VBE7 - vBIOS Editor for Radeon HD 7000 series cards

[leeb2013]

Found another strange thing. Invalid checksum again, 256 bytes differ again... But this time not filled with zeros, seems like some random stuff from the memory.
Link to the two files:
XFX.HD7970.3072.120110.rom
XFX.HD7970.3072.120110_1.rom

that is wierd, do you reckon XFX are having issues flashing their own bios's?

 

[trodas]

Could the program at least display the ram timings, as the old RaBit did:

....I think it could be at least interestingly informative. BTW sometimes loose timings + higher clocks = gain. And sometimes one of the values is holding the overclock back, so... editing this would be awesome at least.

 

[bios22]

Hi, thank you so much for this program its excellent

I just have one question regarding the TDP section. Iv attached my original bios (Tahiti ) from my Powercolor pcs+ HD7950 and as you can see its reading my TDP at 142. Im guessing that's not correct so what should i do. Iv also attached my modded bios ( Tahiti2 )

 

[darkhmz]

leeb2013: no, found more BIOSes, from other manufacturers too... Always 256 bytes long block(s), usually filled with zeros, and the checksum is invalid. Attached a comparison pic of two 6850 BIOSes, they are the same, except the area from 7500 - 75ff (in this case, part of the BIOS character set). There is an app displaying the data as bitmap, starting from the address 7585. The BIOS on the right side has some missing characters. (are these bioses messed up by the manufacturers, or maybe gpu-z sometimes not saving the bios properly?)

trodas: might look into it later.

bios22: The tdp is calculated from the upper power limit and the tdp limit % :
170 / 1.2 = 141.67 ~ 142
142 * 0.2 = 28.4
lower power limit: 142 - 28.4 = 113.6 ~ 114 (115 in your BIOS)
upper power limit: 142 + 28.4 = 170.4 ~ 170 (170 in your BIOS)

 

[bios22]

So i can now flash my card. Thanks for the explanation and the quick reply.

 

[darkhmz]

So i can now flash my card. Thanks for the explanation and the quick reply.

btw i recommend you a bit higher voltage

 

[bios22]

Too late i just flashed it lol. It seems to be running fine but iv yet to test it. I did put the volts quite low as there's a sapphire card running 900mhz at .993 volts so i thought my card with lower clock speeds would handle less voltage. If it fails a test il bump it up to .975 and try again. What do you run to test your cards as i normally do 2 runs of the heaven benchmark followed by 2 runs of 3dmark11. Is that enough or is there anything better i should use?

 

[rake]

Why not test for stability BEFORE you flash the bios... rather than this flash-and-pray method?

 

[Tomorrow]

My experience is that there's no substitute for real world gaming. Benchmarks and stress test tools are ok for a quick check but games (the demanding ones) are what really confirm the stability of a certain setting. For example i reccommend Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider and so on. These are very stressful games and likely you wont be able to max them out and play at 60fps. But they are great for testing long term stability in games.
And what more important - its actually fun instead of watching a furry donut spinning in flames for hours lol (furmark reference).

 

[bios22]

Wheres your sense of adventure "rake" I tried afterburner, trixx and powerup tuner and they would allow me to change clock speeds, voltages etc but the voltages never took. Didn't matter how high or low i put them they stayed at stock levels. Anyway the volts im giving it are hardly extreme.

"Tomorrow" il just test it with heaven, 3d mark and then open up metro last light (love that game) and that should tell me if its stable.

 

[leeb2013]

darkhmz: would it be possible to add some further voltage steps to the VBE tool. I'm trying to push my card up to 1100MHz core, but the voltage steps go; 1.081v, 1.090v, 1.125v.

1.090v is not enough for me to hit 1050MHz core, but 1.125v gets the temperatures too high. Could 1.100v and 1.110v be added for example?

Thanks again

 

[The Mac]

im pretty sure the voltage stepping is controlled by the voltage controllers, you dont really have any control over granularity.

 

[Tomorrow]

Isnt the case rather that voltage control was added for unknown VRM-s?
Im assuming it uses predetermined steps.

 

[htxqq18]

HI，I want to ask a question

If the VBE7 can be used on HD8970M？

 

[darkhmz]

darkhmz: would it be possible to add some further voltage steps to the VBE tool. I'm trying to push my card up to 1100MHz core, but the voltage steps go; 1.081v, 1.090v, 1.125v.

1.090v is not enough for me to hit 1050MHz core, but 1.125v gets the temperatures too high. Could 1.100v and 1.110v be added for example?

Thanks again

Sorry, i can't add more values to the voltage table. You have to choose one of the available voltages.

If the VBE7 can be used on HD8970M？

Even if it works, i would not recommend you to modify your BIOS (seen your thread).

 

[Viring]

Hi, darkhmz!

Can you help me with my Sapphire 7970 Ghz Vapor-X BIOS?
This card have two BIOS on board (boost non-boost). I can't flash modify BIOS because I don't know voltage specifications. On stock voltage (1.256) card works on 1175Mhz.
Can you modify my BIOS to stable 1190 or 1200? ASIC - 56,3% but i don't have a voltage table

Thnx!

 

[darkhmz]

Hi, darkhmz!

Can you help me with my Sapphire 7970 Ghz Vapor-X BIOS?
This card have two BIOS on board (boost non-boost). I can't flash modify BIOS because I don't know voltage specifications. On stock voltage (1.256) card works on 1175Mhz.
Can you modify my BIOS to stable 1190 or 1200? ASIC - 56,3% but i don't have a voltage table

Thnx!

Hi! Could you save this BIOS again and attach here please?

 

[Viring]

Hi! Could you save this BIOS again and attach here please?

Ok. Saved with atiflash

 

[darkhmz]

Ok. Saved with atiflash

Ok, thanks... What did you use for saving the other BIOS? Because they are not the same (even though they should be the same...). The another has invalid checksum, and guess what, a 256 bytes long block filled with zeros.

 

[Viring]

Ok, thanks... What did you use for saving the other BIOS? Because they are not the same (even though they should be the same...). The another has invalid checksum, and guess what, a 256 bytes long block filled with zeros.

Wow... it's possible? I saved other BIOS by using GPU-Z and then flashed it. It was ok...except overclocking.

 

[darkhmz]

Wow... it's possible? I saved other BIOS by using GPU-Z and then flashed it. It was ok...except overclocking.

Yeah looks like its possible... Use the 01.rom as backup, the one saved with gpu-z is messed up...

 

[Viring]

Yeah looks like its possible... Use the 01.rom as backup, the one saved with gpu-z is messed up...

Ok. However, how about the voltage? Do you have a voltage table or something? Any tips may help. 1175Mhz on stock vddc, but 1200... really don't know.

 

[darkhmz]

Required voltage varies from gpu to gpu, test your oc and if its stable make a modified bios.

 

[Viring]

Required voltage varies from gpu to gpu, test your oc and if its stable make a modified bios.

I can't test an overclock without a changing gpu voltage, but it's locked on Sapphire Vapor-X
It's changing only by flashing BIOS with VBE

However, thanks for your tips

 

[htxqq18]

Hi

Dear darkhmz:
I have used your VBE tools on HD8970M card,the7.0.0.7 version worked fine,but 7.0.0.7a can't open any vbios files.
Now,I need your answers for some questions:
1.The overview shows “memory type：SAMSUNG DVS0”,but I know the really memory type is ’Hynix H5GQ2H24MFR'.can you modify it？
2.When I change the memory clock by any softwear，the screen will be black,whether increased or decreased.Is it caused by the different between the vbios and hardwear memory type？
This is my HD8970M vbios：View attachment bios.zip