# Can't Overvolt 5870 Over 1.125v With RBE



## MakubeX (Feb 23, 2010)

I'm stumped here. I flashed a friend's 5870 to 1.3v by setting it in the x18 register and it worked fine. I try changing my x18 register to my desired voltage (1.275v) and after flashing and going into Windows I get 1.125v under 3D load. I tried 1.3v with RBE but the same thing happened. I'm trying to edit the Asus unlocked BIOS (untouched by RBE).

However, I can use Afterburner to set the voltage I want. In fact, testing different voltages with Afterburner is how I came up with 1.275v, since I found out my card can do 1050/1300 stable with 1.275v. That said, I would much rather flash the desired voltage with RBE than having to run Afterburner every time.

I haven't tried changing other registers other than x18. I might try it when I get home. That said, no register (even x18) contains the value 1.125v.

I'm not touching Afterburner after flashing the card. I even uninstalled AB but it didn't help.

The Asus BIOS I'm using on both cards is this one: http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/56695/Asus.HD5870.1024.090915.html

Both cards are the same XFX model.

Any ideas?


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## MakubeX (Feb 24, 2010)

Anyone?


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## hsm06 (Feb 25, 2010)

my 5870 with you same
 (asus 5870)


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## MakubeX (Feb 26, 2010)

Yo BAGZZlash, any idea of what's going on here?


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## BAGZZlash (Feb 26, 2010)

MakubeX said:


> Yo BAGZZlash, any idea of what's going on here?



Sorry, no.


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## MakubeX (Feb 27, 2010)

BAGZZlash said:


> Sorry, no.



Damn, if you don't know then I'm screwed.


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## ml2517 (Feb 27, 2010)

Are you by chance making sure that you are using the same version of RBE that you used on your friends card?   Maybe ensure you are on the same version of RBE and have your friend dump the BIOS from his card using GPU-Z and see if you can flash that one and get the correct results.


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## MakubeX (Feb 27, 2010)

ml2517 said:


> Are you by chance making sure that you are using the same version of RBE that you used on your friends card?   Maybe ensure you are on the same version of RBE and have your friend dump the BIOS from his card using GPU-Z and see if you can flash that one and get the correct results.



Yup, same version, same BIOS.


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## chiLLZ (Mar 11, 2010)

I have the same problem with my xfx 5870 xxx cards. I have tried changing the 0x15 0x17 0x18 registers with very limited results. If i changed the 0x15 register voltage from 1.15 to any other voltage it would set the vddci in gpuz to 1.125 also 

The only time that i could change the vddc 3d voltage for gpu core was ironically if i used 1.15v on 0x18 register. I have tried with the asus, msi, ati 5870 ref and of course xfx bios all with this same result. 1.15 seems to be the only voltage change that works. xfx must have used their own voltage regulators?

 voltage can be changed normaly with msi afterburner and i tried to use the exact voltages that it reported when changing the bios voltages no luck.

has any one else had success changing voltages with these cards?

I read somewhere that xfx cards dont use the ati reference desighn for the pcb, is this true? i got the xxx version hoping to be able to overvolt.


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## MrLeopard (Mar 15, 2010)

Same here. Got myself a standard Asus HD5870 and tested clocks/vgpu with MSI Afterburner. Once I got my desired settings together I wanted to flash the card accordingly. Sadly without any success. GPU/RAM clocks are set correctly but vGPU stays at 1,125V under load.


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## misterpro (Mar 19, 2010)

Same problem here...

Saphire 5870 reference design.  With modded Saphire, ASUS, ATI BIOS it's stuck at 1.125v (which is lower than what it idles at on unmodified BIOS.  With unmodded bios it's 1.675 @ load, a value which isn't in any of the GPU registers either btw)

Wtf !? 

Btw, OP, did you try to flash the BIOS you modified on your friends pc? As in have him send it to you or so, perhaps RBE is going nuts on some systems¿ *edit* Nvm that, modded a few on a 10 year old XP system, so it's not a misbehaviour of RBE on whatever platform.  Just some cards looking in non standard places??

Was planning on putting my gpu overvolt in BIOS as it's not 100% stable at default clocks without upping GPU voltage (yeah dodgy first samples huh....)  Back to afterburner for the time being :'(







Furmark is running there, just dragged out of the way. Idle volt is 1.065

*edit 37*

If I don't change GPU registers at all, and just powerplay OC my 3D mode voltage, it goes to 1.5v on idle, load, everything, and not to whatever I set it to.

It is a very early reference design card, are they different to more recent cards??? (a whole day of searching found me the better part of a dozen people with exactly the same issue.)  VMem overvolting or changing clock settings is working just fine. But GPU overvolting is completely broken, whatever you touch.

*edit 719*

Apparantly most cards ship at 1.1675v 3D, but some "cherry" ones at 1.125v.  Perhaps those look in another place in the BIOS for this value? Or they are hardlocked to this (which would suck )


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## mkchiu (Mar 20, 2010)

There are multiple sources for the apparent lack of "hard" programming via the video BIOS (using RBE).  Here are two sources I would research first:

Does PowerPlay actually adjust V_GPU during state changes?  Is 0x18 the correct location?
   I'm unsure whether RBE has a database of cards with the appropriate register locations (15, 16, 17, 18h).  Likewise I would compare an Afterburner I2C state dump to a RivaTuner /ri.
   Also, AMD okays video BIOSes and has (at least) broken MSI's video BIOSes in their latest cards--listed as worked-around by the MSI SB/RT developer in MSI AB 1.51.

Check the physical power-up voltages.  However, assuming the card uses a Volterra power controller, it might be difficult since their datasheets aren't commonly available.
   Here's an example of why you would want to look for 1.675V at the controller:  The MSI 5770 Hawk powers-up to its third voltage register before using its fourth voltage register thereafter.  That is, once communications is started, new voltage values are sent to its power controller for it to use instead of the power-up defaults.  However, if there was an issue with communication with the power controller or similiar, the card could get stuck at its boot register values of 3rd (1.289V) or 4th (1.582V).


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 25, 2010)

Registered to say I'm having exactly the same problem.

Reference Sapphire HD5870, bought in first week of Australian release. Using MSI Afterburner I'm able to view and change the load core voltage to whatever I wish (confirmed in GPU-Z). I am, however, unable to flash any custom BIOS with changed voltage settings - no matter what I set the 0x18 register to, GPU-Z shows load voltage as 1.125.

I've tried flashing multiple different BIOSes to my card, and uninstalling/DriverSweeper/reinstalling CCC after each change, but it seems no matter what I do I'm stuck with 1.125 unless I use Afterburner - which needless to say is not an optimum solution.


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

Hey guys, sry to hear you are having issues...


I have had no issues adjusting volts and CCC max using RBE.

But i've been using a different bios, most likely.

I've included it here in my post, as well as 2 edited bioses...


maxCCC will not adjust voltages, but will raise CCC max to 1200/1500. Stock clocks are 900/1250.

CCCedit increases voltages to 1.225, as well as increases the max in CCC to 1200/1500.

900/1250 is the stock bios.

Make sure to flash using "atiflash -f -p 0 wwwwwww.www"


I am currently running the 900/1250 with CCC @ 1200/1500, with no volt increases, @ 925/1275, on a XFX XXX 5870.


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 25, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> Hey guys, sry to hear you are having issues...
> 
> 
> I have had no issues adjusting volts and CCC max using RBE.
> ...


Thanks for trying to help, but unlocking CCC is not the problem - flashing a BIOS with a custom core voltage is. I've tried multiple different BIOS versions without success - uninstalling all ATi software, running DriverSweeper, flashing to your "cccedit" BIOS file and then re-installing CCC (10.4a) does not help - as with custom BIOSes created from the reference Sapphire, load 3D voltage is still stuck at 1.125V, although MSI Afterburner is still able to change voltage.


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

huh...interesting..my cards are reference as well...

CCC unlock isn't the point..one of the bioses had increased voltage, and works perfectly...spent all day yesterday gaming with it.

So i think the base bios is the culprit...the bios I have used is the most recent for reference cards.

If it doesn't work(I had the same issues as you before), and you are changing clocks as well, then I'd think it's the clock change causing the issues...I've not modified clocks, just CCC max, and volts.

I ya like, I ca flash back to that bios, and show increased volts...in the end, I found the clock in crease the extra volts offered, only minimally impacted performance, so I went back to stock volts.


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 25, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> CCC unlock isn't the point..one of the bioses had increased voltage, and works perfectly...spent all day yesterday gaming with it.


I realise, thankyou for posting it - but as I said,


SoulsCollective said:


> ...uninstalling all ATi software, running DriverSweeper, flashing to your "cccedit" BIOS file and then re-installing CCC (10.4a) does not help - as with custom BIOSes created from the reference Sapphire, load 3D voltage is still stuck at 1.125V





cadaveca said:


> So i think the base bios is the culprit...the bios I have used is the most recent for reference cards.
> 
> If it doesn't work(I had the same issues as you before), and you are changing clocks as well, then I'd think it's the clock change causing the issues...I've not modified clocks, just CCC max, and volts.


I don't think so - as you can see, others are having the same issue with a card from a different manufacturer - and I've flashed not only your above linked BIOS with increased voltages, but I've also tried flashing edited versions of all the reference 5870 BIOS files listed on TPU without luck. RBE simply seems incapable of changing the load voltage on my card, although Afterburner has no trouble doing so. I've tried changing just one thing at a time, but again, no luck - no matter what I change the 0x18 register to, and even if that is the only change made, the load voltage does not increase. The only way to increase core load voltage that I have found is via MSI Afterburner, and this is obviously not ideal.


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

That's really odd. And no kidding, not ideal!

My cards came with a 1.174v bios, and from the sounds of things, you got 1.162?

So those cards are the ones affected?

Misterpro here has 1.25v default?


WTH?

I wonder if Afterburner is actually raising the volts...

I've noticed that the actual clock profiling within the bios is very different on some cards...check out an XFX bios, then Sapphire, and ASUS, and you'll find they use different positions for 3D clocks...

Working bios is using "clock info 3" for 3D clocks, while ASUS has 400/900 in this position, there is something definately weird with these bioses. The only ones that work for me are ones using "Clockinfo3" as 3D clocks.

My card has 1.15v and 850/1200 in clock info 1. It's also stable @ that clocks and volts...but only is I use those infos in "clockinfo3" area


Maybe some cards are using a different controller...


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 25, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> My cards came with a 1.174v bios, and from the sounds of things, you got 1.162?
> 
> So those cards are the ones affected?
> 
> Misterpro here has 1.25v default?


My card is the Sapphire "Game edition" reference card. From the BIOS it shipped with, and also the latest BIOS hosted here, the GPU registers are 0x15=1.15, 0x16=0.95, 0x17=1.0625, and 0x18=1.175. This results in, according to GPU-Z, a low idle 2D voltage of 0.95, dual-screen/idle of 1.0625, and load of 1.125 (note load is lower than referenced in 0x18 register).


> I wonder if Afterburner is actually raising the volts...


According to GPU-Z it is. And when raising with Afterburner I can see temps increasing on all relevant components, as well as being stable at higher clock speeds at which my machine will GraySOD/driver recover when at stock volts.


> Maybe some cards are using a different controller...


Possible - however Afterburner, which is only good for reference cards (or MSI customs, but that's not really relevant here) has no problems. I'm more inclined to think that these cards are somehow looking in a different place for the 3D load voltage, which Afterburner understands and can interpret but RBE cannot.


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

SoulsCollective said:


> and load of 1.125 (note load is lower than referenced in 0x18 register).






> I'm more inclined to think that these cards are somehow looking in a different place for the 3D load voltage, which Afterburner understands and can interpret but RBE cannot.



Yeah, something is whacked there. Like I mentioned before, only adjusting volts in "Clock info 3" got me anywhere...and from what you say, you are adjusting in "clock info00".

Is that correct?


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 25, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> Like I mentioned before, only adjusting volts in "Clock info 3" got me anywhere...and from what you say, you are adjusting in "clock info00".
> 
> Is that correct?


I'm adjusting voltages by editing the registers directly. Typing values directly into the Clock Info fields has done nothing on any of the cards I've used RBE with, not just this particular problem card, (and from the RBE FAQ and scamps' tutorial directly editing values in the Clock Info fields will not work and is not the correct method with 5-series cards), and the drop-down menu only has "---" as an option.

According to the Powerplay settings, though, Clock Info 03 is only used for UVD - which is borne out by the fact that the core and mem clocks set there never become active during regular usage - so I wouldn't expect it to be affecting load 3D voltages.


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

Just open the bioses I put here in RBE...and see the difference...as you can see in CCC and GPU-Z, once compared with BIOS, for some reason these cards use that "clockinfo03" space for 3D clocks work with volts increases...I don't know why, or WTH is going on, but I do know that bioses that use "clockinfo 00" don't allow volt changes here, but ones with "Clockinfo03" as 3D do.



Maybe this is the cause of the issue, I dunno, nor do I understand why these bioses would be different, when the cards I have are indentical to every other reference card out there...nor do I understand why XFX does it this way when ASUS and others do not.

What I do know is that I've spent all weekend playing with bioses, and now it works for me. Yiou'll see above someone with the same cards, and the same issue. I no longer have this issue.

I also managed to get rid of any other issues I had with the cards too, all done using bios edits.

kinda O/T but...

To the point, my cards are 875/1300 stock, and this is my 3rd pair of cards, but I have had 7 total now, and not one of them worked perfectly @ 1300mhz mem. I'll be dealing with XFX and THAT issue on Monday. I bought cards with 1300mhz mem, that's what I expect. If they cannot deliver, I expect a refund.


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 25, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> Just open the bioses I put here in RBE...and see the difference...as you can see in CCC and GPU-Z, once compared with BIOS, for some reason these cards use that "clockinfo03" space for 3D clocks work with volts increases...I don't know why, or WTH is going on, but I do know that bioses that use "clockinfo 00" don't allow volt changes here, but ones with "Clockinfo03" as 3D do.


I noticed that, yes - and also that your BIOSes reference a 3D load setting which is different from boot settings, whereas on the Sapphire BIOSes the 3D load and boot settings are the same. Still, flashing your BIOS with 3D load referencing Clock Info 03 to my card did not change load voltages, and other Sapphire reference cards using the same BIOS as mine are capable of having load voltages edited by RBE, as a quick Google will tell you.


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

Then I'd say you are SOL.


I have no reasons as to why...if these bioses don't work for ya.

Interestingly enough, the ASUS and Sapphire bioses do seem to ahve issues with 2D flicker on my cards, so there msut be a different controller or something.

After I deal with XFX tomorrow, I'll pull my cards apart and snap some pics of the area and we'll see if there really is a physical difference...there MUST BE...

But at least, I think dude above wit hthe same card as me should have some luck with these bioses..if not..well...WTH!!!


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## BAGZZlash (Apr 25, 2010)

All this sounds kinda odd. Did any of you guys actually measure (with a multimeter) what the voltages in fact are before/after RBE/Afterburner voltage setup?


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

Odd, 100%

As to multimeter readings, I have, yes(Assuming I'm using the right spot). It's the only reason I hate these backplates!  volts area tad lower that what afterburner reads, and I get what seems to be a fair amount of droop, too. I'd love some cards with all the vgpu phases in place!

I'm running Crossfire, and that plus ULPS and Afterburner don't work well, so I have no other option but to flash bioses currently, if I want higher volts.


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## misterpro (Apr 25, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> That's really odd. And no kidding, not ideal!
> 
> My cards came with a 1.174v bios, and from the sounds of things, you got 1.162?
> 
> ...



It's 1.125V under load.  And the original BIOS has 1.1625V according to RBE, it just doesn't listen to whatever you put in that register.

It seems some "cherry" cards that pass ATI's tests at 1.125V run at that voltage (let's call it "CPU registers A"), and don't look in the same spot as 1.1625V cards.  So you can change RBE's CPU register voltage to whatever you want, the card won't listen as you are chaging "CPU registers B" and it's an "A" card.

That makes any sense?

RBE maker needs to find the spot of these extra registers so we can change it.

BTW afterburner of whatever can raise the voltage just fine.. (If you install afterburner and unlock voltage control it will be  @ 1.125V volt.  Pressing "reset to default" or whatever the button was called again sticks it @ 1.1625V, as Afterburner thinks that's the default voltage under load on all cards... Well obviously it isn't.  And you can raise further just fine with Afterburner.  I benched around a bit with it @ 1.3V and it gets much hotter so I guess that would mean it is actually raising the volts and not 'faking' it)


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

Well now..afterburner works fine for me with single card too, so it seems that MSI is aware of the difference, at least.

I mean, obviously my card here is different than yours, as the bios shows. So XFX is aware too.

Now I'm wondering...votls changes work for me, mem is about avg compared to other cards...if I end up RMA'ing my cards..what will I get?


So, like, do you have any other issues? Any GSOD's, 2DFlicker, or any of that?


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## misterpro (Apr 25, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> Well now..afterburner works fine for me with single card too, so it seems that MSI is aware of the difference, at least.
> 
> I mean, obviously my card here is different than yours, as the bios shows. So XFX is aware too.
> 
> ...



On that card, one GSOD, withing 5mins of starting a 3D game.  But ONLY on a cold system (as in powered off 24 hours).  After that initial GSOD it can happily plow on for hours, days, weeks, whatever you want provided you don't shut down and power it off.

And it's nothing with the cooler either, I ditched the standard cooler.

Nothing with the Power Supply or drivers also.  I put in a second 5870 (a 1.1625V one) I have without changing anything or reinstalling drivers.  And it doesn't GSOD then ever...

Weird shit huh


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## cadaveca (Apr 25, 2010)

Does the weird card has Hynix mem instead of Samsung? That might be part of it...

I was kinda shocked that the newer analogue parts came out so quickly too, so maybe ATI really is gonna release a whole new gpu this fall.

It's kinda a sad state of affairs when 7 cards don't work right @ stock clocks. Maybe all these differences is due to them dealing with it.

Anyway, I'm venturing into O/T here, so I'm gonna stop right there.

You've pulled the cooling, so you wanna maybe note the pcb number, etc? Maybe we can suss out the differences.


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## misterpro (Apr 26, 2010)

cadaveca said:


> Does the weird card has Hynix mem instead of Samsung? That might be part of it...
> 
> I was kinda shocked that the newer analogue parts came out so quickly too, so maybe ATI really is gonna release a whole new gpu this fall.
> 
> ...



Where would that be located?  On the back is a rectangle labeled 

PLACE PERMANENT P/N BARCODE,
& S/N PRODUCT LABEL HERE

But there's nothing there   Just like the pics on quite a few reviews.  For example this techpowerup review pic 







And it's using Samsung memory

SAMSUNG 934
K4G10325FE-HC04


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 26, 2010)

BAGZZlash said:


> All this sounds kinda odd. Did any of you guys actually measure (with a multimeter) what the voltages in fact are before/after RBE/Afterburner voltage setup?


Ah, the man himself.

No, I haven't verified voltages via DMM - I don't have a working one at present - but as above, we've done our best to verify Afterburner is working whereas RBE is not - 


MakubeX said:


> However, I can use Afterburner to set the voltage I want. In fact, testing different voltages with Afterburner is how I came up with 1.275v, since I found out my card can do 1050/1300 stable with 1.275v.





SoulsCollective said:


> According to GPU-Z it is. And when raising with Afterburner I can see temps increasing on all relevant components, as well as being stable at higher clock speeds at which my machine will GraySOD/driver recover when at stock volts.





misterpro said:


> BTW afterburner of whatever can raise the voltage just fine.. (If you install afterburner and unlock voltage control it will be  @ 1.125V volt.  Pressing "reset to default" or whatever the button was called again sticks it @ 1.1625V, as Afterburner thinks that's the default voltage under load on all cards... Well obviously it isn't.  And you can raise further just fine with Afterburner.  I benched around a bit with it @ 1.3V and it gets much hotter so I guess that would mean it is actually raising the volts and not 'faking' it)





cadaveca said:


> So, like, do you have any other issues? Any GSOD's, 2DFlicker, or any of that?


Nope, no issues whatsoever beyond the known issue of flicker when enabling Overdrive with two monitors. Card works perfectly.


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## MakubeX (Apr 26, 2010)

Ah, I forgot about this thread. I'm glad other people brought it back.

Asus SmartDoctor (which what I'm currently using) can also change the voltages just fine. Just can't do it with RBE.


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## MrLeopard (Apr 26, 2010)

Information regarding this problem is spread over several threads here. BAGZZlash said in another thread (http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=120022) that it's very unlikely that those 1.125V are "hidden" in a register that RBE can't read. As far as I know all "register 0x18 resistant cards" have those 1.125V 3D vGPU (measured with Afterburner/GPU-Z/Smart-Doctor) in common.

It's safe to say that overvolting via Afterburner/SmartDoctor does work on those cards, since overclocking-capability (and temperature) increases accordingly.


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## MrLeopard (Apr 28, 2010)

Some news (kind of):

There is some guy at hardwareluxx.de who bought a second-hand HD5870 and the original owner flashed it successfully to 1000/1250 MHz @ *1.25V* and used it this way. Anyway, the new owner found out that his new card is completely unstable and therefore monitored voltages during load: *1.125V*

So if it's true that the original owner flashed and used the card with altered voltages and the new owner is affected by the 1.125V-phenomenon on the same card, this would mean that the cause of this problem lies somwhere in the remainig system. Maybe it's the mainboard/chipset, or psu, or operating-system?


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 28, 2010)

Could be, but then, why would it specifically affect reading of one register and yet not Afterburner, Smart Doctor, etc etc? Is that even possible? Similarly, the problem seems quite widespread, and affects different motherboards, PSUs, OSes, etc etc.

Still, something to consider.


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## MrLeopard (Apr 28, 2010)

SoulsCollective said:


> Could be, but then, why would it specifically affect reading of one register and yet not Afterburner, Smart Doctor, etc etc? Is that even possible? Similarly, the problem seems quite widespread, and affects different motherboards, PSUs, OSes, etc etc.
> 
> Still, something to consider.



I'm afraid there are no other options left. Does it really affect different OSes, or is it all down to Win7? One could assume that nearly all HD5870 users are using Win7 due to DX11 support.
Maybe it's some kind of energy-saving-interaction between motherboard, os and driver in certain combinations? I'd like to see the behaviour of one those cards on a good-old WinXP 32-bit installation.


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## BAGZZlash (Apr 28, 2010)

MrLeopard said:


> So if it's true that the original owner flashed and used the card with altered voltages and the new owner is affected by the 1.125V-phenomenon on the same card, this would mean that the cause of this problem lies somwhere in the remainig system. Maybe it's the mainboard/chipset, or psu, or operating-system?





SoulsCollective said:


> Could be, but then, why would it specifically affect reading of one register and yet not Afterburner, Smart Doctor, etc etc?



Could be. Maybe it's similar to the fan control problem where the driver bullies the BIOS settings out as soon as the driver is loaded. TSR-Tweaking tools like AfterBurner again overwrite the settings in the memory afterwards and thus, still work. ATI seems to dislike BIOS modding and lets the driver overwrite the settings the BIOS puts in on bootup.

There are two ways to test this:


First idea: Try a clearly older catalyst like 9.11 or something.
Second (and even better) idea: Flash a BIOS with significantly more voltage than those 1.125V and measure it via multimeter *during boot up*. If it helps, enter the CMOS setup so the computer won't boot into windows. If the voltage is higher without loaded drivers and then, after booting, drops back to 1.125V, it's due to the driver.


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## SoulsCollective (Apr 28, 2010)

BAGZZlash said:


> Could be. Maybe it's similar to the fan control problem where the driver bullies the BIOS settings out as soon as the driver is loaded. TSR-Tweaking tools like AfterBurner again overwrite the settings in the memory afterwards and thus, still work. ATI seems to dislike BIOS modding and lets the driver overwrite the settings the BIOS puts in on bootup.


I'll do my best to test the first possibility as I don't have a DMM, but again, that raises a question - why would only some cards be affected? In some cases, cards from the same manufacturer of the same design with the same part number? I agree that this sounds most probable, but I don't understand how only some cards could be affected and not others.


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## misterpro (Apr 28, 2010)

BAGZZlash said:


> Could be. Maybe it's similar to the fan control problem where the driver bullies the BIOS settings out as soon as the driver is loaded. TSR-Tweaking tools like AfterBurner again overwrite the settings in the memory afterwards and thus, still work. ATI seems to dislike BIOS modding and lets the driver overwrite the settings the BIOS puts in on bootup.
> 
> There are two ways to test this:
> 
> ...



Intersting observation but why does my card run @ 1.125V while when I swap in my 2nd 5870 without changing anything or even reinstalling drivers it runs @ 1.1625V

That would suggest it isn't the driver either right?


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## BAGZZlash (Apr 28, 2010)

Hmmm... true. Anyway: Isn't there anyone with a multimeter around?


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## mkchiu (Apr 29, 2010)

BAGZZlash said:


> [*]Second (and even better) idea: Flash a BIOS with significantly more voltage than those 1.125V and measure it via multimeter *during boot up*.
> [/LIST]



The UPI power controllers I've measured (6204s) have "hard-coded" cold-boot (POST) voltages via resistor dividers.  IIRC, the ST L6788A datasheets also indicate "selectable" hard-coded start-up voltages.  I've no Volterra parts or datasheets.

So measuring POST voltage is not useful to verify RBE POST operation.  Instead, it isoltes whether the PCB layout is poor, or GPU foundation BIOS from AMD is non-functional.

I've measured one 5770 with a ~1.176V and another 5770 with ~1.289V as the POST-start-up-voltage.


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## MakubeX (Apr 30, 2010)

Yeah I don't think it's mobo or OS related because I used other 5870s of the same brand and this is the only one having the 1.125v problem.


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## MrLeopard (Apr 30, 2010)

MakubeX said:


> Yeah I don't think it's mobo or OS related because I used other 5870s of the same brand and this is the only one having the 1.125v problem.



OK, but there is at least one case where one single HD5870 features the 1.125V-phenomenon in one system and behaves like normal in the other system. Given that the person isn't talking trash of course...


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## b2vFAh6J (May 4, 2010)

i'm getting the exact same problem. using XFX 5870 XXX edition, and flashed with asus bios as well, no change.


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## SoulsCollective (Jun 11, 2010)

Any ideas on this?

I've picked up another 5870, again a Sapphire "Game Edition", same clocks, same reference design, except this one is not affected by the stuck voltage problem. Getting very frustrated not being able to properly OC one of my two, apparently identical, cards.


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## Enoy21 (Sep 11, 2011)

I think I may have found something here guys. 

I don't believe it's a hardware thing but a Bios thing..... And could be related to the card itself.   

Those of you using two 5870 cards with different results.... Are you SURE it's truly two 5870's and one is not a 5850 ?  Are the majority of us in here trying to flash a 5850 to 5870 bios having this issue ? 


I am running a 5850 which uses 0x17 as it's 3d performance register.  
The 5870 bios (and actual card possibly) uses 0x18.  

If I install the 5870 Bios I have the same issue as all of you  I top out at 1.125 no matter what setting is in 0x17 or 0x18  ( I tried setting them both to 1.1625 ) But I get my VTT Register controls.  


If I put on my 5850 Bios I can set the 0x17 to whatever I want and it sticks and shows in GPU-z.   I used 1.15 as my 0x17 register and it worked.    But I lose my VTT controls. 

One other thing I noticed is that on the 5870, the Clock 00  shows a voltage of --  rather than what it's reading in the registers, whereas the 5850 shows the register information in clock 00 as what is found in 0x17 . ( in this case 1.088 )


I'm running a test right now and took my 5850 Bios. Changed the register 0x17 to 1.1625 ( 5870 voltage ) BUT  I changed the clock 00 voltage to --- which is what the 5870 shows. 

After reboot I'll be back for update.


====================


Ok after setting the Clock00 to --- voltage it seems to have defaulted to 0x15 (1.0v) at idle  so that's screwing with my powerplay options. 


So right now it seems I have one of two options.


1 - Use a 5870 Bios and get higher memory OC thanks to the higher vMem but lower GPU due to lack of vCore options
2- Or the other way around.  Use a 5850Bios and whatever vCore I want but less vMem thereby reducing Memory OC.


Unless someone has come up with a better answer since this time one year ago ?


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## Enoy21 (Sep 11, 2011)

Could this actually be a problem with GPU-Z reading it correctly ? 

It seems Furmark and GPU Shark are reading what the Bios says it should be doing :


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## Enoy21 (Sep 12, 2011)

Since I am just talking to myself here I'll update myself. 


I am believing this is just an issue with GPU-z as I am currently benchmarking a 925-1250 OC.  And the above picture shows the two other programs reading differently. 

I believe that going to 1.2v core and slightly higher on memory I could hit the 1000/1300 mark , but I don't think that is necassary at this time as I don't want to have to run my fan above 40% due to noise levels.   

With stock cooling ( reference ) and auto fan turned on I am topping out around 86c in Furmark , but my games and Unigine don't seem to go above 75c . 


One change I also made today that may have helped in stability ( can't say for sure ) is that I went to the ATI 103 bios rather than the Sapphire/Asus 101 I had been using previously. 

This increased vcore (register 0x18 ) voltage from 1.165 to 1.175.  


I am so glad I took the chance and used RBE instead of third party active software due to the punkbuster interference.  ( If not for Punkbuster then any of the overvolt Utilities would be awesome.) 

Now I can OC with ATITray tools with no punkbuster issues at all.   

Unigine scores went from 43 FPS score 1103 @ stock to  56 fps 1364 score at 925/1250. ( although there was no real changes between 1225 and 1250 on memory so I will likely run 1225 for most applications ) 


Thanks for reading. Maybe this will help someone else in a google search one day.


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