5850 Unlocked Bios!!!

Well the one guy has his 5850 clocked at 924/1220. So that's above 5870 stock clocks. But unless they can unlock the extra shaders, I think performance won't be quite as fast as a 5870 clock for clock..
 
vjcsmoke said:
Well the one guy has his 5850 clocked at 924/1220. So that's above 5870 stock clocks. But unless they can unlock the extra shaders, I think performance won't be quite as fast as a 5870 clock for clock..
Click to expand...

...but the performance will be close - and I kept $100 in my pocket.
 
I did it! It Freaking Rocks! :D

Before Unlock
final3dmark.jpg


After Unlock :toast:
5850unlocked.jpg
 
Slim Charles said:
How easy/dangerous is this to do?
Click to expand...

Super Easy if you are familiar with DOS.

Dangerous, if you exceed temperatures limit.

While running 3DMark I was monitoring GPU temps with Everest and I saw GPU use at 99% and temps were fairly cool
--------------------------------------------------MIN------------------------------------------------MAX-----------------------------------------------------Average
gpuunlockedtemps.png
 
This is the guide I followed, except instead of using the Asus bios I used the MSI one to ensure compatibility with MSI Afterburner:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15021144&postcount=1

Special Thanks to Overclockers UK

Here is the ASUS BIOS
http://rapidshare.com/files/288531683/Asus.rom

Here is the MSI one I used:
http://cid-26aaa81850481d85.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/%e5%85%ac%e9%96%8b/MSI%5E_R5850%5E_unlock.A11

Here's the latest ATIflash

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1650/ATIFlash_3.75.html

Here's the tool to format a USB flash drive
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18807&d=1222699942

Here's the bootfiles I used
http://www.4shared.com/file/43544416/39060a9e/HPUSBFW_BOOTFILES.html?s=1 (Extract them, then make a folder called BOOTFILES, stick the extracted files into the folder)


The Steps

Note: Make a backup of your original BIOS using GP-Z

  • Plug in the USB drive that you want to use.
  • Install and run HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool.
  • Select the USB Drive. In the "File system" drop down box, pick FAT32. Tick "Quick Format". Tick "Create a DOS startup disk, using DOS system files located at and click the "..." and direct it to the BOOTFILES folder you made.
  • Click start.
  • Once that's done, copy the ATI Flash and ASUS BIOS into the USB drive.
  • Restart your PC and boot from the USB Flash drive.
  • Once it's booted in type
  • atiflash -f -p 0 asus.rom (If you're not using crossfire)

I used the MSI one so I went: atiflash -f -p 0 MSI_R5850_unlock.A11

DOS did not like the long name so I renamed the file to something short like MSI.A11

[*]Once the flashing is done will ask you for reboot. When Windows boot you will see all your resolution lost and Windows will detect a new video card. You will have to re-install the Ati drivers again to take effect.

If you're using crossfire, I'd suggest you flash each card individually (For people like Virus). More so that I don't know how to flash more than one card at once



Good luck
 
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worked great for me!
here is a pic I only had to up the core to 1.125 to get 900 core, just got this done, and tested it furmark stable, using msi afterburner to adjust volts.
193972997690842918.jpg
 
We need to see some solid game benchmarks that compare stock clocks to these crazy overclocks. Better yet compare stock 5870 review benchmarks to what you guys are getting with these overclocks. I get my card tomorrow.
 
5850's are really shining now as well, some over at xtremesystems have come up with a way to use the old MCW60 waterblock I believe for even better cooling.
 
0m3g4 said:
worked great for me!
here is a pic I only had to up the core to 1.125 to get 900 core, just got this done, and tested it furmark stable, using msi afterburner to adjust volts.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/1258/193972997690842918.jpg
Click to expand...

Congrats dude! :D

I could not believe how easy it was and the best part I could push this baby even further but I want to keep the temps in the safe mark.

PS3 said:
We need to see some solid game benchmarks that compare stock clocks to these crazy overclocks. Better yet compare stock 5870 review benchmarks to what you guys are getting with these overclocks. I get my card tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I wish I took screen shots but I ran RE5 benchmark tool before and after and I could see a considerable bump in FPS around 15FPS increase.

This is real guys :D
 
well this is what I have done 950core 1125 mem vs stock
l4d maxed out 1920 x 1200 8xaa 16xaf. I ran furmark @ 1280 x 1024 no aa windowed
I am pretty sure you can tell which is which w/o me labeling them.
and furmark is the only other thing I really have that would give a consistent reading.
193973066365374505.jpg
 
Dang that's a ridiculous frame bump. I'm impressed especially with the bump in the "minimum fps" department as that's all that really matters to me. Just gotta hope you get a decent chip that can OC.

Oh and how safe is it to run these overclocks over a long period time. Could you potentially damage the card?
 
That is a nice bump. Now I'm really anxiously awaiting for my xfx 5850 to arrive... damn you for increasing my want for this card.
 
jhodach said:
That is a nice bump. Now I'm really anxiously awaiting for my xfx 5850 to arrive... damn you for increasing my want for this card.
Click to expand...

If this card was $199 right now I'd buy it.
 
jhodach said:
That is a nice bump. Now I'm really anxiously awaiting for my xfx 5850 to arrive... damn you for increasing my want for this card.
Click to expand...

QFT

I can't wait to get mine, did you order yours from CC as well?
 
I had issues with the msi bios (artifacts, lock ups, etc.) but the asus bios works well on my sapphire 5850. Not sure why my card didn't like the msi bios.

*Edit 1* I re-downloaded the msi bios and re-flashed and now it is working fine with none of the issues I experienced before. MSI afterburner is also more compatible with the MSI bios than the Asus bios. I was not able to change the voltage using MSI afterburner when using the Asus bios, even with updating the config file in the profiles folder.

*Edit 2* I flashed back to the Asus bios as I was getting game lockups with the MSI bios @ 880/1200 1.162v. Asus bios is stable at these settings...perhaps because the voltage, 1.162v, is already set in the bios.
 
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Slim Charles said:
Hmm..is the bios flash any better than just OC'ing to those speeds?
Click to expand...

the only cards that have the bios capable of these clocks are the asus or msi.
so if you have any other manufacturer then you max at 825mhz in ccc, so if you flash to these bios's then you get to up to w/e your card can take.
 
Using a mcw50 waterblock, old as it gets, flashed msi bios and it runs really well.
1ghz+ without issues.

really a get a price/performance card.
Really happy with it.
 
I'm liking how the minimum FPS ratio gets a pretty sweet increase when overclocking. Liking it...
 
0m3g4 said:
the only cards that have the bios capable of these clocks are the asus or msi.
so if you have any other manufacturer then you max at 825mhz in ccc, so if you flash to these bios's then you get to up to w/e your card can take.
Click to expand...

Using MSI Afterburner for voltage,and GPU Clock tool for clocking, I ran into unrecoverable artifacts at 850 mhz core, 1.2V on my XFX 5850. Would either of these bios' allow for more stability? Is CCC a better overclocking method? Does CCC adjust core voltage or is MSI Afterburner still required?
 
to those who have flashed the ASUS bios,
does the card still downclock when idle? So would we get a higher core and mem clock, but still benifit from the energy saving when idle?
 
Very nice... Almost makes me think I should have got the 5850 insead of the 5870... Almost. ;)
 
dook43 said:
Using MSI Afterburner for voltage,and GPU Clock tool for clocking, I ran into unrecoverable artifacts at 850 mhz core, 1.2V on my XFX 5850. Would either of these bios' allow for more stability? Is CCC a better overclocking method? Does CCC adjust core voltage or is MSI Afterburner still required?
Click to expand...
you could just have a bad core, I have seen a couple of ppl saying that their cores maxed around 850-900mhz, even with voltage bumps,
ccc only allows for core/mem clocking, you still need afterburner.

mattlef said:
to those who have flashed the ASUS bios,
does the card still downclock when idle? So would we get a higher core and mem clock, but still benifit from the energy saving when idle?
Click to expand...
I used the msi bios, they are all pretty much the same at this point, mine goes down to 157mhz in 2d mode.
 
xXxDieselxXx said:
This is the guide I followed, except instead of using the Asus bios I used the MSI one to ensure compatibility with MSI Afterburner:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15021144&postcount=1

Special Thanks to Overclockers UK

Here is the ASUS BIOS
http://rapidshare.com/files/288531683/Asus.rom

Here is the MSI one I used:
http://cid-26aaa81850481d85.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/%e5%85%ac%e9%96%8b/MSI%5E_R5850%5E_unlock.A11

Here's the latest ATIflash

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1650/ATIFlash_3.75.html

Here's the tool to format a USB flash drive
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18807&d=1222699942

Here's the bootfiles I used
http://www.4shared.com/file/43544416/39060a9e/HPUSBFW_BOOTFILES.html?s=1 (Extract them, then make a folder called BOOTFILES, stick the extracted files into the folder)


The Steps

Note: Make a backup of your original BIOS using GP-Z

  • Plug in the USB drive that you want to use.
  • Install and run HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool.
  • Select the USB Drive. In the "File system" drop down box, pick FAT32. Tick "Quick Format". Tick "Create a DOS startup disk, using DOS system files located at and click the "..." and direct it to the BOOTFILES folder you made.
  • Click start.
  • Once that's done, copy the ATI Flash and ASUS BIOS into the USB drive.
  • Restart your PC and boot from the USB Flash drive.
  • Once it's booted in type
  • atiflash -f -p 0 asus.rom (If you're not using crossfire)

I used the MSI one so I went: atiflash -f -p 0 MSI_R5850_unlock.A11

DOS did not like the long name so I renamed the file to something short like MSI.A11

[*]Once the flashing is done will ask you for reboot. When Windows boot you will see all your resolution lost and Windows will detect a new video card. You will have to re-install the Ati drivers again to take effect.

If you're using crossfire, I'd suggest you flash each card individually (For people like Virus). More so that I don't know how to flash more than one card at once



Good luck
Click to expand...

Alright, thanks for the info and links, made it a breeze. Looks like my 5850 is a decent chip. I can OC to 900 gpu clock and 1150 memory clock. What I did was just use the asus bios and then use CCC. I was intent on keeping the gpu voltage stock, so no afterburner. The gain I got with this overclock however was only an 8 fps average gain in the RE5 variable benchmark. That's not bad at all.
 
mattlef said:
to those who have flashed the ASUS bios,
does the card still downclock when idle? So would we get a higher core and mem clock, but still benifit from the energy saving when idle?
Click to expand...

I can confirm that the card still downclocks with the asus bios.
 
xXxDieselxXx said:
35c - 37c Idle and 81c Max Load

I'm loving this card :D
Click to expand...

Sweet!

My poor shitty 8800GT is full loading at about 100c and its never been overclocked :(. I really need to upgrade it and would like to move to a 5850 soon to tide me over till Jan-Feb of 2011

Are you sustaining your clocks at 950x1170?
 
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edifyingkarma said:
Sweet!

My poor shitty 8800GT is full loading at about 100c and its never been overclocked :(. I really need to upgrade it and would like to move to a 5850 soon to tide me over till Jan-Feb of 2011

Are you sustaining your clocks at 950x1170?
Click to expand...

I know the feeling I upgraded from a 8800GTS myself. Great card but the 5850 beats it back and forth :D

Regarding the clocks. Yes, these settings are a keeper. They are rock stable and I'm liking the temps as well. ;)
 
Ok, love the asus bios, and love this 5850. Seeing about a 10-14fps average increase and have surpassed stock 5870 performance in the RE5 benchmark at least. This is with the
900/1200 OC.

All I need to know is how to modify the the asus bios so that I can set my default clocks to be at 900/1200 for 3d gaming.
 
So where is the asus bios link for the 5850? The MSI link is missing the file.
 
it is? i just did mine last night, @ about this time. unfortunately, I am having either severe CPU limitation or board issues that's making my system run like ass. the flash went wonderfully, though. the amount of control offered afterwards is great, and these cards OC like hell. unfortunately, my system is having issues, and I am not seeing what I can only assume are the ridiculous benefits


you will want the msi bios, allows you to use the oc tool, gives you voltage control
 
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