VBE7 - vBIOS Editor for Radeon HD 7000 series cards

[Ruski]

Wanted to updated everyone as i got bored last night and flashed the Asus R9 280x Matrix Platinum BIOS to my card.

To my surprise, everything went perfect. The only difference with atiflash was that I had to force the flash (atiflash -f -p 0 [bios.rom], as the Subsystem ID was different on the R9 bios.

Stock clocks are 1100 / 1600 with boost voltage of 1.256v and very low TDW of 204W (245W with +20%).

So far i am running 1175 / 1600 overclock to test stability, without ANY adjustments to voltage or TDP.

The heat difference is VERY noticeable, as I now top out at ~73C while playing BF4 with fan settings on Auto. (before i could his 80C with fan settings at 75%).

Going to try and max out the GPU clock today and report back. So far, the results in Heaven Bench are similar but I am using Catalyst 13.11 Beta 9.2 drivers with the R9 bios.

If anyone is going to try and flash their HD 7970 to an R9 280x PLEASE REMEMBER to first uninstall ALL Catalyst drivers, then flash, then reinstall catalyst.

 

[levelord]

Ruski
My congrats to you.
74 degrees pretty high for BF4, even in Furmark i don't see temp higher 70. Something must be wrong with cooling. Try to tighten up the screws.

 

[Ruski]

Ruski
My congrats to you.
74 degrees pretty high for BF4, even in Furmark i don't see temp higher 70. Something must be wrong with cooling. Try to tighten up the screws.

Might be because i bumped the voltage to 1.275V and TDP at 250W (+20%)

BF4 is maxing out my temps basically, as both 3DMark and Heaven bench measure less or equal.

 

[Towtol]

I have a unique situation that I'd like some help with.

I purchased a Sapphire HD 7950 100352-3L to replace my aging GTX-460's and after a couple of months I decided to buy another one to run in cfx.

It seems that even though they both are the same cards physically and have the same PN/SKU labels, they don't have the same bios' for the same switch position (neither positions).

It wouldn't be that big of a deal except the Power States, Overdrives, and Fan Curves are diff.

Looking at the bios' it seems that Sapphire flashed the bios of Card #1 with that of a diff model 7950 (might be Flex with Boost version). Card #2 seems to have the correct versions of bios as far as I can tell.

I saved all the bios' and then tried to flash Card #1 with the bios of Card #2... no luck. It will not take it. I can modify some of the settings of the saved bios for Card #1 and flash that back into it but default voltage doesn't want to change and the Fan Curves don't change.

It just doesn't seem right to have two cards in cfx doing two diff things. The only time they are the same is when I OC them using TRIXX forcing a constant voltage. These are non-ref cards so AB is not letting me access voltage.

My feelings are that Card #1 somehow has diff components than Card #2. This is the only thing I can think of that prevents me from flashing the bios with the "correct" rom.

I've tried to explain this to Sapphire but it's like... awww nvm. It just ain't goin to happen there.

Newegg was willing to provide a replacement (even though it was out of their warranty) up until they found out I didn't have the original UPC (sent that off for a rebate).

I've attached the bios' in case anyone is interested in looking to see what might be going on.

Any help, opinions, advice, etc... would be greatly appreciated!

 

[levelord]

According to Subsystem ID they are not the same, though i don't see reasons why they don't work in pair. And i don't see why you weren't able to flash one into another.
Did you use "-p -f" prefixes? Try atiwinflash, some times dos flasher doesn't recognise roms.

 

[Towtol]

Did you use "-p -f" prefixes in atiflash?

Yep, that's exactly what I used. I do get a correct confirmation that the bios has been flashed but upon rebooting all settings read zero (in TRIXX, AB, and GPU-Z). They will scale from zero to ten though.

I read some articles on checksums but the checksums change when I make a small mod and it will flash okay.

 

[levelord]

I do get a correct confirmation that the bios has been flashed but upon rebooting all settings read zero (in TRIXX, AB, and GPU-Z).

That's odd. Did you use -unlockrom 0? Though if it says flashed, then bios is write unlocked

 

[Towtol]

That's odd. Did you use -unlockrom 0? Though if it says flashed, then bios is write unlocked

I didn't try unlockrom... I didn't notice that flag. Will take another look.

 

[Towtol]

I noticed Ruski's post at the top of the page and realized that I hadn't tried uninstalling all ati drivers before flashing the bios. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

I did save what was in the bios of Card #1 after I had flashed it with the bios of Card #2 and did a compare... exactly the same bit for bit.

CCC acknowledges that there are two cards as it goes into cfx automatically but without any temp indication I'm afraid to do any further testing.

 

[leeb2013]

I noticed Ruski's post at the top of the page and realized that I hadn't tried uninstalling all ati drivers before flashing the bios. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

I did save what was in the bios of Card #1 after I had flashed it with the bios of Card #2 and did a compare... exactly the same bit for bit.

CCC acknowledges that there are two cards as it goes into cfx automatically but without any temp indication I'm afraid to do any further testing.

after flashing and you restart the PC, do you let the PC power down completely or just a restart? I found that with just a restart, it ignored some of the bios settings, but not others.

 

[Towtol]

after flashing and you restart the PC, do you let the PC power down completely or just a restart? I found that with just a restart, it ignored some of the bios settings, but not others.

From the dos prompt I power completely down and wait a few seconds before powering back up.

Something I did find out is that if I'm on the default bios and change switch position, I can flash the bios of the new position (user bios) with atiwinflash without having to cycle power first. This brought me back from a bricked user bios... neither card would boot up in user bios with the one card bricked. Won't let that happen again... lol

 

[Ruski]

So far, i am completely stable playing BF4 and Company of Heroes 2 w/R9 280X Matrix Platinum BIOS @ 1120 / 1600 / 1.275v / 250W TDP

Funny thing is, I still can't control voltage in Afterburner, but Trixx gives me control up to the 1.275v limit I set in vBIOS. (perhaps i need to re-install Afterburner?)

Haven't tried GPU Tweak yet at all....and don't much like Trixx, as i prefer to see the Hardware Monitor stuff Afterburner has.

 

[Towtol]

Haven't tried GPU Tweak yet at all....and don't much like Trixx, as i prefer to see the Hardware Monitor stuff Afterburner has.

I prefer AB also but have to use TRIXX since AB not giving me voltage control with the Sapphire non-ref 7950s.

I really like the graphing in AB... helped me on more than a few occasions to localize problem areas.

 

[Ruski]

ok wow...so after i read that Asus released a brand new version of GPU Tweak specifically with these new R9 280x cards, i just installed it (version 2.4.9.2)

Holly crap, its giving me full control I am scared lol

Adjustable Settings and my current clocks:

• GPU Clock (MHz) - 1155MHz
• GPU Voltage (mV) - 1275mV
• VDDCI (mV) - 875mV
• Memory Clock (MHz) - 1600 (6400MHz)
• Memory Voltage (mV) - 1520mV
• Power Target (TDP) (%) - 120% (300W)
• Fan Speed - Custom

Anyone else try and mess with their VDDCI or Memory Voltage? Also, still no clue how to monitor VRM Temps on this card hehe.....Any tips on these would be much appreciated.

What are the odds i blow my card away by messing with these hahah?

For those who haven't followed my parade of posts, I have the Asus HD 7970 DirectCU II which i flashed with the Asus R9 280X Matrix Platinum BIOS!

I uploaded the R9 280X BIOS that i used to flash my card. There are two version theres, the stock version i got online, plus the modded version i edited via VBE7 (280x_Mod.rom) Marjamar I think you might as well try this BIOS and see how it goes. Also, download the GPU Tweak i referenced, looks like there are many more controls there....it even allows you to "Burn" settings into the card...i am assuming by flashing the BIOS on the fly.

Also, the GPU Tweak monitor is reporting real-time GPU voltage, mem voltage, vddci voltage, even pcie12v voltage! When i play with the GPU Voltage, it seems to be reflected in the monitor once i start benchmarking. I notice a bit of vdroop also btw...

 

[leeb2013]

Something I did find out is that if I'm on the default bios and change switch position, I can flash the bios of the new position (user bios) with atiwinflash without having to cycle power first. This brought me back from a bricked user bios... neither card would boot up in user bios with the one card bricked. Won't let that happen again... lol

That's good to hear. I've not bricked the cards yet, but I'd hoped the switch would work as you describe. At least it means you can always recover and then reflash the user position. A very handy feature.

 

[leeb2013]

ok wow...so after i read that Asus released a brand new version of GPU Tweak specifically with these new R9 280x cards, i just installed it (version 2.4.9.2)

Holly crap, its giving me full control I am scared lol

Adjustable Settings and my current clocks:

• GPU Clock (MHz) - 1120MHz
• GPU Voltage (mV) - 1275mV
• VDDCI (mV) - 875mV
• Memory Clock (MHz) - 1600 (6400MHz)
• Memory Voltage (mV) - 1520mV
• Power Target (%) - 100% (250W)
• Fan Speed - Auto

Anyone else try and mess with their VDDCI or Memory Voltage?

What are the odds i blow my card away by messing with these hahah?

For those who haven't followed my parade of posts, I have the Asus HD 7970 DirectCU II which i flashed with the Asus R9 280X Matrix Platinum BIOS!

I did change my memory voltage recently when I was trying litecoin mining. I underclocked the memory to 3200 and dropped the voltage from 1.6v to 1.4v to save power using the HIS Turbo app. It worked, but litecoin mining doesn't cover the electricity used!

I did change the 2d clock once (not the voltage) but it kept crashing. It would be nice to change the voltage, maybe the Asus app would work!

If you've got a BIOS switch and can recover, then go for it! (but don't blame me LOL!)

 

[marjamar]

Well the DCU2 is boxed up and heading back to Asus. It has been having problems since purchased over a year ago with sudden lockups. This is the primary reason I was trying other BIOS installs, once I found VBE7. Prior to using VBE7, I did a UEIF BIOS install from Asus. Didn't seem to help.

Figured maybe more VDDC would do the trick, but since I never really got VDDC measurably higher, it has still been locking up. Something inside is broken, loose, damaged or whatever, but today I have not been able to run a number of different benching software, even at default settings.

Already had and RMA from about a week ago, so rather then let it time out, I'm sending this back to see if it can be fixed or swapped out.

So now I have my old nvidia GTX470 filling the gap. It's been the least problem card I've ever owned. Still works fine, just a bit slow, but not always in everything. Here a couple of benchmarks I did. One with the RMA'd DCU2 done yesterday, and the other just now with the GTX470. Take a look and tell me why is the GTX470 beating the pants off the DCU2? Really makes one wonder.

-Rodger

 

[Random Murderer]

Take a look and tell me why is the GTX470 beating the pants off the DCU2? Really makes one wonder.

-Rodger

The 470 is using GPU PhysX, not CPU. that gives the physics, combined, and total scores a boost. look at the GPU score alone.

 

[marjamar]

Yeah I know. Just thought it should be shown how much AMD lacks without finding a way to license PhysX from NVIDIA. I am seriously considering plunking down a grand and buying the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN SuperClocked 6GB and be done with it.

The 470 is using GPU PhysX, not CPU. that gives the physics, combined, and total scores a boost. look at the GPU score alone.

 

[Ruski]

Yeah I know. Just thought it should be shown how much AMD lacks without finding a way to license PhysX from NVIDIA. I am seriously considering plunking down a grand and buying the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN SuperClocked 6GB and be done with it.

Well you do make a good point, if cash is not an obstacle, then why not?

For me its really two things:
1) When i have time to play games (which isn't that often anymore, although BF4 is a blast ), i care about real world performance and my right now i can play at fully maxed out ULTRA everything settings sticking at 60+ fps 95% of the time....if not higher. To me thats huge value at $269 (+3 free games i haven't claimed yet).

2) I get into a mode where i like to tweak things and play around with overclocking every once in a while. This was a perfect opportunity to take an older 7970, flash the R9 280x BIOS and overlock beyond the 1150/1600 speeds for the top R9 280x cards. Fun times

Finally, I am not up to speed on things but from what i remember PhysX with Nvidia only makes a difference in games that have been specifically coded to take advantage of the feature right? So BF4 for instance, i can't find any specific reference to utilizing PhysX and only see something about AMD and DICE codeveloping something to specifically make the Radeon cards outshine Nvidia.

I guess it comes down to what you plan on using the cards for....great discussion though and love the forum here, some really good info/feedback!

Update on tuning my R9 280X (HD 7970 in disguise):
I ran 3DMark, Heaven Bench & BF4 for 6+ hours yesterday at 1170/1600/1.25V on Core/+20% TDP (300W) without a hitch last night!

I am loving the new GPU Tweak, with settings and monitoring available on this new BIOS!

 

[Random Murderer]

Yeah I know. Just thought it should be shown how much AMD lacks without finding a way to license PhysX from NVIDIA. I am seriously considering plunking down a grand and buying the EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN SuperClocked 6GB and be done with it.

Or you could do what a lot of others(including myself) are doing and run an AMD GPU as the main with an NV card strictly for PhysX.

 

[marjamar]

Or you could do what a lot of others(including myself) are doing and run an AMD GPU as the main with an NV card strictly for PhysX.

I actually was trying to do something like that shortly after getting the DCU2, but never got it done. Both the GTX470 and the DCU2 seemed to work OK in the same box, but I never got into working it all out. I am not the biggest game person, but I do like a couple of older games. So, I really don't need even as much as the GTX470 most likely, but I am alot like Ruski, I love tweeking -- Always have.

So, all said and done, your idea sounds good enough to get it a better try once my DCU2 comes back.

Thanks.

-Rodger

 

[marjamar]

Well you do make a good point, if cash is not an obstacle, then why not?

For me its really two things:
1) When i have time to play games (which isn't that often anymore, although BF4 is a blast ), i care about real world performance and my right now i can play at fully maxed out ULTRA everything settings sticking at 60+ fps 95% of the time....if not higher. To me thats huge value at $269 (+3 free games i haven't claimed yet).

Yes, very big difference indeed in price. But, I spend maybe $500 every couple of weeks here on groceries and eating out, so in the greater scheme of things, it would last me alot longer the the food would.

2) I get into a mode where i like to tweak things and play around with overclocking every once in a while. This was a perfect opportunity to take an older 7970, flash the R9 280x BIOS and overclock beyond the 1150/1600 speeds for the top R9 280x cards. Fun times

Been there myself for, oh I suppose 25 years or so

Finally, I am not up to speed on things but from what i remember PhysX with Nvidia only makes a difference in games that have been specifically coded to take advantage of the feature right? So BF4 for instance, i can't find any specific reference to utilizing PhysX and only see something about AMD and DICE codeveloping something to specifically make the Radeon cards outshine Nvidia.

AMD has the best "bang for the buck" out there I believe. But, the best, most full featured graphics card must be the high end nvidia. All the benchmarks I have ever seen, show them at the top -- Just about always. Nothing against AMD, have bought hundreds of them over the years for myself and my customers (owned a computer business for about 10 years), but the gamers I built computers for seemed much more interested the nvida back then (about 10 to 20 years ago).

Take a quick watch of this video, you can see what nvida does with Fermi

http://www.nvidia.com/object/fermi-architecture.html

Here's AMD's answer to Fermi

The Misunderstanding - Presented by AMD - YouTube

I guess it comes down to what you plan on using the cards for....great discussion though and love the forum here, some really good info/feedback!

Update on tuning my R9 280X (HD 7970 in disguise):
I ran 3DMark, Heaven Bench & BF4 for 6+ hours yesterday at 1170/1600/1.25V on Core/+20% TDP (300W) without a hitch last night!

I am loving the new GPU Tweak, with settings and monitoring available on this new BIOS!

Keep up the good work, that way when my DCU2 gets back from repairs, I can just glean from your efforts, eh.

 

[Towtol]

Or you could do what a lot of others(including myself) are doing and run an AMD GPU as the main with an NV card strictly for PhysX.

I've been looking at taking my old but still running 8800GT and putting it in my third pcie (at x4) using this Hybrid PhysX mod.

But this will only help in playing Games with Phsyx correct? It doesn't actually help with physics computations in other software does it?

 

[Random Murderer]

I've been looking at taking my old but still running 8800GT and putting it in my third pcie (at x4) using this Hybrid PhysX mod.

But this will only help in playing Games with Phsyx correct? It doesn't actually help with physics computations in other software does it?

Correct, it only helps performance in games that utilize PhysX. You can, however, use it for other things as well. My 9500GT drives a secondary monitor(1280x1024) that displays all of my monitoring software.