==How to Flash the BFG6800GT OC into an Ultra in a safe way==

Anyone know why in omniextreme, the BFG GT bios has no options for throttling, and the ultra does? I'm wondering if I edit my GT bios to 1.4V there will be no throttling? Right now I'm using stock bios and voltage at 400/1100.
 
Well I couldn't get my EVGA GT over 420 stable, so I flashed the bios to the Leadtek version via Dos, ( Thank you for the great info ) :), I am now at 427 core, and will try higher later when I have more time. My Core temp is still only 33 to 34c while running rthdrbl at 1400/830, so I know the core is darn cool. Thanks again!

Edit: 432 core now, 1140 mem.

Larry
(btw, I have my Cpu/Gpu and Northbridge each covered with Swiftech blocks, with Chilled water, running 51 to 54f)
 
I loaded a leadtech Ultra bios on my PNY GF6 GT last night with the voltage set to 1.4 in 2d/3d and the card started to lock up on me. I flashed it back to stock, rechecked my overclocks and then flashed it to a stock re2 gf ultra bios.

This held the clock speeds very well and I will post back what I get them to now that it is stable at 400/1100. I have managed to go to 400/1150 without any problems. I am going to work on the clock speeds tonight. My goal is to hit a 425/1200 stable overclock. If I get that I am done.

Thanks for all of the posts...it made my job much easier. Also I am going to flash up some stock GF ultra Bios to stock GT speeds and then maybe a few more and make a zip file for anyone who wants them. I will do that later tonight and add the file to my server for downloads. All will have the 1.4 volt mod and I will post the link as an edit to this post.
 
My Pov GT is stabel at 400/1100 1,3v but with 1,4v the card will hardlock on me. Anyone who knows why ?? Temps are max 83c.
 
Robin B said:
My Pov GT is stabel at 400/1100 1,3v but with 1,4v the card will hardlock on me. Anyone who knows why ?? Temps are max 83c.
Click to expand...

It's probably the high temp on the GPU or the lack of clean power to the GPU. If you have any other components overclocked such as the CPU, try downclocking a bit and give the GPU another shot at overclocking.
 
interesting, anyone tried it on 6800nu?
my 6800nu runs 56C idel, 36C ambient according temperature in display properties. however the core slowdown threshold is set at 135C(!). maybe cos 6800nu hsf is crap?
using 61.77 driver, reference design hsf. got it o/c 400/900 so far..
 
Optimummind said:
It's probably the high temp on the GPU or the lack of clean power to the GPU. If you have any other components overclocked such as the CPU, try downclocking a bit and give the GPU another shot at overclocking.
Click to expand...

My Mist 550W is giving my card 11,98V stabel under heavy load so i dont think thats the problem.
 
do you all think that the leadtek cooler(the big assed coper one) would be good enough to flash? im fairly shure that leadtek uses the EXACT same cooler on their ultras, but maby the bios runs the fan faster(i think i heard that they do this somewhare). anywhay, would it be alight if i used the leadtek flashing utill?
 
the_village_treky said:
do you all think that the leadtek cooler(the big assed coper one) would be good enough to flash? im fairly shure that leadtek uses the EXACT same cooler on their ultras, but maby the bios runs the fan faster(i think i heard that they do this somewhare). anywhay, would it be alight if i used the leadtek flashing utill?
Click to expand...

I think that 1 needs to OC the card, to a comfprtable margin past Ultra specs, and run it there for a few days under load, before even Thinking about Flashing the card. Of course, This is just IMHO>
 
i have had my card oc'ed to 415-425/1.1/1130 for the past few weeks, and it has run wonderfully(no problems). temps stay at 49-53 idle, 68 max load
 
Optimummind said:
(3) I put the above 2 files in the same directory of my choice.

(4) Start-->Run-->cmd

(5) Browse to the folder that contains the flash tool and the BIOS rom.

(6) Typed this command in to backup my card's original BIOS:

nvflash442 -b mybios.rom

(The "mybios.rom" portion is arbitrary. You can name the BIOS to whatever you want.)

(7) With my BIOS backed up, I proceeded to flash to the new Ultra BIOS. I typed:

nvflash442 -p -u -2 ultra.rom

(The "ultra.rom" portion of the code is also arbitrary. Whatever the Ultra BIOS name happens to be, you'll be typing in that name.)
Click to expand...
This works fine for saving my BIOS, but for some reason I get an error when I try to flash the modified file. I am a DOS retard, but I followed your instructions to the letter.

IOerror.gif


I used:

"C:\Documents and Settings\ANON\Desktop\nvidia stuff\nvflash442w\nvflash442.exe" nvflash442 -p -u -2 14.bios.rom

UPDATE: I just used the following successfully:

"C:\Documents and Settings\ANON\Desktop\nvidia stuff\nvflash442w\nvflash442.exe" nvflash.exe -f uclajdsbios.rom -p -u -2

So let's see what happens after reboot!

Hattip: xxORBxx in xtreme systems forums

Update #2: Flash of my original BIOS from 1.3 to 1.4 worked OK. Previous top, stable OC: 425. New OC, tested for an hour in UT2004: 440. 445 failed after a few minutes. But we'll see what water cooling can do when I get a block. ;) Oh, and my idle temps went up about 4-5F.
 
Here is some update:

(1) It's been well over a month now and my card is still alive. :D I'm currently running the card at 435MHZ for the core and 1200MHZ for the GDDR3. The only game in which I cannot run the GDDR3 at 1200MHZ is Doom 3. I'll begin to see artifacts followed by a hardlock crash thus forcing me to hit the reset button.

(2) After numerous experiments, I found the limit of my GDDR3 to be 1200MHZ with the type of cooling I have right now.

This is what my card currently looks like:

6800GT_01.jpg

6800GT_02.jpg


As you can see, the black aluminum ramsink was taken off and replaced with 8 Vantec copper ramsinks (using the provided thermal tape). Under load the copper ramsinks get really warm to the touch so I know they're doing their job.

My next project is to install the DangerDen NV-68 waterblock. It looks like this:

nv-68_6.jpg


I haven't received my order yet but hopefully, I'll get it before the weekend.
 
Nice.. I have the same ramsinks on my EVGA, and have had it to 450/1150, but have Not tried the memory higher. Again, Nice looking setup, I have the swiftech blocks and they seem much "bulkier" than the streamlined look you have.
 
Big Lar said:
Nice.. I have the same ramsinks on my EVGA, and have had it to 450/1150, but have Not tried the memory higher. Again, Nice looking setup, I have the swiftech blocks and they seem much "bulkier" than the streamlined look you have.
Click to expand...

Thx. BTW, nice OC on the core. No matter how I cool the core down, I can't go beyond 435MHZ. It's probably the physical limitation of my core. Perhaps a V-mod might increase it but I don't want to risk it right now.
 
I used the Leadtek bios from the beggining of the post, The thing is/ I use a chiller to cool my water, and keep my water between 51 and 54f at all times. My core temp has never been over 34c,ever, which I feel is why the core will stay stable at 450. In reality, I havn't tried the core any higher either.
 
what an amazing, mind-blowing, truely revolutanary post. i meen, who else could have communicated such a complicated idea so eloquently.... stupid, it just doesnt get any better than that :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
The first post has been edited with a link to a page with numerous NV40 BIOS files along with the associated utilites. Thx to [H] member Zok for hosting.
 
Optimummind said:
EDIT: Instead of using the Leadtek BIOS, I am now making my own custom BIOS files based on my BFG GT's rom. Here is the link to a page where all my BIOS creations are stored (about 23 dif kinds). Thx goes to [H]ard member Zok for hosting these!!
Click to expand...

is that bfg 6800gt original bios you have on that page done before or after any overclocking? just curious...i think i got stuck with a lemon here and may have to rma it because it runs way too hot(thought i had it fixed, but now it's hotter than it was even with the case wide open :mad: ) and i read somewhere(can't remember where) that the bfg bios records clock speeds at intervals to see what you're running the card at if you return it. now i barely ever boosted the speeds especially when i noticed the heat, but i did very briefly have it above the bfg "stock" speeds and i wouldn't want something that has nothing to do with my problems fubar my return. or can anyone else confirm/deny that the bios stores your clockspeeds?

[edit] just found the post i was referring to

Godmachine said:
...BFG doesn't Honor the warrenty on a user overclock ..only a BFG overclock and yes there is a way for them to tell. The card records( i believe its stock in the BIOS) the current clock every 10 secs i believe then erases the last speed after it records a new one so if your card dies and you think they won't know guess again.
Click to expand...
 
how safe is it to flash form the command prompt in windows? I allways boot to dos 6.22....
 
I(illa Bee said:
how safe is it to flash form the command prompt in windows? I allways boot to dos 6.22....
Click to expand...

I think it's pretty safe. I must've flashed my card about 20-something times now using nvflash442 and I'm still okay. (crosses fingers). :)
 
Hmm flashing to the Evga ultra rev2 seemes to fix my freezing during game wehn clocked over 400 MHZ... scweet, back up to 465 i go... :)

BTW: good info on the command promt flash, i love it, i removed my floppy drive shortly after...
 
I get this message every time I try to flash....

nvflash442 is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

whats the deal?
 
patriot71 said:
I get this message every time I try to flash....

nvflash442 is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

whats the deal?
Click to expand...

How did you exactly type the command?

Was it sth like this?

nvflash442 -p -u -2 newbios.rom

By the way, the actual program has to be inside the folder when you open that folder through the Command Prompt. IF the program isn't inside, then nothign will happen.
 
My mistake, I got it to flash. apparently i dont know how to read the file system...

Before the flash, I couldnt clock any higher than 415/1.13 with my BFG GT OC

After the flash, I am hitting 430/1.17, I backed it down to 425/1.16 to be safe.

thanks for the help
 
Sorry I don't have the time to read through this whole thread but I'd like to ask if it's possible to edit the voltage in the bios I have right now without flashing a new one? I don't have a floppy drive on this machine.

Another thing I'd like to ask is, will this volt mod help with artifacts at all? Right now if I clock my gpu to 420 I will get artifacts on the turtle in 3Dmark03. Will raising the voltage have any effect on this? BTW the artifacts I'm getting aren't due to heat as I have a copper cooler and get only 69C after heavy load.
 
peacetilence said:
Sorry I don't have the time to read through this whole thread but I'd like to ask if it's possible to edit the voltage in the bios I have right now without flashing a new one? I don't have a floppy drive on this machine.
Click to expand...

If you read the first post of this thread, you'll see that a floppy drive is not necessary for the flash. As for your question, yes, it is possible for you to edit your own BIOS. To do that, however, you'll need 3 things:

(1) nvFlash program: To extract your original BIOS from your card in a .rom format
(2) A Hex editor like Hex Workshop to open your extracted .rom file
(3) nvchk.exe: A program to generate a new checksum of your edited BIOS file so you can flash your card


If you don't know what values to change, PM me your BIOS file and I can edit it for you. Don't worry, it doesn't take too long. Just tell me what voltage values you want for the 2D, 2D/3D, and 3D modes.

peacetilence said:
Another thing I'd like to ask is, will this volt mod help with artifacts at all? Right now if I clock my gpu to 420 I will get artifacts on the turtle in 3Dmark03. Will raising the voltage have any effect on this?
Click to expand...

If you read through the thread patiently, you'll also see that a BIOS flash with a higher voltage will increase your overclock and reduce artifacts.

Good luck
 
I have a Point of View 6800 GT with a Artic Silencer NV5 and I can get my core to 440 stable, however, my best performance is at 400 Mhz, anything beyond that produces stuttering and I end up with a worse peformance. The Temperatures reach as high as 80ºC when overclocking, I'm not sure if my BIOS has the voltage set to 1.4v, as I don't find such a high overclock for stock 6800 GT.

I don't know if I should try these modified 6800 Ultra Bioses (I'm not afraid of flashing), if they will increase my overclock, or stay the same, or if I should get a Bios with a lower voltage to reduce the heat and maybe make the overclock worth it avoiding throttling.
 
valrond, i had problems like that, anythign past 400 caused short freezing, and i dont think i would call it jitters, but i was loosing FPS, my best was at 400Mhz, it ended up being the BIOS rev, try flashing to a rev2 ultra BIOS, PNY has a rev2 GT BIOS i am currently useing. Fixed it for me.
 
Or better, you can update to the nVIDIA reference BIOS revision 3 BIOS. You can find a link to the BIOS in the first post of the thread.
 
I didn't see it anywhere else in the post, but i've fast read the last few pages. Are you sure that you flash this bios in windows? Can you do that? I was sure that you had to boot from a floppy into truedos to flash it? Can anyone confirm this before I go ahead and break into this mod?
 
I could never get nvflash to work in the CMD window I used it in dos off of a boot disk an the only problem it had was that it couldnt open the swap file. But anyway my flash was succesful my card is now running at 425/1.2 stock with no overclocking using a XFX 6800U bios. Thanks for the guide!
 
ozziegn said:
Optimummind

so is there any real reason why I should flash the BIOS on my GT that already does 420/1100 without flinching?

yes, I know that you're getting 430/1150 but honestly, I wouldnt highly doubt the meager increase in speeds would be worth the effort.

please give me some good reason(s) why I should attempt this other than risking ruining my $400+ video card. :p
Click to expand...

I wouldnt do it, you'd get higher temps and probably only a slight increase.

In fact, I wouldnt do this at all unless you have a waterblock or excellent airflow/cooling.
 
patriot71 said:
My mistake, I got it to flash. apparently i dont know how to read the file system...

Before the flash, I couldnt clock any higher than 415/1.13 with my BFG GT OC

After the flash, I am hitting 430/1.17, I backed it down to 425/1.16 to be safe.

thanks for the help
Click to expand...


What cooling are you using? Stock? Is it the reference cooler or the custom cooler? :confused:
 
My card is an XFX 6800GT with stock BIOS (for now); it is cooled in my water loop with a Danger Den NV-68 block, and never exceeds 53C, even under overnight load by RTHDRIBL.


I found that it runs 100% stable overnight even with clocks of 430/1170. The thing I found, however, and quite curiously, is that many times when I turn my machine on (after shutting it down, for whatever period, minutes or days), the memory has reset itself back to 1000. WTF is up with that?!? Does anyone else's card do that? This is obnoxious!!!

Anyhow, do you guys think that flashing my card up to higher voltages will fix this? Even if it doesn't, do you think I can get any more speed out of my card? I mean it does pretty damn well as it is, I suppose.

-Ed
 
Edward Ng said:
My card is an XFX 6800GT with stock BIOS (for now); it is cooled in my water loop with a Danger Den NV-68 block, and never exceeds 53C, even under overnight load by RTHDRIBL.


I found that it runs 100% stable overnight even with clocks of 430/1170. The thing I found, however, and quite curiously, is that many times when I turn my machine on (after shutting it down, for whatever period, minutes or days), the memory has reset itself back to 1000. WTF is up with that?!? Does anyone else's card do that? This is obnoxious!!!

Anyhow, do you guys think that flashing my card up to higher voltages will fix this? Even if it doesn't, do you think I can get any more speed out of my card? I mean it does pretty damn well as it is, I suppose.

-Ed
Click to expand...
It could be as something as simple as (I'm assuming you're using coolbits) to check the option "apply these settings upon startup." I haven't used nvidia drivers in a long time (got the 9700 pro brand new from crapUSA back in the day) so I was total n00b to that. But, it does work.

ALSO --

Here are my results for the successful flash from an eVGA 6800GT to an eVGA 6800 Ultra (used the rev. 4 BIOS i think? Whatever the newest one was...)

ownageclock.JPG


And this is with 55C on the core at full load. It did a long stutter (about 1 min) in far cry, and it worried me, but then it was fine after that and I played it for a good hour.

I had only pushed the limits to 400/1100 before the flash, to compete with the Ultra, HOWVER, and this is important, I found the stock settings for this BIOS to be 425/1100!!!! Be forewarned if you don't have the proper cooling... it could really screw you over. Also, I'm using the stock ramsinks and a koolance GPU-180-L06 waterblock. Any comments are welcome.

EDIT: And oh yeah, thank you optimummind and also Kyle for posting this on the front page. The directions are simple and easy to do. Also, whichever kid posted the msg that said there is an easier way to do it, you posted the exact same thing as optimum had before, just minus the nice list =P
 
Posting on behalf of Edward Ng: (His Internet's a bit screwy)

He already has the option "Apply settings upon startup" checked, thus is why his core speed sticks. It's just the memory speed that doesn't always reset, just once every 2-4 starts. Temps are 53 C maximum after 24+ hrs straight full load - NV68 block.

[H]ardForums not working for him, evidently.
 
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