'quiet mode' on 290

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legacy404

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 28, 2004
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After being slightly disappointed upgrading to a reference 290 a few months ago, I checked my GPU-Z and realized it was running with only 32 ROPs instead of 64...Once I flipped the bios switch to uber, all 64 became enabled and my pixel fill rate went from 30 to 60 Gpixels.

Is this normal? I searched everywhere and nothing mentioned that quiet mode would restrict performance that much...
 
It's not normal for a 290 to have quiet and uber. That's a 290X setting. But, no that wouldn't be normal.
 
Yeah thats not normal.
What card is is it?
Second hand or new and where from?
 
As others have said, that is not normal. The two BIOS positions on the 290 aren't supposed to have any kind of functional difference, just one is write protected while the other isn't. If this is a card you picked up second hand I'd say that someone tried to flash the BIOS but made some kind of mistake (failed unlocking attempt?).
 
Yeah.. no way to enable/disable ROPs with a bios or a switch. Probably just some weird readings by GPU-Z.
 
I would guess the card was bought second-hand or a returned unit being sold as new. There was a mining bios released months ago (when scrypt mining was still relevant) that disabled rops.
 
Yeah, I did buy it second hand but he didn't tell me that it had been reflashed. Guess that explains it. Thanks guys!
 
check the bios version with GPU-Z and see if it matches the cards actual model.

If it has been used for mining, they freuently flash bioses that gimp the ROPs to lower power consumption.
 
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legacy404 said:
After being slightly disappointed upgrading to a reference 290 a few months ago, I checked my GPU-Z and realized it was running with only 32 ROPs instead of 64...Once I flipped the bios switch to uber, all 64 became enabled and my pixel fill rate went from 30 to 60 Gpixels.

Is this normal? I searched everywhere and nothing mentioned that quiet mode would restrict performance that much...
Click to expand...

Man that is pretty shitty..The guy had been mining on the card (it most likely has Elpida ram which the miners didn't care for due to the loose sub timings) and didn't want to give it away used for nothing, so he lied (aka left that part out). Trying to unlock to a 290X has no effect on the active ROPS..The only way to disable them is to the use the custom bios that guy got signed through some "AMD contact" he had.

Relayer said:
Yeah.. no way to enable/disable ROPs with a bios or a switch. Probably just some weird readings by GPU-Z.
Click to expand...

Read above, it is quite easy to do with the TheStilt's (If I remember his name correctly) custom bios that disables half the ROPs on the 290 cards. The extra ROPs do nothing for mining but create additional heat due to power draw, so they are disabled in his custom bios images he somehow got through AMD's digital signing process (I am going to assume with their blessing).
 
Yup, it was thestilt's bios. Elpida cards had lower hashrates than hynix ones and his bios helped in that regard.

A good amount of users selling their radeon cards in bulk, were more often than not mining with them.
 
Yep. Thestilt's bios would disable some ROPs since the mining software did not utilize all of the ROPs concurrently. Then you could overclock the bejezus out of it by disabling half if I recall reading correctly...
The BIOS switch on a 290 is just that: a BIOS switch. He flashed the Thestilt's BIOS on the writable flash to mine with, then when he sold it to you, he left it in that position.
If he had flipped the switch to the default, non-writable position before he sold it to you, you probably never would have known.
I mined on the 2 290s I have in my gaming rig right now and they run great for what it's worth.
 
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I just purchased less than a week ago two 7970 cards and found the same thing with them. Anyone buying used AMD cards should ask if this is what they will receive and the sellers should note this in the description.
 
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MouseTrap said:
I just purchased less than a week ago two 7970 cards and found the same thing with them. Anyone buying used AMD cards should ask if this is what they will receive and the sellers should note this in the description.
Click to expand...

I was able to resolve my problems with a simple Bios flash.
 
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