VBE7 - vBIOS Editor for Radeon HD 7000 series cards

[leeb2013]

Two issues:

1.) Why does my card's states only go up to #4, when others' go up to #6? (I'm using a Sapphire 7950 Dual-X)

2.) Under OverDrive/PowerTune settings -- when might you do a "manual" adjustment? Like, why might someone manually adjust the Power Limit instead of just changing the TDP setting? Do most people do one over the other?

1) it just varies between non-reference cards and also whether boost or not. My XFX DD 7950 had 1, 2, 3, 0 but my HIS ICEq 7950 has 4, 5, 6, 0.

2) TDP set the power limit of the card in BIOS. Power limit sets the min and max adjustable limits that will be available in something like MSI AB.

 

[garmiz32]

Guys could you list 7950 and 7970 card that you can modify core voltage ? Cause I really don't like new cards revisions that has it locked (by hardware!).

EDIT:

+ HIS 7950 IceQ Turbo (H795QT3G2M)
+ XFX HD7970 DD Edition (FX-797A-TDFC) - ONLY first revisions

- GB rev 2.1
- Gigabyte HD 7970 OC Edition (GV-R797OC-3GD)
- XFX Black Edition HD7970 rev 3.1 (FX-797A-TDBC)[http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/367048-33-black-edition-7970-locked-voltage]

I will try to update the list, just give me info about cards (you can move it to the first post off course for better visibility).

Aaaah by '-' I mean cards that can't change core voltage - cause of physical integration (so you can't change it even by bios replacing). Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Coldblackice]

1) it just varies between non-reference cards and also whether boost or not. My XFX DD 7950 had 1, 2, 3, 0 but my HIS ICEq 7950 has 4, 5, 6, 0.

2) TDP set the power limit of the card in BIOS. Power limit sets the min and max adjustable limits that will be available in something like MSI AB.

Thanks for the info. Regarding your second point --

So what does that actually mean? I'm still confused on the difference between TDP and voltage. In MSI AB, one can tweak variables of voltage, but not TDP. So how would TDP/Power-Limit factor into MSI AB?

If I understand TDP correctly, I believe it's a measurement of the max amount of heat needing to be dissipated, in watts. But it looks like TDP and Power Limit are using the same measurement (Watts).


How bout this, for example --

What would happen (or what would it mean) if someone manually set their "Power Limit" settings to 2 (min) and 398 (max)? What would happen with the card? How would setting these manifest in the card's use?

And then, what if someone manually set their "Power Limit" settings to 200 (min) and 200 (max) -- making them equal?

And finally, what if someone manually set their settings to either something super low -- like 1-75 -- or something super high -- like 300-400?

 

[leeb2013]

actually, I'm not 100% sure about 2) now, because in the overdrive section, there's also a TDP % limit, which I think is what you see in AB.

Anyhow, to address the other questions;

not all o/c software allows you to change the voltage. For me, AB allows TDP changes, and Trixx allows voltage changes.

As for VBE, it can do both. As you know, you generally need more voltage to operate at higher clocks, this uses more power, producing more heat. So essentially, the thermal design power is basically the power it can use which relates to the heat which the cooler can remove from the GPU. I usually only adjust TDP in VBE. If I don't increase it, then once my GPU hits the power usage, it starts to reduce the clocks to stay within the power usage. That way, it doesn't get too hot.

After trying dozens of combinations, I settled on a reasonable overclock of 1040MHz for a reasonable voltage 1150mV from memory. Above this, too much heat is generated and the fans get noisy, it also uses tons of power and can't be good for the VRMs. I also don't need any more, as two 7950 will max out everything at 1080p. In fact I was considering reducing the o/c and voltage to make it even more quiet. I had to increase the TDP value, so that it didn't throttle the clocks.

 

[leeb2013]

Guys coul you list 7950 and 7970 card that you can modify core voltage ? Cause I really dont like new cards revisions that has it locked.

using VBE; XFX DD boost (rubbish cooler) and HIS ICEq Turbo 7950.

 

[dr.noob]

Hi.

Thanks from Portugal for this great tool.

Before i found this thread i was playing with Hex editor but now it's super easy.

Using Hex i was able to get 1.4v unlocked, but all the software on the web was locked to 1.3v. Then i got the new Sapphire Trixx modded and i could check 1.4v and it was reported in GPU-Z. Sadly either my card does not want more than 1270mhz_core or it's being limited by the TDP...I guess 1270 it's not that bad.

Asic of my card is 74% and it does 1270 stable with great temperatures, damn i love this Twinfrozr stock(2 fans) cooler.

stock Asus 7850 2gb TOP bios: http://www.mediafire.com/download/holl95mckl3cjpu/ASUSTOP.ROM
3dclock 975mhz
3dcore 1210mv
1.5v vram
max voltage 1300mv by software
idle fan 20%

final bios: http://www.mediafire.com/download/vztnmvtx64g987f/final.ROM
3dclock 900mhz stock clock of this MSI(max voltage was 1225mv) card
3dcore 0.975mv for less power draw
1.5v vram - I don't think 1.6v is safe for 24/7 as it gets hot even with 1.5v, finger test.
idle fan 10% - less noise while downloading when i'm sleeping

Sapphire Trixx 4.40b Modded to unlock more than 1.3v, but it needs to be unlocked by Hex editor if you want for example 1.4v.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1404381/link-sapphire-trixx-4-40b-modded

or PM me for download links.

 

[Coldblackice]

Why in the world can't I change 2D clocks? The OP mentions something about powerplay going crazy, but what does that mean? And if so, why can we set them lower, but not higher?

I need to set me memory clock the same across the board, across all states -- if I don't, I get hellishly annoying flickering. Surely there must be a way to set 2D clocks, like in RBEdit. Sheesh.

 

[mcpaschetnik]

hey guys,

can you help me with my HD7950, please? my asic is 78,0 %. it's one of the very first 7950s from powercolor.
i tested the following settings with msi afterburner, so they are game-stable (!) :

Core V    Mem V     Core Clock     Mem Clock        Power Control
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0,906     1,506      800             1250               0
0,949     1,549      850             1300               0
1,000     1,600      900             1350              +10
1,049     1,649      950             1400              +20
1,100     1,649      1000            1400              +20

now i tried to flash an edited bios file with vbe7 0.0.7. because i don't want to use msi or CCC anymore, and i got this settings stable:

Core V    Mem V     Core Clock     Mem Clock        Power Control
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0,975     1,506       850          1250            ?

the bios switch is in position 1. better change it?
changing the power control to +20 didn't help me out at all.
sharper settings then the 850 on core result in an crash of a game / 3dmark.

do you have any clue, why i'm getting only this far? what to do?

i'm from germany and coming from the hardware deluxe forum.

thanks in advice


..::mcpaschetnik::..

 

[Kasmeri]

Core V    Mem V     Core Clock     Mem Clock        Power Control
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0,906     1,506      800             1250               0
0,949     1,549      850             1300               0
1,000     1,600      900             1350              +10
1,049     1,649      950             1400              +20
1,100     1,649      1000            1400              +20

now i tried to flash an edited bios file with vbe7 0.0.7. because i don't want to use msi or CCC anymore, and i got this settings stable:

Core V    Mem V     Core Clock     Mem Clock        Power Control
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0,975     1,506       850          1250            ?

Hey!

You have to use the higher stable voltage for your 3d settings when editing your BIOS. By your post this is @ 1.100V core, tested and stable. But in your edited BIOS you have this @ 0.975. Edit your BIOS again, use the highest tested super stable settings for your 3d clocks and voltage (1,100V - 1400 memory - 1000 Core as you say or slightly lower to be super-safe) and test for stability. Don't change anything in your 2d settings at first, you can always experiment with that later.

Good luck!

 

[mcpaschetnik]

Hey!

You have to use the higher stable voltage for your 3d settings when editing your BIOS. By your post this is @ 1.100V core, tested and stable. But in your edited BIOS you have this @ 0.975. Edit your BIOS again, use the highest tested super stable settings for your 3d clocks and voltage (1,100V - 1400 memory - 1000 Core as you say or slightly lower to be super-safe) and test for stability. Don't change anything in your 2d settings at first, you can always experiment with that later.

Good luck!

hm, that's strange. but i will try it out. at first i didn't want to run the card at max. i wanted to check if undervolting is possible.
so vbe7 is only running at max settings?

greetz and thx

 

[Kasmeri]

hm, that's strange. but i will try it out. at first i didn't want to run the card at max. i wanted to check if undervolting is possible.
so vbe7 is only running at max settings?

greetz and thx

No, what it does is it allows you to set higher (or lower) voltage and clock settings than your original BIOS for your 3d settings as new defaults, so that when you game you have those settings as default and you don't need to use AB or Trixx or even CCC. When you stop gaming and you go back to 2d, the voltage and clocks drop as always to your 2d defaults.

For the 2d settings, here is what the creator of this tool says in his first post:

There are some limitations though...

• You cant change 2D / UVD voltages
• You cant set 2D / UVD clocks higher than the values stored in BIOS (these limitations are intentional, without these limits powerplay would go nuts...)

So I think you didn't make yourself clear in your first post.

a) If you want to undervolt your 2d settings, you can't do that with this tool.

b) If like most people here you want the highest stable overclock possible as default when gaming so that you don't have to use AB or Trixx or CCC or whatever, you can use this tool - which for that purpose also allows you to raise 3d voltage further than any original BIOS. It also allows you to raise TDP which you will need with higher voltages than the original BIOS ones. I thought that's what you wanted to do.

So the idea is that for significantly higher clocks than original BIOS you need higher voltage than original BIOS and also higher TDP than original BIOS. That's what this tool can do. Most people here set the highest voltage they can live with as the new default at their modified BIOS, also raise the TDP and then find the highest clocks stable with that. For example my settings @ 1.256V with a TDP (W) of 250 are 1175 core and 1525 memory for my Sapphire 7970s. These are the settings I made my new defaults with my final modified BIOS. (I didn't touch my 2d settings, I left them as they were). That's what my previous post was all about. Sorry If I misunderstood you.

c) If instead you want to undervolt your 3d settings, you can do that - but why publish your highest Afterburner voltage and vcore settings and complain that you can't get further than 850 vcore with this tool? That's what confused me. And how would in that case "changing the power control to +20" help you? You want lower power consumption, right?

So the idea in this scenario would be to choose the lower 3d voltage you want and see what the highest stable clocks would be with that lower than original BIOS voltage. Your clocks will probably be lower to a lot lower than what you had originally, depending on how much you undervolt. Since you are undervolting, you don't need to change TDP in that scenario.


Hope this helps.

 

[mcpaschetnik]

first of all: thx for your detailed answer!

i was understanding the programs functions correctly, i think.

a) that's clear. i can change the values for the idle clocks in the #1 lines in vbe7, but can't change them for the voltages. ok. (but that's not what i wanted to )

b) that's clear, too. that's the most important point for most of all. ok. but that's not the way i started to use the programm.

c) i started with this method. as i mentioned before, i figured out which clocks with which voltages run on my card. i used msi afterburner to figure this out. i posted my results in the first chart. clear so far?

then i wanted to apply / transfer this settings to vbe. in wanted to flash 1 tested setting with a modified bios to my card because i don't want that to be managed softwarewise.

BUT HERE'S MY PROBLEM: the first setting i tested with msi afterburner could be applied in vbe. i ran 0,925 v and 800 / 1250 mhz in load with my edited bios. no problems in games or 3dmark. so that was my minimum profile for load. ok?

then i wanted to apply my second tested setting (first testet with msi afterburner) to vbe. the settings were in msi: 0,949 volts with 850 / 1300 mhz. but these flashed settings weren't stable in games oder 3dmark.

MY BIG QUESTION IS: why the heck does it work with msi afterburner BUT DOESN'T with the same settings taken in vbe?

and yes: my second setting means voltages down and speeds up at load (not stable with a modified bios but stable with msi). i wanted to start from my minimal settings and not pushing it to the max from the beginning.

do you understand me? :-D

greetz

..::mcpaschetnik::..

 

[Kasmeri]

Alright, now I understand. So what clocks can you run stably at 0.949V in your modified BIOS, is it much lower than the 850 you get with AB? Because if it is like 845, well, is that such a big deal?

As to why, I'll leave this to a guru to answer definitively. My guess is that it is simply because all those programs tend to read voltages a little differently, and the people who use a voltmeter say that no software reads voltages 100% accurately anyway.

So you can either use a voltmeter to make sure you really run identical voltages, or if you don't have one you can experiment further and see. If you only lose like 5-10MHz with VBE7 at (supposedly) identical voltages, I wouldn't worry about it. Or do the opposite, and raise voltage bit by bit till you are stable at 850 vcore and see how much more voltage you need with VBE7. If you only need like 5mv more, again, I wouldn't worry about it.

But hey, you are a German. You guys love absolute precision! I get it. But without a voltmeter, you can't be really sure the voltages any software program reads are 100% accurate.

Good luck und alles Gute!

 

[mcpaschetnik]

unfortunately i don't have either a multimeter nor the knowledge to use it

look, here's the difference between msi and vbe: 0,949 volts with 850 / 1300 mhz vs. 0,975 volts with 850 / 1250 mhz.

in my opinion that's a difference to ask / worry about. so my question: why's the difference there?

i'm gonna test it at the weekend. just thought that there's a plausible explanation behind it.

but thx!

greetz

..::mcpaschetnik::..

 

[lowrider_05]

I've flash it with 300tdp but still throttling, maybe it is because I use crossfire and turned off ulps? I'm still using msi ab for the +20% powerlimit.

My 7950s also run with a moddified r9 280x bios and i can hit 1120/1700 mhz @ 1.163mv without throttling but i set powerlimit to 0 and the TDP to 500 watt but you need a good PSU for it because one card was hitting a maximum of around 280 watt and my whole System was @ a max of 886 watt!

 

[Coldblackice]

I still don't get how you pick a "correct" (or good) TDP value to use? (...besides just completely random number picking)

I understand choosing voltages -- tweaking your voltages up or down in OC software in order to get a stable overclock -- but how are you supposed to pick a good/correct TDP? Especially since there's no software to tweak your TDP on-the-fly (at least, that I know of).

It just seems like an arbitrary value, and even redundant after choosing and setting voltages.

 

[mcpaschetnik]

...Good luck und alles Gute!

i have the answer to my question, i guess.

in vbe you can edit + save your clock speeds and voltages for the load state of your card. that's what we already know.

everything you edit in "overdrive and powertune" has only an indirect effect to your card.

you can edit your TDP limit in %. if you set it to 30%, it only takes effect if you go to your catalyst menu and change it there manually. i can run my settings tested with msi afterburner if i change the power control settings in CCC.

the value of the TDP limit you change in vbe is the max value you can choose afterwards in CCC.

i originally thought TDP limit stands for the power control setting in CCC. so you need to change your bios + set your power control settings manually afterwards. conclusion: you need another tool. :-/

greetz

..::mcpaschetnik::..

 

[Kasmeri]

i have the answer to my question, i guess.

in vbe you can edit + save your clock speeds and voltages for the load state of your card. that's what we already know.

everything you edit in "overdrive and powertune" has only an indirect effect to your card.

you can edit your TDP limit in %. if you set it to 30%, it only takes effect if you go to your catalyst menu and change it there manually. i can run my settings tested with msi afterburner if i change the power control settings in CCC.

the value of the TDP limit you change in vbe is the max value you can choose afterwards in CCC.

i originally thought TDP limit stands for the power control setting in CCC. so you need to change your bios + set your power control settings manually afterwards. conclusion: you need another tool. :-/

greetz

..::mcpaschetnik::..

Then change your TDP in Watts. Calculate the 20% you always added at CCC and add that to TDP in Watts in VBE7. For example for a 200W card, you would change the TDP in Watts to 250.

Then you should have 20% more power as default without using the CCC power limit.

I think it should work. Try it and let us know if it worked.

Good luck!

 

[Coldblackice]

Then change your TDP in Watts. Calculate the 20% you always added at CCC and add that to TDP in Watts in VBE7. For example for a 200W card, you would change the TDP in Watts to 250.

Then you should have 20% more power as default without using the CCC power limit.

I think it should work. Try it and let us know if it worked.

Good luck!

But how does TDP differ from the voltage you set?

Is it just a matter of Ohm's law? Meaning, if you set TDP at 200W, and set your voltage at 1.2V, then 200W/1.2V=166A ...?

Or does TDP mean the *max* power that can be pushed through the card?

Argh, I just don't get the difference between when/why you tweak voltage and when/why you tweak TDP.

 

[lowrider_05]

But how does TDP differ from the voltage you set?

Is it just a matter of Ohm's law? Meaning, if you set TDP at 200W, and set your voltage at 1.2V, then 200W/1.2V=166A ...?

Or does TDP mean the *max* power that can be pushed through the card?

Argh, I just don't get the difference between when/why you tweak voltage and when/why you tweak TDP.

The TDP setting just limits the maximum power the Card can suck out of your PCI-E slot and The Two 6/8 Pin Cables from the PSU and if you have a high wattage PSU you can set the TDP limit as high as you wish and the card sucks as much power as it needs and if you have sufficent cooling on the card and a sufficent PSU this can exceed the offical maximum.

You tweak the TDP when you overvolt the GPU so the card will not throttle in case it needs more power than it was specified for.

hope this helps just a little.

 

[Coldblackice]

The TDP setting just limits the maximum power the Card can suck out of your PCI-E slot and The Two 6/8 Pin Cables from the PSU and if you have a high wattage PSU you can set the TDP limit as high as you wish and the card sucks as much power as it needs and if you have sufficent cooling on the card and a sufficent PSU this can exceed the offical maximum.

You tweak the TDP when you overvolt the GPU so the card will not throttle in case it needs more power than it was specified for.

hope this helps just a little.

Helps a bunch -- thanks much.

So what's the purpose of the "min" and "max" TDP values? I don't get why a range of TDP is necessary -- shouldn't there just be one TDP value which is the "max"?

 

[lapingultah]

I'm planning to undervolt my Sapphire 7950 via modded BIOS, but I'm slightly scared of the idea:

When under load, the VDDC varies between 1.100 and 1.112, usually staying at 1.106. I don't know what the Current and Power mean in this case - or should they be varying as well - but if I force lower voltage via TRiXX or such I get artifacts, driver crashes and Windows crashes instantly. Even idle voltage is 0.800 plus-minus 0.010 so it's not constant even when idling. What I'm wondering is that is it still safe to flash constant voltages for the card? I have 2x Sapphire 7950s and they're both acting the same.

 

[Gennadiy]

author, you can add option for edit minimal limit of speed fan(20%)?

 

[mccnow]

Hi guys...

I need help, pls. I have two GPU's XFX R7970 (crossfire), but VRM is unknown... I can't change voltage...Follow archives ROM.

Thx

 

[RadiatorX]

hello to all, i am very glad to find here this great tool. Now to my problem. I have a gigabyte hd 7990 xt2. I am able to flash one GPU to 1.050 vddc with 950Mhz, but how can i access the second GPU with the vbe7. I have my information from GPU-Z, they shows the first GPU with 1.050 vddc - 950 mhz and the second GPU with 1.170 vddc - 950 mhz. Is there any way to flash the second GPU with vbe7 too, attached is my actually rom with the described settings.