How do you raise volts on the graphics card?

HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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I know it has to be done in the card BIOS but the only two tools I read about are nibitor and nvflash but from what I read they dont work on a 64bit OS? Can rivatuner raise voltage???

Thanks!
 

Seero

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2009
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I know it has to be done in the card BIOS but the only two tools I read about are nibitor and nvflash but from what I read they dont work on a 64bit OS? Can rivatuner raise voltage???

Thanks!
google for pencil mod and volt mod GPU.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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I know it has to be done in the card BIOS but the only two tools I read about are nibitor and nvflash but from what I read they dont work on a 64bit OS? Can rivatuner raise voltage???

Thanks!

Use MSI after burner.

edit: what kind of card?
 

HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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I have precision installed already but it has no volt control. The MSI afterburner states its only for the GTX 460 series.

So the only option is the volt mod?
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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I have precision installed already but it has no volt control. The MSI afterburner states its only for the GTX 460 series.

So the only option is the volt mod?

No, its not just for the gtx460. Thats an update for the gtx460 to use it.
Give it a try.

If that dosen't work you will need to hardmod.

What kind of gts250? Evga, Msi, Name brand please. Does it have a pci-e power connector? or 2?
May I ask why you need to up the voltage?
The card will overclock without voltage.
 
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bunnyfubbles

Lifer
Sep 3, 2001
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If the card doesn't support software voltage adjustments out of the box through a program such as MSI Afterburner, I wouldn't bother with any sort of mod to get it working, even if there are minimal risks if you know what you're doing, the returns are just too diminishing to bother in my experience.
 

HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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well it is the same chip as the normal GTS 250 so I am asuming bumping the volts would get it to stock clocks alot easier as it is a "Green" version running on less power. I have read a few different things about people bumping the volts via the BIOS but all the BIOS editing utilites they mention dont seem to work in 64 bit.

There is no other waysl to edit the BIOS and change the volts?

This also mite be a dumb question but would bumping PCI-E volts increase power to the graphics card?
 

Sylvanas

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Jan 20, 2004
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The reason some of the newer cards from both Nv and ATI have software voltage control is because they use specific voltage circuitry that allows software control (Volterra on ATI and other random cards and CHL 8266 on Fermi's). If these IC's are not present on your card then software voltage control is not possible (GTS250 never had voltage control AFAIK). Your only option is a hardmod - googling 'voltmod GTS250' will probably turn up some results. This is more risky than a softmod as you will either need a pencil or a hard mod (soldering skills required) and if it isn't done correctly it might go bang. Be 100% certain of what you are doing before attempting it.

This also mite be a dumb question but would bumping PCI-E volts increase power to the graphics card?

No, the 'PCI-E' voltage in your BIOS corresponds to the voltage provided to the entire PCI-E Bus from your motherboard chipset / CPU, and is separate to the power that comes from your PSU through a 6pin connector to a graphics card.
 
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HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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I see, thank you very much for the response. Is there any software that can at least read my current bios so I can see what the voltage on this "Green" version is compared to a normal one?

I have quite a bit of experience soldering small surface mount components so if I find a good enough guide I mite give it a go.
 

betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
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GPU-z might be able to read voltage for you - some versions do and some don't for my cards.

Interesting project, taking a lo-voltage "e-Green" card and trying to over-volt it. Not so green now :)
 

HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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I got it for a steal on a budget machine and it runs 3dmark very close to what the stock gts250 does but the stock gts250 overclocks WAY better. I am assuming it is the volts.
 

MrK6

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2004
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GPU-Z can extract the BIOS which you can then open up in Nibitor. If Nibitor can't access the voltage reference table, your only other option is to do a hardware mod (soldering).
 

HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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When I try to save the BIOS with gpu-z I get the "BIOS reading is not supported on this device" error. Also when I try to read my current BIOS with Nibitor I get the "Can't start driver: 1275" error

I have been doing alot of reading on volt modding and it doesnt seem to difficult so if there is no way for me to edit the BIOS I mite give that a shot. Or possibly a pencil mod to see if the volts even have an effect be4 I go more permanent.

EDIT: Also on the info of nibitor it says the GTS 250 is supported.

EDIT2: turns out the error with GPU-z is just something with the newest version I am able to save my BIOS now. I think I will try editing it if possible. Looks like this card is running about .1-.2volts under normal GTS250
 
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happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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Ok so it seems according to GPU-Z the voltage is 1.3 but according to my BIOS it says 1.1

Which one is correct??? I am attaching some screen shots.

GPU-Z Screen Shot

NibiTor Screen Shot

Your core is at 774 and your idle temps are at 55c idle and you wanna add voltage? I think you should be happy with you current overclock. If you clock it any higher it will be running a bit too hot,especially with more voltage.
 

Tempered81

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
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the "e-green" card might not have the same pcb as reference 250's and it also might have less power connectors.
 

Cookie Monster

Diamond Member
May 7, 2005
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It can be done in several ways.

Some cards support voltage modifications done via software. Software such as MSI afterburner. But most cards that aren't considered high end dont have the capability of doing this since it requires a more expensive ICs.

The other method is tweaking the BIOs of the chip itself. This is a risky business since it would pretty much make your card redundant if things go bad. Im sure rivatuner has this capability.

The last method is modding the hardware itself. There are guides out there but because of so many differeing in the PCB design for the GTS250, it might not be possible unless you understand how the PCB works i.e. know which components to modify. Its quite time consuming even for an electrical engineer without the blue prints of the PCB design.

I wonder if you could find the supply rail to the chip that dictates the voltage level of the G92B chip (there could be several im not so sure since a GPU is one complex IC). Maybe its time to get that trusty multi meter out.
 

HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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Your core is at 774 and your idle temps are at 55c idle and you wanna add voltage? I think you should be happy with you current overclock. If you clock it any higher it will be running a bit too hot,especially with more voltage.

I had been running FurMark which is the reason for the high temps.

It turns out even tho the BIOS said 1.1v the card was running 1.3v.

I bumped it up to 1.35v VIA a BIOS flash and was able to get the memory to 1008 shaders to 1859 however the core wouldn't go past 774 which is fine to me bc thats about what the factory OC gts 250 runs at.

I am running mid 40's on idle with the 1.35v flash. The stock fan and heatsink are SUPER cheap also, if I added a new one it could probably handle 1.4v

My FurMark and 3dmark vantive scores are now very close to a stock GTS250.
 

Seero

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2009
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I had been running FurMark which is the reason for the high temps.

It turns out even tho the BIOS said 1.1v the card was running 1.3v.

I bumped it up to 1.35v VIA a BIOS flash and was able to get the memory to 1008 shaders to 1859 however the core wouldn't go past 774 which is fine to me bc thats about what the factory OC gts 250 runs at.

I am running mid 40's on idle with the 1.35v flash. The stock fan and heatsink are SUPER cheap also, if I added a new one it could probably handle 1.4v

My FurMark and 3dmark vantive scores are now very close to a stock GTS250.
There are more than one way to destroy a video card, messing with voltage is one of them that will void warranty. Software volt increase is worst than mod the card. If you are modding the card, you will have real tools to check the voltage before firing up the PC.

Software voltage changer is like a gun to a 3-year old. You don't know why bios' reading differs from others, yet you blindly crank the voltage up via a flash of bios. Anything go wrong during that and the card goes west, i.e. power failure.

So your core runs at 774, how much do you want it to be? 1000? If you are just trying to bump it up to 800, then I can say for sure that you won't possibly detect any FPS increase in any game other than 50 more scores. Mean while you void all warranty and won't have your card killed any second the thing is running. Seriously, now you don't know how much voltage are going to the GPU, clock doesn't go up. So your GPU eats more electricity for nothing. What for?
 
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HockeyZ

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Aug 14, 2010
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the card was 675 core stock, I wasnt increasing volts for the core I am happy with that OC as it is above a normal GTS specs. I was doing it for the memory. My e-green only runs at 900 (1800 effective) and a normal gts runs at 1100 (2200 effective) and I wanted to close that gap as best I could.

My card has been running stable for well over 24 hours (with at least 3 solid hours of heavy gaming) and been 100% stable at 1.35v 774core 1008 memory 1859 shader.

My temps stay in the low 40's for the most part. In heavy gaming they can go into the 60's. Furmark gets it into the 80's but its my understanding thats what its ment to do.