Convert ASUS DIRECTCU II to ASUS STRIX 0dB

[skydive31]

Done in Windows 8.1 64bit Pro. Tweak works fine in Fedora Linux 20 64bit Nvidia driver 331.79.

Thought i would share my silent freak tweak turning an already quite silent ASUS DIRECTCU II cooling system into its STRIX 0db equivalent.
My graphics card is an ASUS GTX 680 DIRECTCU II OC, installed in a sound insulated Antex P280 case, running 6 120mm APACHE Blacks.
Very quiet system, but the DCUII cooler tends to have a slight high pitch whining sound even at minimum fan speed (about 1020rpms x 2 fans).
Just enough to irritate me and undergo the below:

This should work on any ASUS DIRECTCU II branded GTX Kepler GPU.

- Get the latest available BIOS from http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...l=&interface=PCI-E&memType=GDDR5&memSize=2048
- Make sure you have the latest version of ASUS GPU Tweak.
Launch it, you'll notice that the DIRECTCU II minimum fan speed is 20% in ASUS GPU Tweak. Close it when done.
- From your GPU Teak folder, usually C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\GPU Tweak locate the provided nvflash.exe.
You can get the latest edition from http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2386/nvflash-5-164-for-windows/ but that edition did not work for me.
Better to stick with the one provided by ASUS.
- From your command prompt, save your current BIOS to a separate file, using nvflash.exe --save BACKUP_BIOS.rom (will save in current folder).
- Download Kepler BIOS Tweaker v1.25 from http://www.trickmasterpc.com/kepler-bios-tweaker-v125.html, and launch it.
- Open the downloaded BIOS file, and in the common tab, Fan Control Range section, modify the Minimum Percentage to 0.
- Save the BIOS file, or use Save As function, to NEW_BIOS.rom
- Copy the saved file to the nvflash.exe folder.
- Remove the BIOS write protection with nvflash.exe --protectoff
- Then simply flash the new BIOS file using the following command: nvflash.exe NEW_BIOS.rom
Follow on screen instructions.
- When done, write protect the BIOS again with nvflash.exe --protecton

Make sure you run Kepler BIOS Tweaker with elevated privileges.
nvflash.exe shall be executed from an admin command shell.

If successful, that's all there is to it.
If you launch GPU Tweak again, you will see the fan minimum is now 0%.
Go to the Fan1 user defined settings, and tweak the fan curve.
On my PC it was automatically set to 0% from idle (30deg celcius) to 65 degrees. Then 25% sets in, gradually increasing up to 100% at 95 deg celcius.

I tested the reliability on CoD Black Ops max graphics @ 1080p locked 60fps as well as X-Plane 9 max graphics locked 60 fps.
Could hear the Fans spinning at about 40% speed for 3 seconds only, twice, in an hour's time. Max temp 51 deg.
My Card is OC to 1204 Mhz, idles at 31 deg celcius.
I think the fans behave in multiple ways. They can be Off, or spin at ultra low RPM when in idle. Either way Idle whining noise is now gone.

Screenshot http://s22.postimg.org/5zd8vl97l/nvflash.jpg

Enjoy and Comment.

 

[Deders]

Interesting, Can't say I've noticed any whining with either of my DirectCU coolers (670 and 780) but handy for those that do.

It's great that you are still getting low temps, generally as a rule I've found that temps can be kept lower if the fan is already running, for instance if I have my CPU fan running at 100% when I start Linpack then it will barely go above 60c. On the other hand if I wait until the motherboard's PWM kicks in it can reach nearly 70c and it's hard to get back down even when it reaches full speed.

Would be interested to know how the Strix bios handles only 3GB of vram, whether it just detects it and carries on or would it have issues with adress mapping if the vram load went above 3GB.

 

[skydive31]

Would be interested to know how the Strix bios handles only 3GB of vram, whether it just detects it and carries on or would it have issues with adress mapping if the vram load went above 3GB.

No idea. I just tweak something once a year.