GTX 260 Bios modding

R

Reza

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 13, 2008
Messages
442
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=66296

I came across this thread while looking for information on overclocking a GTX 260 before i decided to purchases one. I wanted to see what the overclocks for this card looked like before i bought one. I also wanted to see how many people on [H] have tried this method.

Editing the bios and changing the voltage from 1.12 to 1.18. People have said that they were able to reach a higher maximum overclock after they upped the voltage, some people reported clocking in over 800mhz core!! :eek: I am considering this mod so i thought i'd ask around!
 
Too bad I'm such a pussy when it comes to overclocking, because 800mhz is crazy.
 
The BIOS voltmod on the GTX260 DOES actually work.

The GTX260 and GTX280 are the exact same GPU and actually share the exact same BIOS. The GTX280 runs at 1.18v by default to support it's higher clock speeds and the GTX260 runs at 1.12v since the clock speed is slightly lower and it's using less ROPs and Stream Processors.

Effectively what you are doing by raising the 'Extra' GPU core voltage value in NiBitor is telling the BIOS to run the GPU core at 1.18v whenever it kicks into '3D High' mode. (whenever you run a game). Theoretically this should cause no ill effects since the GTX280 and 260 share the same cooler, but your mileage may vary.

Also consider that heat will increase proportionally to the voltage increase, and overclocking will of course increase that heat even more. So if you're considering this mod I highly encourage you to change the Fanspeed IC settings to have the fan run at a more aggressive thermal profile.
 
Reza said:
so does bios flashing void you warranty?
Click to expand...

It depends on the board partner. Most of the board partners do not explicitly outlaw BIOS flashing simply because at some point there may be an actual BIOS update that you need to retain functionality on a card. Many of the board partners actually provide BIOS updates for their cards.
 
I am going to try this and see what sort of results I get. I've yet to really push the card much at all up 'till this point. I never really pushed the core clock to over 680 or so....can't recall exactly.

I'll see how far I am able to push it after this.
 
MaxTheLimit said:
I am going to try this and see what sort of results I get. I've yet to really push the card much at all up 'till this point. I never really pushed the core clock to over 680 or so....can't recall exactly.

I'll see how far I am able to push it after this.
Click to expand...

Defiantly post back after you try it and tell me how it goes!! :D I really want to try this mod but i'm afraid in might void my warranty and i'm considering stepping up to one of the 55nm cards when they come out.
 
Not exactly going well. I've tried to save the file as a .rom, and a .bin file, but when I try to flash with nvflash it can't read the file...WTF?

EDIT: also I'm only able to see 1.15V rather than 1.18V that guide says I should see...
 
Well I've got it flashed right now, still only able to get to the 1.05, rather than the 1.08V. The problem was the file names being too long I guess.

Still tweaking but I can't seem to get solid over 700 on the core. I think it might be the high setting on the PCI express frequency in my Mobo BIOS. I'm lowering back down to 100 and then see how far it goes.
 
MaxTheLimit said:
Well I've got it flashed right now, still only able to get to the 1.05, rather than the 1.08V. The problem was the file names being too long I guess.

Still tweaking but I can't seem to get solid over 700 on the core. I think it might be the high setting on the PCI express frequency in my Mobo BIOS. I'm lowering back down to 100 and then see how far it goes.
Click to expand...

ok i have 2 questions, in your sig it says 8800 GT. so do you have a GTX260? :confused:
also are you seeing 1.05V or 1.15V?
 
Sig is quite out of date. Almost everything I know have is totally different...I'm too lazy to update it.

As for the voltages, yes it's 1.12, 1.15, with no 1.18. Sorry, that's my poor memory in effect. I am still not able to breach the 700 Core speed. I think I've got a bit of a dud for overclocking.
 
Question.

I have an EVGA GTX 260 216 626mhz.

Are there bios mods available where simply loading a new bios will set it to 666mhz oc and adjust the voltages appropriately, essentially making it a new card without need of any OC software running?
 
bigdogchris said:
Question.

I have an EVGA GTX 260 216 626mhz.

Are there bios mods available where simply loading a new bios will set it to 666mhz oc and adjust the voltages appropriately, essentially making it a new card without need of any OC software running?
Click to expand...
bump
 
thanks for bumping this.. may have to give it a try since this GTX 260 i have is pathetic and doesnt overclock for shit..
 
bigdogchris said:
Question.

I have an EVGA GTX 260 216 626mhz.

Are there bios mods available where simply loading a new bios will set it to 666mhz oc and adjust the voltages appropriately, essentially making it a new card without need of any OC software running?
Click to expand...

You can look here. LINK. The GTX260 is 65nm core 192 SP, GTX26+ is 65nm core 216 SP, and the GTX265 is 55nm core 216 SP.

There is some risk flashing one of these if you're not sure the exact match of cards and revisions. A better solution is to BIOS voltmod your card to 1.18 and test overclock increases incrementally. See this link for older cards, and this one for the latest BIOS's with limited voltage adjustments (55nm cards). Use EVGA Precision to test and lock in your settings at boot. This way only one BIOS flash is needed for the simple voltage tweak.

As with any voltmods or BIOS flashes, proceed at your OWN RISK. Good luck.
 
well that was a waste.. cant volt mod my card.. doesnt give me any options to go above 1.12v.. oh well..

edit nvm found another way to do it thanks to staypuft's post above..
 
Last edited:
sirmonkey1985 said:
well that was a waste.. cant volt mod my card.. doesnt give me any options to go above 1.12v.. oh well..
Click to expand...

Read thru the links, particularly the one from above, for specifics on newer cards with limited BIOS voltage options. There is a drop-down menu item for voltage table editor where you set the entry for '1.12V' to '00' under VID column. This should do it for the EVGA cards, with the voltage identifier under Extra indicating 1.12V but calling to the VID for 1.18 on the card. Others, like my BFG, are very similar with 1.18V being the '00' VID setting.

What brand and model card are you using?
 
woot went from 602/1350/1161 stable in MWLL(crysis mod) to 670/1440/1200.. left the clocks linked for now.. will see how high i can get the gpu up to tomorrow.. thanks again for the extra links staypuft..
 
Staypuft said:
Pretty much, but top clocks will vary. What card model number do you have?
Click to expand...
gtx260gpuz.png


55nm card should give me better clocks I hope. I'd like to get around 700mhz and still be stable. I don't like the idea of OCing GPU though so I want to stay in the 'safe zone'. I know these come factory 666mhz as well. I'd like to hit 1500mhz shader and 1250 mhz memory. Close to the GA Super OC's that shipped.
 
bigdogchris said:
55nm card should give me better clocks I hope. I'd like to get around 700mhz and still be stable. I don't like the idea of OCing GPU though so I want to stay in the 'safe zone'. I know these come factory 666mhz as well. I'd like to hit 1500mhz shader and 1250 mhz memory. Close to the GA Super OC's that shipped.
Click to expand...

Your card may already be set to 1.18V due to it being an overclocked version. Try EVGA Precision and bump clocks, use Furmark to test stability. Also, use GPU-z to pull BIOS and load up Nibitor to look at the voltage setting.
 
The funny part is I paid for a 576mhz version. After I received mine and found out it was the OC version. I later read somewhere that EVGA was shipping the OC version in boxes marked as stock.

So suggesting using software OCing to test stability at the settings I want. After I find them to be stable, set the BIOS accordingly?
 
bigdogchris said:
gtx260gpuz.png


55nm card should give me better clocks I hope. I'd like to get around 700mhz and still be stable. I don't like the idea of OCing GPU though so I want to stay in the 'safe zone'. I know these come factory 666mhz as well. I'd like to hit 1500mhz shader and 1250 mhz memory. Close to the GA Super OC's that shipped.
Click to expand...

the highest i could get stable on my card was 670mhz with the shader/gpu clocks linked.. never bothered to just overclock the gpu since it has little effect on the games i play.. but i swear i have one of the worst overclocking GTX 260's ever made..
 
bigdogchris said:
The funny part is I paid for a 576mhz version. After I received mine and found out it was the OC version. I later read somewhere that EVGA was shipping the OC version in boxes marked as stock.

So suggesting using software OCing to test stability at the settings I want. After I find them to be stable, set the BIOS accordingly?
Click to expand...

Yes, try to overclock before doing any mods. If you want to flash the BIOS to lock these settings in that is your call. I typically use EVGA Precision to apply the settings at boottime.

Checking the BIOS to see if the voltage is in fact set to 1.18V (VID = 00) is also a good way to know if you can go any higher using the mod.
 
well looks like ill be removing the volt mod.. something is odd with this card.. without the volt mod the card has absolutely no problems running above 60C.. with the volt mod even running the same overclock i ran before if the card exceeds 60C the drivers instantly crash and lock the card in 2D mode(another reason why i HATE nvidia's drivers).. the volt mod sort of helped.. allowed me to gain 70mhz on the gpu and 54mhz on the shaders when folding but in games it made no difference im still stuck at 600/1350/1161.. oh well was worth a shot to try it..
 
not really huge gains to be had from oc'ing GFX cards, and if you have a card that good you can usually run it the way you want to nicely anyhow, ill take a good CPU OC over a GPU OC anyday
 
Acoustique said:
not really huge gains to be had from oc'ing GFX cards, and if you have a card that good you can usually run it the way you want to nicely anyhow, ill take a good CPU OC over a GPU OC anyday
Click to expand...


some games there are.. hell in crysis i gain 15 fps just from upping my shaders from stock to 1350.. gain another 5fps from 1350 to 1404 but wont stay stable long enough for it to matter.. some games overclocking has less of an impact and same games it has a large impact.. just depends..
 
Well I looked at the BIOS and I only see 1.12 as the maximum with a few other lower numbers available. Is there a way to unlock the 1.18?

Also, I set the clock to 700 mhz and shader to 1500 and opened a stress test and the card dropped to 300mhz and stayed until I rebooted. Is that some type of threshold limiter or something?

Right now at 666 mhz, 1450 shader and 1187 memory @ 1.12 and it seems stable. Temps around 75C
 
bigdogchris said:
Well I looked at the BIOS and I only see 1.12 as the maximum with a few other lower numbers available. Is there a way to unlock the 1.18?

Also, I set the clock to 700 mhz and shader to 1500 and opened a stress test and the card dropped to 300mhz and stayed until I rebooted. Is that some type of threshold limiter or something?

Right now at 666 mhz, 1450 shader and 1187 memory @ 1.12 and it seems stable. Temps around 75C
Click to expand...

For the EVGA cards look back at this link and follow the specific instructions. It is a simple modification to the voltage table.

300MHz downclock is the safe mode after a soft crash. Reboot is the correct recovery method.
 
OK I got the bios set to 1.18.

Before I do this, all this does is just up the maximum voltage, right? If I OC it a bit higher and it needs a little more juice, it takes it, but will still lower voltage to idle specs?

So, it could only need to use 1.13 volts..and never reach the maximum of 1.18?
 
What are you guys using to test stability? I've been running that FF XIV benchmark and i'm getting little glitches and such. I keep dropping back the settings but it's not helping.

1.18 v and 666/1436 with 1106 memory and it's glitching ... this doesn't sound right. I want to try something else but I'm not sure what to use and what to look for. This is at like a 5% OC and it's not stable? Come on ...
 
Well, using FurMark for 2 hours, I found 666mhz 1475shader and 1200 memory to be stable with 1.18. There were no glitching or artifacts and temps hit 83-86 and stayed there. I installed Crysis to see how it would run (glitching etc) and now it is crashing and the benchmark tool is not working correctly. I'm on Win 7 x64 and I see online there are a lot of problems with Crysis and 7 x64. So I don't know if it's the OC or just the game. I've been running crysis64 in DX9 ... so I'm going to just try the 32 bit version tonight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top