6800 bios flash (for unlockage)?

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
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Happened to get a 6800 that unlocks fully (for a few traded games). I didn't play the games, so it's a small (yet "free") bump in performance.

I have unlocked everything with Rivatuner, but I'd also like to overclock. I've heard reports that overclocking is either impossible or crappy when you unlock the pipes and such.

I've heard that if you flash the bios, you can permanently keep the pipes open and up the voltage (to increase clock speeds and the like).

If that's possible, what do I use, what do I do, where do I get it, etc?

Or should I just stick with not messing with it and overclocking by Rivatuner?

Keep in mind, I'm running Vista (32-bit), so that just complicates things.

I'll keep looking around for answers...just wanted some quick/easy ones while I was here. Sorry for bringing back such an old topic.
 

ultra laser

Banned
Jul 2, 2007
513
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I had my 6800 unlocked and overclocked to 400/830 without touching the bios. All settings were changed in RivaTuner.
 

tigersty1e

Golden Member
Dec 13, 2004
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I assume you mean the vanilla 6800, right?

I have the same one.

I don't see the use of permanently unlocking the pipes in your card because if it stays in the same computer, there really is no need unless you plan on having the card go in multiple systems without Rivatuner.

How much you want to OC depends on how long you want to keep the card and how replaceable it is.

I can get my card to 399/777 without any bios changes. I can up the core to 419 by upping the volts from 1.2 to 1.3. But many cards die prematurely when you up the volts on the 6800.

And the 6800 is prone to throttle way before the temps reach dangerous levels. My temps never hit 75C, yet my card used to throttle all the time. I've disabled throttling which is always dangerous, but you will want to run benchmarks.
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
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Originally posted by: tigersty1e
I assume you mean the vanilla 6800, right?

I have the same one.

I don't see the use of permanently unlocking the pipes in your card because if it stays in the same computer, there really is no need unless you plan on having the card go in multiple systems without Rivatuner.

How much you want to OC depends on how long you want to keep the card and how replaceable it is.

I can get my card to 399/777 without any bios changes. I can up the core to 419 by upping the volts from 1.2 to 1.3. But many cards die prematurely when you up the volts on the 6800.

And the 6800 is prone to throttle way before the temps reach dangerous levels. My temps never hit 75C, yet my card used to throttle all the time. I've disabled throttling which is always dangerous, but you will want to run benchmarks.

I guess there will be little need to flash, then, as I plan on keeping it in the same computer.

How prematurely will my card die if I have the voltage on 1.3v or 1.4v?

What exactly does it mean when a card "throttles"? What exactly will happen when this is disabled?

Currently my card is running at 375/800...seems to be stable. Sometimes my computer will lock up when I'm trying to overclock it (usually when I get past the 390/800 spot), even if I'm dropping the clock (or dropping it by large increments). What's causing this?

I'm going to stick my VF700 on it...Temps don't seem to be my problem, as they don't go above 76C. Could I still get more OCing on it, though?

I'm just trying to figure out how to get the most out of this card.
 

tigersty1e

Golden Member
Dec 13, 2004
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Originally posted by: hans030390


I guess there will be little need to flash, then, as I plan on keeping it in the same computer.

How prematurely will my card die if I have the voltage on 1.3v or 1.4v?

What exactly does it mean when a card "throttles"? What exactly will happen when this is disabled?

Currently my card is running at 375/800...seems to be stable. Sometimes my computer will lock up when I'm trying to overclock it (usually when I get past the 390/800 spot), even if I'm dropping the clock (or dropping it by large increments). What's causing this?

I'm going to stick my VF700 on it...Temps don't seem to be my problem, as they don't go above 76C. Could I still get more OCing on it, though?

I'm just trying to figure out how to get the most out of this card.

1. Defintely don't go to 1.4v. That's the voltage of the Ultra card with all the resisters. To give you an idea, some people who had GT cards (1.3v stock) upped the volts to 1.4 and some cards died within 3 months - 3 years (I read only 1 case that lasted this long so this is unusually good).

I wouldn't up to 1.3 volts for any exteneded amount of time. The amount of performance increase doesn't justify the increase in danger. But as always, it depends on if you can afford to replace this thing. You may want to do it just to benchmark and have a little fun.

2. Throttling happens when the card thinks it's getting dangerously hot and decreases the clocks and/or volts to decrease the damage on the card. This is usually set at 125/135C. If you go in the nvidia control panel, you can see where yours is set. You can also turn on an option that will notify you when this throttling happens. On the 6800, throttling can happen even if the temperature never goes above 70C. My card never goes above 80C and used to throttle all the time. I haven't found an explanation, but I think what happens is that the temperature gauge is only on 1 part of the chip, but the heat can get to dangerous levels on other parts of the chip. So if you turn off throttling, make sure cooling is EXCELLENT.

Ive had my throttling turned off and always have the temp show up in my game so I know how hot it's getting. No problems so far.

3. The lock-up is telling you that the core clock is too high. I don't get what you're trying to say. So you go from 375 to 390 and it locks up? You should only go up in 3-5 mhz increments and see the results. There comes a point where the computer will either freeze or give you artifacts.

4. You could possibly get more OCing. But the card is really hampered by the voltage level. My OC is capped because the voltage is too low. This card doesn't have enough resisters to warrant an increase in voltage. I also have the VF700-ALCU on the card and temps don't get above 80C. It's summer now and I live in LA. It gets really hot indoors so my temps are still really good.
 

Slugbait

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,633
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I also have a vanilla 6800 that successfully unlocks. I let the nVidia utility automatically check and set higher clocks, but would experience random lockups anyway...sometimes when I hit the splash screen on a cold boot, other times days later without any stress on the system, so I doubt it's heat-related. I finally just figured the extra pipes were enough of a perf boost, and run stock speeds.
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
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Ah, I'll stick with stock voltages then. I'll turn off throttling as well after I put my VF700 on it. It should have proper cooling that way. Our house is never really that hot.

Yeah, when overclocking I do go in small increments. I've just noticed clocks in the 375-380 range are stable, yet increasing it to 385-390 can give me lock-ups. I've not tested the memory lock-up point. I'll just experiment to figure out what is best.

 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
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Ok, now I'm having trouble finding the throttling stuff in the Nvidia control panel. I'm using the standard 162.22 drivers...and I swear I saw it there earlier. Do I have to use a different program to change it?
 

tigersty1e

Golden Member
Dec 13, 2004
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First, don't turn off the throttling if your card doesn't throttle when you OC.

If you can play your games fine with the OC'd settings and you have higher framerates than stock, then don't turn off the throttling. There is no need to. It's better to keep throttling.

My card throttled badly even when I OC'd my card 1 mhz. That's how I know there is something wrong with the temp gauge and/or throttle settings.

But FYI, AFAIK, you can only disable throttling throught the BIOS or disable it through Rivatuner.
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
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Originally posted by: tigersty1e
First, don't turn off the throttling if your card doesn't throttle when you OC.

If you can play your games fine with the OC'd settings and you have higher framerates than stock, then don't turn off the throttling. There is no need to. It's better to keep throttling.

My card throttled badly even when I OC'd my card 1 mhz. That's how I know there is something wrong with the temp gauge and/or throttle settings.

But FYI, AFAIK, you can only disable throttling throught the BIOS or disable it through Rivatuner.

Oh, Rivatuner. Maybe that's where I saw it (though I still don't know where to find it).

How can I tell if it's throttling? You said there is an option to tell you when...where is that?
 

tigersty1e

Golden Member
Dec 13, 2004
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Originally posted by: hans030390
Originally posted by: tigersty1e
First, don't turn off the throttling if your card doesn't throttle when you OC.

If you can play your games fine with the OC'd settings and you have higher framerates than stock, then don't turn off the throttling. There is no need to. It's better to keep throttling.

My card throttled badly even when I OC'd my card 1 mhz. That's how I know there is something wrong with the temp gauge and/or throttle settings.

But FYI, AFAIK, you can only disable throttling throught the BIOS or disable it through Rivatuner.

Oh, Rivatuner. Maybe that's where I saw it (though I still don't know where to find it).

How can I tell if it's throttling? You said there is an option to tell you when...where is that?

http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_7.html

The 'Slowdown threshold' is the fixed temperature at which the Forceware drivers will initiate steps to prevent heat damage to your graphics card by throttling back your graphics card's performance to keep it cool. If the 'Notify me if the GPU temperature exceeds the slowdown threshold' box is ticked, whenever your current GPU Core Temperature exceeds the threshold temperature, an automatic dialog box will pop up warning you of the situation and the steps taken to reduce your graphics card's temperature. It is strongly recommended that you tick this box so that you become aware of the situations when your graphics card has reached dangerously high temperatures - particularly as this often occurs while playing a game. Your idle or load temperatures should never get anywhere near the slowdown threshold, as at that point you're risking permanent damage or the death of your card. If you suspect your card may be running hot during gaming, tick the 'Continue to log temperature after I leave this page' box, do some gaming, then come back here to see how high your temperatures have reached. To reduce temperatures see the cooling tips in the Overclocking section of this guide, and the Overclocking and BIOS & Hardware Management chapters of the TweakGuides Tweaking Companion.

There is a possibility that the card will throttle even though temps don't go to dangerous levels. The only way to know is to either run benchmarks or notice that your framerates are lower than stock. If you are throttling, then you can disable it, but only if you are throttling because of some bug.
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
2
76
Originally posted by: tigersty1e
Originally posted by: hans030390
Originally posted by: tigersty1e
First, don't turn off the throttling if your card doesn't throttle when you OC.

If you can play your games fine with the OC'd settings and you have higher framerates than stock, then don't turn off the throttling. There is no need to. It's better to keep throttling.

My card throttled badly even when I OC'd my card 1 mhz. That's how I know there is something wrong with the temp gauge and/or throttle settings.

But FYI, AFAIK, you can only disable throttling throught the BIOS or disable it through Rivatuner.

Oh, Rivatuner. Maybe that's where I saw it (though I still don't know where to find it).

How can I tell if it's throttling? You said there is an option to tell you when...where is that?

http://www.tweakguides.com/NVFORCE_7.html

The 'Slowdown threshold' is the fixed temperature at which the Forceware drivers will initiate steps to prevent heat damage to your graphics card by throttling back your graphics card's performance to keep it cool. If the 'Notify me if the GPU temperature exceeds the slowdown threshold' box is ticked, whenever your current GPU Core Temperature exceeds the threshold temperature, an automatic dialog box will pop up warning you of the situation and the steps taken to reduce your graphics card's temperature. It is strongly recommended that you tick this box so that you become aware of the situations when your graphics card has reached dangerously high temperatures - particularly as this often occurs while playing a game. Your idle or load temperatures should never get anywhere near the slowdown threshold, as at that point you're risking permanent damage or the death of your card. If you suspect your card may be running hot during gaming, tick the 'Continue to log temperature after I leave this page' box, do some gaming, then come back here to see how high your temperatures have reached. To reduce temperatures see the cooling tips in the Overclocking section of this guide, and the Overclocking and BIOS & Hardware Management chapters of the TweakGuides Tweaking Companion.

There is a possibility that the card will throttle even though temps don't go to dangerous levels. The only way to know is to either run benchmarks or notice that your framerates are lower than stock. If you are throttling, then you can disable it, but only if you are throttling because of some bug.

Ok, thanks. I'll do some tests to see if it is. I don't THINK it is, but I've read that the 6800 is pretty bad at throttling when it doesn't need to. I haven't noticed any drops with performance...but with OCing and it getting hotter, it's possible that it might throttle. I'll keep and eye on it.

Thanks for your help!