Whooh? I just flashed my 6800GT's BIOS

[Megatomic]

So I know the 6800GT is sooo last year, but I just had to share. I got a PCI-e 6800GT (NIB, sweet card) late last week. The stock cooler on it sucked sweaty balls so I replaced it with an NV Silencer 5 R2. That helped alot in all the usuals ways.

After a day of running RTHDRIBL with the card clocked at 400/1100 using coolbits I decided that the card needed to have it's BIOS flashed so that 400/1100 was the default speeds. I used ATItool, NiBiTor, NVFlash, and Nero to do so. Here's what I did:

1. Downloaded and installed the latest version of ATItool. Yes, ATItool. With it I was able to do a BIOS dump of my card.

2. Downloaded the latest version of NiBiTor. With it I was able to modify my card's stock BIOS so that it's default speeds (2D/3D) were 400/1100.

3. Downloaded NVFlash 5.13. This one is the most highly recommended version for 6800 class cards.

4. Used Nero to make a DOS boot CD that had all my BIOS flashing files on it.

5. Rebooted into DOS using my new CD and flashed the card.

This was just like the old days (GF4). I'm glad certain things don't change. I can post more details if anyone here wants to know more.

Cliffs:
1. Got new card.
2. Modded the cooling.
3. Flashed BIOS.
4. Score.
5. Yay me.

 

[Piuc2020]

Flashed BIOS with what point & purpose?

Did you do a volt mod? If not, seriously, why did you flash the bios?

 

[secretanchitman]

so he doesnt have to OC to ultra speeds. now he might be able to OC it to ultra EXTREME speeds! i remember that card, it was so rare to get last year...*sigh*

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
Flashed BIOS with what point & purpose?

Did you do a volt mod? If not, seriously, why did you flash the bios?

No need to volt mod the card. It was rock solid at Ultra speed at the lower voltage of the GT. And as secretanchitman said, now I don't have to muck with coolbits or any other utility to get the extra speeds any more.

Something I found out today: a GT at Ultra speed is faster than an Ultra due to tighter timings. I was pretty pleased to learn that I saved money and got a faster card overall.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
Flashed BIOS with what point & purpose?

Did you do a volt mod? If not, seriously, why did you flash the bios?

No need to volt mod the card. It was rock solid at Ultra speed at the lower voltage of the GT. And as secretanchitman said, now I don't have to muck with coolbits or any other utility to get the extra speeds any more.

Something I found out today: a GT at Ultra speed is faster than an Ultra due to tighter timings. I was pretty pleased to learn that I saved money and got a faster card overall.

Muck with coolbits? I just set it and leave it alone...running 420/1100 on my 6800GT

Seriously...I don't see the point of all that when I just tell it what speed I want and set it and leave it.

 

[BW86]

cool! :thumbsup: nice job.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
Flashed BIOS with what point & purpose?

Did you do a volt mod? If not, seriously, why did you flash the bios?

No need to volt mod the card. It was rock solid at Ultra speed at the lower voltage of the GT. And as secretanchitman said, now I don't have to muck with coolbits or any other utility to get the extra speeds any more.

Something I found out today: a GT at Ultra speed is faster than an Ultra due to tighter timings. I was pretty pleased to learn that I saved money and got a faster card overall.

Muck with coolbits? I just set it and leave it alone...running 420/1100 on my 6800GT

Seriously...I don't see the point of all that when I just tell it what speed I want and set it and leave it.

Every time you change your drivers or reinstall windows you have to reinstall coolbits and set it up. I just saved myself some time is all. It's not some huge mod, it was just a fun little project.

Originally posted by: BW86
cool! :thumbsup: nice job.

Thanks man.

 

[gtx4u]

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
Flashed BIOS with what point & purpose?

Did you do a volt mod? If not, seriously, why did you flash the bios?

No need to volt mod the card. It was rock solid at Ultra speed at the lower voltage of the GT. And as secretanchitman said, now I don't have to muck with coolbits or any other utility to get the extra speeds any more.

Something I found out today: a GT at Ultra speed is faster than an Ultra due to tighter timings. I was pretty pleased to learn that I saved money and got a faster card overall.

Most people with ultra can oc to 470/1250 can u do that? If not ur GT is not faster than an Ultra.

 

[Hacp]

Why not just use Ntune???

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: gtx4u

Originally posted by: Megatomic

Originally posted by: Piuc2020
Flashed BIOS with what point & purpose?

Did you do a volt mod? If not, seriously, why did you flash the bios?

No need to volt mod the card. It was rock solid at Ultra speed at the lower voltage of the GT. And as secretanchitman said, now I don't have to muck with coolbits or any other utility to get the extra speeds any more.

Something I found out today: a GT at Ultra speed is faster than an Ultra due to tighter timings. I was pretty pleased to learn that I saved money and got a faster card overall.

Most people with ultra can oc to 470/1250 can u do that? If not ur GT is not faster than an Ultra.

I don't know, I haven't tried. But an Ultra is 400/1100. If someone overclocks to more than 400/1100 then they're not running their card as an Ultra are they? That'd be Ultra +

But I can say this: a GT running at the same clock speed as an Ultra is faster than the Ultra by a slight margin. I'm not saying anything else. If you are trying to read between the lines then you're seeing what you want to see not what I was trying to say.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Why not just use Ntune???

Did you miss my comment about not having to install extra software and setting it up? Now it's always 400/1100, I don't have to bother with setting that up every time.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Nice.

I'm not sure why so many felt the need to come in and crap in your thread.

Sure its not a big deal, but a nice little mod nonetheless.

 

[Megatomic]

Thanks. I'm not too worried about it. If they're afraid to mess up their gear then I understand why they'd not like my mod. Some people are just more cautious than others.

I've flashed nearly a dozen video cards, this was a low risk mod with a nice payoff for me.

 

[rise]

this'll teach you to keep your mods to yourself Jeff

it is actually a nice li'l mod that i would've done if i'd thought of it. nice job.

 

[Megatomic]

LoL, thanks Paul. I'll always share for people just like you. Even the best modders can learn neat little tricks.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

Nice mod. I'd do it myself, but I'm just too lazy and too paranoid to try and push my gear faster than it should be. Plus I'm running on air in Arizona, while not such a big deal at this point in the year, it is in the summer.

 

[Megatomic]

I'm with you Bob. I live in TX and it gets hot here, too. But the house is kept at a constant 74F all year long, so if it's good now it'll be good for me next August, too. :thumbsup:

Honestly though, by next summer I'll have a 7800GTX, which runs cooler than a 6800GT/Ultra IIRC. I won't even remember this card then.

 

[vtohthree]

just wanted to say thanks for sharing about this cool mod,

 

[Megatomic]

No problem.

 

[Wedge1]

Yeah, very nice. I just bought a 6800GT *ponders*

edit: i've been in the ATI scene till getting this 6800gt recently; what is the quickest way to look at my card clocks speeds, pipelines, and whatever else that might make me feel like a champ?

 

[Megatomic]

You can use Lavalys' EVEREST Home Edition to view just about every detail of your computer. To see just your video properties like core and memory speeds you can install the Coolbits reg tweak. It'll add an Overclocking tab to the NVidia control panel.

But to allay your fears, all 6800GT cards have 16 pipes open by default. And the stock speeds for them are 350/1000 unless it's a BFG card and it will be 370/1000 in that case.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Rivatuner I think will tell you all the info (pipelines, clock speeds, etc.).

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
So I know the 6800GT is sooo last year, but I just had to share. I got a PCI-e 6800GT (NIB, sweet card) late last week. The stock cooler on it sucked sweaty balls so I replaced it with an NV Silencer 5 R2. That helped alot in all the usuals ways.

After a day of running RTHDRIBL with the card clocked at 400/1100 using coolbits I decided that the card needed to have it's BIOS flashed so that 400/1100 was the default speeds. I used ATItool, NiBiTor, NVFlash, and Nero to do so. Here's what I did:

1. Downloaded and installed the latest version of ATItool. Yes, ATItool. With it I was able to do a BIOS dump of my card.

2. Downloaded the latest version of NiBiTor. With it I was able to modify my card's stock BIOS so that it's default speeds (2D/3D) were 400/1100.

3. Downloaded NVFlash 5.13. This one is the most highly recommended version for 6800 class cards.

4. Used Nero to make a DOS boot CD that had all my BIOS flashing files on it.

5. Rebooted into DOS using my new CD and flashed the card.

This was just like the old days (GF4). I'm glad certain things don't change. I can post more details if anyone here wants to know more.

Cliffs:
1. Got new card.
2. Modded the cooling.
3. Flashed BIOS.
4. Score.
5. Yay me.

there was a much easier way dude...........you set 400/1100 in the clockspeed tab that coolbits enables, and you simply click on the box labled APPLY THESE SETTINGS AT START UP and weyhey it starts 400/1100 every time

now youve gone and raised your memory timings too im sure a 6800GT clocked to ultra is faster (marginally) than a 6800GT flashed to ultra (therefore making it an ultra) -- though dont hold me to this

also, in flashing an ultra bios, your making your card use 1.4v for the GPU core. and i thought most GT PCB's didnt have the infastructer to support 1.4v very well - dont hold me to this either

the GT only uses 1.3v im sure.

youd of been better off, and safer to just use coolbits and set it to apply at start up

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: Megatomic
You can use Lavalys' EVEREST Home Edition to view just about every detail of your computer. To see just your video properties like core and memory speeds you can install the Coolbits reg tweak. It'll add an Overclocking tab to the NVidia control panel.

But to allay your fears, all 6800GT cards have 16 pipes open by default. And the stock speeds for them are 350/1000 unless it's a BFG card and it will be 370/1000 in that case.

ace program....even tells you the physical size of your processor! as in mm x mm....and transistor counts!

 

[Megatomic]

otispunkmeyer, I think you misunderstood what I did. I did not flash my GT with an Ultra BIOS, I only adjusted the clock speeds (350/1000 -> 400/1100) on my stock BIOS and reflashed. Every other setting remained stock including the memory timings and voltages on the core and the memory chips. The card still thinks it's a GT with the same BIOS revision and part number and it is in every way except the core and memory speed MHz.

And I know how to use coolbits, I've been using it since the GF3 day. I know that it can apply the settings at startup, that's what I did until I flashed the card yesterday. This mod was all about NOT having to use coolbits or rivatuner or nvhardpage or atitool etc... to overclock. Call me lazy.