4870 bios mod

[dean0]

I need a few questions answered before i carry out this mod.
Iam using RBE v1.11 and winflash and usb stick. I have saved my bios file using gpu-z and its 128kb meaning i souldnt get the file corruption problem right?
Heres a screen from RBE v1.11. What clock info section do i edit? what is max volts on stock cooler at 100% thanks for the help
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/3174/87903707yc9.th.jpg (http://img65.imageshack.us/my.php?image=87903707yc9.jpg)

[dean0]

anyone?

[jimmyz]

anyone?

3,6,9. if that doesn't get the switch right also use 2,5,8 they are the med. 3-d clocks.

[dean0]

thanks as alway jimmy, iam using winflash i have downloaded it but when i click to load it nothing happens? am i doing something wrong?
also is the voltage for the core or memory? would it be best just to set all the clock info's to make sure?

[jimmyz]

thanks as alway jimmy, iam using winflash i have downloaded it but when i click to load it nothing happens? am i doing something wrong?
also is the voltage for the core or memory? would it be best just to set all the clock info's to make sure?

no, yes and yes, Vista is the culprit, I had a hell of a time getting it to start in vista. do you have an xp install(dual boot)? or another HDD with xp. or you can do the dos flash with the other flash tools. look on Techpowerup for the dos apps.

not having a 4870 means I can only guess but I would use 9, 6 and 3 at first if it doesn't change during a fullscreen app. then mod a fresh bios to include 2&3, 5&6 and 8&9 with the desired clocks. always use a fresh copy of your original bios to perform mods with RBE.

[dean0]

Ive completed the flash in DOS mode succesfully.
bios voltage; 1.3v
Read using MM; idle; 1.273v load; 1.282v
What is the highest voltage from bios?
Currently core; 820 Memory; 1080 100%stable :D
small problem that in 2d mode i get flickering sometimes anyone know why?

[jimmyz]

That is about the max from bios any more still just gives the same voltage. I think the flickering is clock speed changes, I have heard several people mention it. never had it myself.

[PoeDooM]

hello there my first post :) jimmyz i was wondering about what meant what in rbe thanks for clearing that up,but i have a question concerning clock info 0 in rbe as on the 4870 its set to 750mhz and 900 does this one also have to be changed to match your new clock or is it left alone on the current setting

[jimmyz]

hello there my first post :) jimmyz i was wondering about what meant what in rbe thanks for clearing that up,but i have a question concerning clock info 0 in rbe as on the 4870 its set to 750mhz and 900 does this one also have to be changed to match your new clock or is it left alone on the current setting

0 is boot, just leave it as is.

[PoeDooM]

thanks man having a play with it now :)

[Jaivan]

small problem that in 2d mode i get flickering sometimes anyone know why?

It's caused by the memory clocks changing frequency.

[DemonEyez]

...
small problem that in 2d mode i get flickering sometimes anyone know why?

That is about the max from bios any more still just gives the same voltage. I think the flickering is clock speed changes, I have heard several people mention it. never had it myself.
I heard that the flickering sometimes is being caused by a secondary display being used at the same time. Putting the system in single display config and not in dual display helped some people get rid of the flickering, myself included.
I get flickering using the secondary output which is connected to my Sony Bravia LCD TV. When I use the dual display mode and want to watch a movie on the Sony TV, I get massive flickering and scanlines. Putting the system in single display mode helps and I can watch my movie as usual on my Sony Bravia. Seems there is a problem wih running dual display configs.

[vengance_01]

sounds like a driver issue. Now I have heard people had that problem from not keeping there memory for 2D and 3D the same.

[d4d4cH]

can RBE editor raise voltages by software on 4870? and how to do it if it is possible...or should i just wait for an unlocked bios? card is under water

[NKD]

I have one question the new diamond card coming out XOC, do you think there is a way for them to squeeze more voltage out of just the firmware, is that possible? because I was hoping to grab that bios when the card comes out. or do you think that they will just keep the same voltage and tweak the firmware to get more voltage, because I don't know how much more voltage they can give physically given it is still on stock cooler.

[DemonEyez]

sounds like a driver issue. Now I have heard people had that problem from not keeping there memory for 2D and 3D the same.

Yeah I heard that also. But if it is due to the memory switching, wouldn't I have this problem on both screens, regardless of which screen is used? It only appears on one screen. I hope Ati fixes these troubles with Cat 8.7

[mat9v]

I too have a problem with RBE (1.11). It seems it won't even correctly write voltages into bios image. It's simple to test. Load original bios, don't modify enything, just save it under new name. Restart RBE, load saved bios file - there is no voltages present at all, only "---" in their place. I'm modifying Powercolor 4870 bios. Also there is no reaction to changing frequency values, after modifying them my card defaults to 750/900 always and the changes can by small like 750 to 650 for core.... The last thing is (and it's a killer for me :( ) any change to bios results in card defaulting to PCI-E 1.1 16X instead of 2.0 16X. X38 chipset allows for 2x 16X lines of 1.1 or 2.0 variety so it's strange for me. Also it lowers the score some. Not much but it's there. Ah, using Winflash 2.012.
Anybody can help here? Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

[古強者死神]

RBE 1.12 is out now to make your lives easier. 1.11 works tho.

Mat9v you need to read the built in FAQ for RBE the voltages are supposed to be like that.

[mat9v]

RBE 1.12 fixed my problems, after loading already saved bios voltages appear as saved. Info about this fix is in the changelog.

[flopper]

flashed to 850/1000 (org vcore/no modd)
got the flickering screens, dualset up.
gonna try reflash setting memory at same speed.

edit: confirmed, set the same ram frequency seems to have fixed the flickering.

[Lightman]

flashed to 850/1000 (org vcore/no modd)
got the flickering screens, dualset up.
gonna try reflash setting memory at same speed.

edit: confirmed, set the same ram frequency seems to have fixed the flickering.

Great!

Now I will reflash mine as well :).

I only hope new revisions of BIOS will fix that flashing screen issue and enhance PowerPlay capabilities.

Also anyone tried with DMM if lowering voltages in BIOS is really changing anything?

[purecain]

thie problem with rbe 1.11 or 1.12 is that no one has been able to get the clock modes correct for the 4870... the 4850 seemed to be worked out pretty quickly...
i wont use this program 'again' untill i'm absolutely sure which 'mode' is for which 'state'... that flickering you see is just unacceptable for me.. and it shows that even though you have oc'd clocks you havnt set up the bios correctly...
i spent a good week experimenting... i must of flashed my cards a hundred times....
nope we need to know which modes are for what.... if you can live with a dodgy bios on your new 4870 then good luck but i couldnt stand the flickering...
ps.. it will happen while games load and when you open explorer and sometimes just move the mouse...

one of the problems getting this info is that someone with a 4850 will post saying its 3 5 and 9 or something similar... its not... powerplay on the 4870 has a completely differant set up.... the modes are all differant....
there is just too much guess work involved to get it right... i bet the new oc bios's wont have the flickering problem, so we should wait and load one of those up into rbe and then when we have that clock info, the sky is the limit...
good luck everyone, hope you have better luck working those clock modes out in the meantime...

[STaRGaZeR]

OK I've playing a bit with mine using RBE 1.12, now my card idles at 160MHz, UVD has a 300MHz clock, memory is fixed always at 1100 and 3D clock is at stock until I find the sweet spot. I've lowered voltages in all idle modes with no luck (1.046v), anybody knows how to lower it?

[r4st4m4n]

OK I've playing a bit with mine using RBE 1.12, now my card idles at 160MHz, UVD has a 300MHz clock, memory is fixed always at 1100 and 3D clock is at stock until I find the sweet spot. I've lowered voltages in all idle modes with no luck (1.046v), anybody knows how to lower it?

What are the clock no to change in RBE ? Can you post a screenshot of RBE with the modified clocks/fields ?

[STaRGaZeR]

What are the clock no to change in RBE ? Can you post a screenshot of RBE with the modified clocks/fields ?

You can change whatever you want. I've modified boot RAM speed because when you change it the image flickers. So now RAM is at 1000 always. I've found the sweet spot for this card, 880/1000 on stock volts. Increasing the memory speed has no effect on perfomance, I only get stability problems. Artifacts in ATITool but rock stable in games. And who cares about ATITool, this thing is flying. Maybe I'll do a pencil mod, but I doubt it will be available.

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3332/dibujoek3.png

Also I've increased UVD speed to 500MHz, at 300 some VC1 streams have artifacts. I'm on water BTW.

[Søndergård]

Hi guys.. I have just had a succesful bad bios recovery - Thanks to all who made that possible.

Now Im up for more excitement :)

I am adjusting my clocks in RBE 1.12 but I cant seem to save the file to a .bin - the program only seems to be able to use .rom

Can you guys tell me what I am doing wrong?

EDIT: Nevermind, I figured it out.. Just had to typo .bin :P

I flashed to 790/1000 and lowered my 2D clocks to 200/400 but I am getting flickering screen, so I am going to try a couple of other things..

EDIT: No flickering at 1000MHz mem all the time.. But is there a sweet spot where no flickering is going on?

[STaRGaZeR]

Ficker happens every time the mem speed changes, and sometimes when core speed changes. GDDR5 power consumption at idle is negligible, so my recomendation is to leave it fixed at your 3D stable clocks all the time and only lower core clock.

BTW still no luck trying to lower voltage via BIOS :(

[flopper]

Hi guys.. I have just had a succesful bad bios recovery - Thanks to all who made that possible.

Now Im up for more excitement :)


EDIT: No flickering at 1000MHz mem all the time.. But is there a sweet spot where no flickering is going on?

just try set the same frequency on all states.
that should work.
1ghz is what the ram is done for so I guess that is a sweetspot, for me at least ;P

[r4st4m4n]

You can change whatever you want. I've modified boot RAM speed because when you change it the image flickers. So now RAM is at 1000 always. I've found the sweet spot for this card, 880/1000 on stock volts. Increasing the memory speed has no effect on perfomance, I only get stability problems. Artifacts in ATITool but rock stable in games. And who cares about ATITool, this thing is flying. Maybe I'll do a pencil mod, but I doubt it will be available.

*snip*

Also I've increased UVD speed to 500MHz, at 300 some VC1 streams have artifacts. I'm on water BTW.

Thanks, I just wanted to know which clocks were for 2D and which one for 3D. :up:

[Mr Roboto]

Thanks, I just wanted to know which clocks were for 2D and which one for 3D. :up:


If you click where the mouse pointer is in the picture below it will tell you what the clocks are for the different modes.

Yellow=Low Power
Green=Medium Power
Red=High Power

http://i34.tinypic.com/1h4g7o.jpg