As long as the card works as it should there is no reason to flash the Bios and risk messing it up, its more of a last resort to fix already broken cards if nothing else works.

 

[erocker]

No reason to flash your bios unless it's necessary or an update from the manufacturer.. which is extremely rare with GPU's.

 

[lowrider_05]

First, DO NOT FLASH YOUR GPU BIOS!!!

So there might be some reasons why some want to flash their GPU BIOS, mostly to get one or more of the following:

1. Higher Power Limit
2. Higher Clock Speeds
3. Higher Voltages
4. Unlock some GPU Shader Cores.

But YOU DO NOT need to do any of this nor will this work on any GPU!!!

 

[AsRock]

Hi guys! I am newbie here and sorry for dumb questions.

Firstly, i want to buy GPU in a 2 week that's why learning some interesting things.

As you see in the title why we should do that bios flashing?
What kind of pros/cons are we expecting?

Glad you asked as most don't and chances are you probably shouldn't. Only time really is if you having a issue and the manufacture posted a new bios to solve said issue.

Other wise you don't.

 

[Kapone33]

The only reason to ever Flash your GPU BIOS is if your current BIOS has become corrupted.

 

[eidairaman1]

Hi guys! I am newbie here and sorry for dumb questions.

Firstly, i want to buy GPU in a 2 week that's why learning some interesting things.

As you see in the title why we should do that bios flashing?
What kind of pros/cons are we expecting?

If it aint broke don't fix it, flashing a gpu is not like flashing a motherboard.

Leave your stuff alone

 

[pollianaftw1]

I know your concern guys thank you for helping i just want to learn how things going on. Thank you.

 

[rafik2019]

If hardware works no point in doing it

 

[pavle]

Who is "we"?

 

[Zach_01]

Who is "we"?

PC users in general

Hi guys! I am newbie here and sorry for dumb questions.

Firstly, i want to buy GPU in a 2 week that's why learning some interesting things.

As you see in the title why we should do that bios flashing?
What kind of pros/cons are we expecting?

We are all glad for you, asking this... You can avoid a lot of potential trouble.
GPU BIOS flashing is not for the average user, unless problems already occur and a flash could solve it but thats very rare case.
BIOSs of used GPUs are all over the place the last 3-4 years because of the mining setups but as long as you buy one new in its sealed box you dont have to worry about it.

A user can flash the GPU's BIOS for many reasons other than mining.
To increase or even decrease performance through changing power/clock/voltage limits of the GPU or VRAM.
Its a lot more complicated than it sounds and need a lot of research for the card capabilities, finding the right BIOS or the right editor to edit the original one and so on.
And no one can guarantee you anything...

Take it from someone that has done it many times the last 20years.
Dont mess with it unless you can afford a second brand new!

Is there any specific website you read/learned about the GPU BIOS flashing? ...or maybe a friend?

 

[AsRock]

I know your concern guys thank you for helping i just want to learn how things going on. Thank you.

If only you knew how many people just @eidairaman1 helped because people did not think before jumping.

 

[Kapone33]

If only you knew how many people just @eidairaman1 helped because people did not think before jumping.

At least 2 to 3 a week, especially in the last 2 - 3 years, since so many people have been influenced to think the Flashing a GPU is not hard or dangerous financially. With things that you can do through software already. MSI afterburner comes to mind.

 

[MarsM4N]

Well, hang around more in the GPU section of the forum. You'll learn some interesting things.

You'll stumble over loads of threads from people who destroyed their cards with bios flashes. It's funny how they beg for help.
They've learned their lession. But electronic waste is bad for the environment, do not contribute.

TL;DR: GPU bios flash = BAD

 

[eidairaman1]

Well, hang around more in the GPU section of the forum. You'll learn some interesting things.

You'll stumble over loads of threads from people who destroyed their cards with bios flashes. It's funny how they beg for help.
They've learned their lession. But electronic waste is bad for the environment, do not contribute.

TL;DR: GPU bios flash = BAD

Ive seen live update tools give the wrong vbios as well

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Only reason to flash vbios is because you bought a fake gpu and can't return it.

 

[StrikerRocket]

I had to flash my GPU BIOS for a second hand GTX 1080 I bought on eBay. It was a Gigabyte 1080 that had supposedly received a wrong BIOS update. It worked ok, but as soon as you switched to a 3D game, the memory was stuck at 405 Mhz, and GPU-Z could not identify the memory type on the card. I had to get the precise ID of the card in the device manager in windows, download the BIOS on Techpowerup and flash it with NVFlash, then it came back to life.
This is the kind of situation when you need to flah a GPU BIOS, otherwise, I would not recommend it, unless you like to tweak your card and flash custom bioses to try new things... or brick your expensive card...

 

[Shrek]

Not worth the risk, although I did it once to get UEFI support

 

[eidairaman1]

I had to flash my GPU BIOS for a second hand GTX 1080 I bought on eBay. It was a Gigabyte 1080 that had supposedly received a wrong BIOS update. It worked ok, but as soon as you switched to a 3D game, the memory was stuck at 405 Mhz, and GPU-Z could not identify the memory type on the card. I had to get the precise ID of the card in the device manager in windows, download the BIOS on Techpowerup and flash it with NVFlash, then it came back to life.
This is the kind of situation when you need to flah a GPU BIOS, otherwise, I would not recommend it, unless you like to tweak your card and flash custom bioses to try new things... or brick your expensive card...

To restore a mining card is a legit reason, to gain more performance is not.

 

[Zach_01]

To restore a mining card is a legit reason, to gain more performance is not.

Totally 100% agree. Today GPUs are already pushed to their limits. All you can do now is OC and better cooling if there is any room for that.

But like 15-20yrs ago, it was something.
Still remember how close I got to loose a card back then.
Was trying to flash a 6800GT (NV45) with 6800Ultra (NV40) BIOS. Actually I was testing a lot of BIOSs.
Floppy drive boot on DOS… etc…

I did it so many times that I could do it with my eyes closed… And eventually I did… kinda…
The card couldn’t output a display signal after a flash, but I could tell that the system was booting normally into windows.

So I did all the floppy boot/flash sequence to a working BIOS without seeing a thing!
And display got back to life again… was so relieved

 

[hat]

Sadly there's not much reason to anymore. Sometimes you might be able to flash to a higher performing BIOS, but it's always a big risk for not much gain. Today the BIOS is locked and you can't just flash whatever you want... back in the day, you used to be able to edit your own BIOS. This was useful for me, because I would find whatever OC settings and fan profile I liked with a tool like Afterburner, then I would just bake those settings into the card by flashing it. Gone are those days, though.

Makes me wonder where all these supposed mining BIOSes come from, if you can't edit the BIOS...

 

[Outback Bronze]

Sadly there's not much reason to anymore. Sometimes you might be able to flash to a higher performing BIOS, but it's always a big risk for not much gain. Today the BIOS is locked and you can't just flash whatever you want... back in the day, you used to be able to edit your own BIOS. This was useful for me, because I would find whatever OC settings and fan profile I liked with a tool like Afterburner, then I would just bake those settings into the card by flashing it. Gone are those days, though.

Makes me wonder where all these supposed mining BIOSes come from, if you can't edit the BIOS...

Yeah, that was handy. It was also handy in unlocking more pixel pipes on old school Radeons. Like you say tho, those days are gone.

 

[Zach_01]

Makes me wonder where all these supposed mining BIOSes come from, if you can't edit the BIOS...

Yes you can, I edit my self a lot of BIOSs of different branded RX580s. VRAM timings mostly

 

[eidairaman1]

Yeah, that was handy. It was also handy in unlocking more pixel pipes on old school Radeons. Like you say tho, those days are gone.

Yup because unlocking stuff on a R9 290 to make it a 290X was random too

Sadly there's not much reason to anymore. Sometimes you might be able to flash to a higher performing BIOS, but it's always a big risk for not much gain. Today the BIOS is locked and you can't just flash whatever you want... back in the day, you used to be able to edit your own BIOS. This was useful for me, because I would find whatever OC settings and fan profile I liked with a tool like Afterburner, then I would just bake those settings into the card by flashing it. Gone are those days, though.

Makes me wonder where all these supposed mining BIOSes come from, if you can't edit the BIOS...

Pardon, RX590 and older (not sure about Fury) can be modded, GTX 900 and older can be modded (FAKE CARDS).

RX Vega and newer can't be modded, GTX 1000 and newer can't be modded.

Totally 100% agree. Today GPUs are already pushed to their limits. All you can do now is OC and better cooling if there is any room for that.

But like 15-20yrs ago, it was something.
Still remember how close I got to loose a card back then.
Was trying to flash a 6800GT (NV45) with 6800Ultra (NV40) BIOS. Actually I was testing a lot of BIOSs.
Floppy drive boot on DOS… etc…

I did it so many times that I could do it with my eyes closed… And eventually I did… kinda…
The card couldn’t output a display signal after a flash, but I could tell that the system was booting normally into windows.

So I did all the floppy boot/flash sequence to a working BIOS without seeing a thing!
And display got back to life again… was so relieved

Yeah batch files help otherwise having to put commands in blind is Fun

 

[StrikerRocket]

To restore a mining card is a legit reason, to gain more performance is not.

It was not a mining card, If I get you right. It was a mistake from the previous owner, who had barely used it and flashed the BIOS with Gigabyte's own utility, which flashed BIOS F1 instead of F2. When I revceived the card, I contacted the guy who asked me to send it back for a refund, but having identified the problem, I flashed the right BIOS using NVFlash, and that was it. Worked like a charm for 2 years before I switched to a 3070 Ti.