MSI R5850 Twin Frozr II voltage issue

Hello everyone :)

I recently got this card -> http://eu.msi.com/index.php?func=pro...0&prod_no=2029 which has, afaik, a uP6266 voltage regulator (same as 5870 lightning). So, why can't I get Afterburner give me >1.3 voltage options. I've tried several version (even the extremes) but the slide won't go any further... jesus, I used to had 1.35 or even 1.4 (asus doctor) on the reference cards :(

After some thorough googling I came across a lot of complaining, about people not be able to set > 1.150V on that card - that's not the case here. I can overvolt up to 1.3 (MMed it, too) but I'd love some more (since the controller can do it).

Any suggestions ?







Ohh, I attach the bios the card came with, beware, the card ain't reference design and the fan control is just plain daft.

Cheers :)

Wow - if the Xs user's cant help, no one will :)

I am considering flashing my card with the lightning's bios to give it a try. I know it's a different card and I know there is a risk of bricking the R5850 - but even if I bricked it, that would be reversible, wouldn't it? I have a spare gpu and a second pcie so I could bring the bricked card back to life - right?

you did the obvious? enable unofficial overclocking, and unlock voltage? my 5870's with normal MSI AB can do 1.45V :p:
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ureui77665.png

Yes, I did all the usual staff (.cfg+options) in AB but won't go >1.3... Trixx didn't help either. Care to share that version of AB ? It might worth a try... :)

no tricks no special bios version, the twin frozer II needs volt mods to go over 1.3v..........

His afterburner above goes that high becasue he is using a ref 5870 card with volterra...............

This is rather simple, google the uP controler chip.

http://chew.ln2cooling.com/XS%20mods...r%20II%201.jpg

You want fb, fb = pin 6. You want an easier place to solder to so follow trace, I get 5K reading, multiply by 10 = 50k res to a solder point to ground.

EDIT pulled, incorrect mod.

My guess is if you did a vid mod you could avoid OCP and have higher voltage in software but i don't have the time to work that out atm.........

I don't have that card, but, MSI AB has a pre-set limit of 1.3V for the 5850 twin frozr II, so I would be willing to bet that if you raised the pre-set limit it would go much higher.

@chew

Yeap :) That's the controller I have - I just took a look on the card (there is a lot of dust in that case too!). So the vmod looks like a rather simple solution. But I would love to give it a try thou I2C bus / software first, as I am not convinced that 1.3 is the psychical limit of that controller. So now I am after a nice how to / tutorial on how to get those values changed. OOhhh damn the noobness :rofl:




@justin.kerr

Volterra was the main reason for me choosing the reference design cards (5850) in the past. I could get up to 1.35 (official AB) and even more with (ABx) with both my sapphire and asus. But that non ref MSI is kind of a pain in the @$H. At least, it the coldest, out of the box, aircooled 5850 I owned. The vrms have no heatsinks attached on, though :confused: Half @$H job MSI, I'd say...









Thank you both, guys. Any other usefull information/tips on my i2c quest would be much appreciated. Cheers :clap:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

@chew

Yeap :) That's the controller I have - I just took a look on the card (there is a lot of dust in that case too!). So the vmod looks like a rather simple solution. But I would love to give it a try thou I2C bus / software first, as I am not convinced that 1.3 is the psychical limit of that controller. So now I am after a nice how to / tutorial on how to get those values changed. OOhhh damn the noobness :rofl:




@justin.kerr

Volterra was the main reason for me choosing the reference design cards (5850) in the past. I could get up to 1.35 (official AB) and even more with (ABx) with both my sapphire and asus. But that non ref MSI is kind of a pain in the @$H. At least, it the coldest, out of the box, aircooled 5850 I owned. The vrms have no heatsinks attached on, though :confused: Half @$H job MSI, I'd say...









Thank you both, guys. Any other usefull information/tips on my i2c quest would be much appreciated. Cheers :clap:

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The limit it set there by MSI via the VID table, regardless of what the controller is capable of, thus why I mentioned the vid mod.........

You can see the VID arrangement by the resistors on the left side of my photo.

No matter what you are not getting over 1.3 without mods.........this picture should explain it better and if you refer to the uP chip pinouts and compare with this pic you will understand better. The resistor with red line going to it is likely your 1.3v limit........If i had to guess it needs to be moved to VID 7 and vid 7 moved to vid 5 also the vid 5 needs to be moved to right, vid 7 needs to be moved left. ( which btw guessing is not wise so don't do it as I haven't verified it )

http://chew.ln2cooling.com/XS%20mods...r%20II%203.jpg

So, I can either do a classic vmod with an appropriate variable resistance between fb and ground or do a vid mod, which I am not very sure what it is :shrug:

Does VIDmod involve "tricking" the controller through the vid pins (soldering something to those pins) or it's just some bios edit in the appropriate values. That VID table is stored in bios, right? The software, tells though the i2c bus what VID mode to be used, or did I mixed up everything?

Lot of questions, I know. I can't help it :p:


edit: Very helpful edit :) chew* for president! Where do I sign? :yepp: :up:

The VID is dictated by that res with red line to it.

Even though controller can support more.

Changing that arrangement that is boxed in purple in my pic will change the 2d and 3d vid.

Nothing you do in bios is going to change this as it's all "fixed" via hardware atm.

However doing the VID mod + FB will likely give you some extra comfort zone with OCP versus FB only.

Also I may have it backwards as far as which vid is 3d voltage.......when i get more time i will look into it as I need to mod one of mine up.

Thank you chew*, I'll might do some experiments myself, at least with the FB. Keep me updated. My card scales quite nicely above 1.2V so I thing I could do with some more headroom - since it's running pretty cool. Keep up the good work mate ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

Hello everyone :)
After some thorough googling I came across a lot of complaining, about people not be able to set > 1.150V on that card - that's not the case here. I can overvolt up to 1.3 (MMed it, too) but I'd love some more (since the controller can do it).

Any suggestions ?

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Aaaah that would be me ''one of that people''.

The thing whit my twin frozr is that it chrashes above 1.14volt (regardless the clockspeed even at stock) when running any 3d ap, game, movie, bench.

I can set it higher even at 1.3 but only in 2d mode, again as soon as i start up furmark etc. 3d than bang crashes again.

whit crash i meen; that i'll get a black screen and the fans of the twin frozr start running at fullspeed, the rest mobo, cpu than still runs. than i have to hard reboot to get it running propperly again.

So i'm very happy that some one is capable enough to hard mod the card.

ceers

My attached(#1) bios might help - it's the original one, so I don't see how the flashing could go wrong - give it a shot ;)

Pulled the first mod becasue I was tired when I measured apparently.......


Here is the corrected measurements, read points and mods. There are a couple more mods also, working them out.

http://chew.ln2cooling.com/XS%20mods...frozer%204.jpg

http://chew.ln2cooling.com/XS%20mods...rozer%2062.jpg

http://chew.ln2cooling.com/XS%20mods...frozer%205.jpg

vddci for mem controller is last I guess.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

My attached(#1) bios might help - it's the original one, so I don't see how the flashing could go wrong - give it a shot ;)

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well that dident workout to wel. same problem again i can set it at 1.3 in afterburner but when launging any 3d ap it wil crashs again.

But your bios gives me another problem the fancontrol is stuck at 55% speed.
And CCC nore AB can enable the auto option.

So no i need my old bios back! because the problem is that i was in to mutsh of a rush to make backup :brick:

So if someone would be so kind to post me this version VER012.019.000.007.035234 note; the same version is found in the techpowerup database But!!! that's the refference design one an that wil not work, alreddy tried that one, so pleas if somebody could help me get my of bios back i would appreciate it very mutsh.

you might be gessing what bad englische man!!! wel its my 3rd language:p:

@chew
Man, you serve quality ;) I think I'll skip vmem since I can do 1300 with no mod at all, but it's nice to have all the mods in a photo. Sweet :)

@jbkappirossi
Yeap - the fan plan is hideous, I mentioned that above the attachment. I think that 55% is the default lower setting, but I can override it through trixx or AB. Give trixx a shot - and maybe we should go on MSI's forums to check for the newest bios. I only have the one I've already posted here...

Hmm I came across the attached pdf - so my hynix are 1250MHz rated @ 1.5V. So no wonder I can do 1375 (at least) since the board actually overvolts them a bit by default. Still, my core doesn't seem that great... :/

I also found that voltage unlocker for the AB - I now can go up to 1.4 but the card locks up (full fan speed and restart needed) @ GHz...

Should I put a heatsink on those vrms? Would that help? Have anyone actually measure the temps that those 4943N running @ load?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

Hmm I came across the attached pdf - so my hynix are 1250MHz rated @ 1.5V. So no wonder I can do 1375 (at least) since the board actually overvolts them a bit by default. Still, my core doesn't seem that great... :/

I also found that voltage unlocker for the AB - I now can go up to 1.4 but the card locks up (full fan speed and restart needed) @ GHz...

Should I put a heatsink on those vrms? Would that help? Have anyone actually measure the temps that those 4943N running @ load?

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Might not hurt, if you noticed the twin frozer is a stripped down cyclone, the PCB is identical but its missing 1 phase, 4 mosfets, 3 caps and 1 choke less than cyclone model.

It might trigger OCP sooner, If you did OCP mod used 50K vr and made the resistance half of default that may help.

Where are you dumping that voltage unlocker file?

I'm not seeing any change in afterburner 2.0 extreme.

Yeap, that lock up with the fans going 100%, no signal and restart required must be an OCP... I'm waiting for a new soldering tip and I'll probably try that OCP mod. Until then I am updating my $hitlist and MSI is going up, since their guys don't answer my question in their support page :ROTF:

Making a mediocre product is bad, but ignoring the support request is in a different league :mad:

( Using the normal afterburner 2.0.0 - you put the files in the installation folder and you run as administrator the MSIAfterburnerVoltUnlock.exe :up: )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

Yeap, that lock up with the fans going 100%, no signal and restart required must be an OCP... I'm waiting for a new soldering tip and I'll probably try that OCP mod. Until then I am updating my $hitlist and MSI is going up, since their guys don't answer my question in their support page :ROTF:

Making a mediocre product is bad, but ignoring the support request is in a different league :mad:

( Using the normal afterburner 2.0.0 - you put the files in the installation folder and you run as administrator the MSIAfterburnerVoltUnlock.exe :up: )

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K will try that.

Btw technically I am MSI support in a round about way, just not on MSI's site ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chew*

Btw technically I am MSI support in a round about way, just not on MSI's site ;)

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Woow - I didn't mean to be harsh. You are a perfect gentleman and very helpful indeed :up: I was referring to the ocss.msi.com.tw people before. I hope I didn't offend anyone here with my big mouth :up: Cheers :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

Woow - I didn't mean to be harsh. You are a perfect gentleman and very helpful indeed :up: I was referring to the ocss.msi.com.tw people before. I hope I didn't offend anyone here with my big mouth :up: Cheers :)

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Yah np.

I'm in vista atm. That file is 32KB, If i rename it to exe and run as admin a command prompt just pops up blank.

Original Exe is much larger.

Nothing to rename - it's a zip archive.

http://uploaded.to/file/viz3vx

I uploaded the zip file here again - in case something is wrong with the attachment host in xs. Unzip the archive, you should get 3 files in it. Doublechecked @ 7 x64 :)

edit: Afterburner 2.1.0 b2 works with the unlocker as well - just checked!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

Nothing to rename - it's a zip archive.

http://uploaded.to/file/viz3vx

I uploaded the zip file here again - in case something is wrong with the attachment host in xs. Unzip the archive, you should get 3 files in it. Doublechecked @ 7 x64 :)

edit: Afterburner 2.1.0 b2 works with the unlocker as well - just checked!

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Ok got my curiosity peaked, what clocks are you hitting currently?

I just tried 1.40 and didn't gain a thing.......however....I just pulled card apart added some heatsinks on VRM and repasted and now we are in buisness.

845/1375 no voltage added

900/1375 @ 1175mV 06/vantage/gaming stable

950/1375 @ 1240mV 06/vantage stable no real gaming tested atm

975/1375 @ 1265mV semi benchable but far from stable






may I add that all temps displayed are always on the cold side. So the cooler does work nicely - or the displayed temps are irrelevant. I'd love if you'd let me know whether the VRM cooling helps ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

845/1375 no voltage added

900/1375 @ 1175mV 06/vantage/gaming stable

950/1375 @ 1240mV 06/vantage stable no real gaming tested atm

975/1375 @ 1265mV semi benchable but far from stable






may I add that all temps displayed are always on the cold side. So the cooler does work nicely - or the displayed temps are irrelevant. I'd love if you'd let me know whether the VRM cooling helps ;)

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well paste application or VRM cooling did the trick however, card apparently blew up.

From what i can see it's stuck in 2d voltage mode, artifacts when it boots and 3d voltage will not apply ( measured).

Job well done :rofl:

I am considering setting mine on fire and dance in a circle around it, too :p:








Jokes aside, try cleaning everything up and redo with ceramique. Maybe worths a try... :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

Job well done :rofl:

I am considering setting mine on fire and dance in a circle around it, too :p:








Jokes aside, try cleaning everything up and redo with ceramique. Maybe worths a try... :(

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nah triple verified it, it's toast temps are in line, I think msi capped it at 1.3v for a reason.

I could hear it screaming through gt3 and 4 at 975.


On a side note drop your ram down to stock and see what your core does then, thisnk this card is a candidate for vddci.

Mine screams too - all the way from 1.2V and upwards, in the heavy scenes. But I am not a man of merci :D Let those military-grade-bla-bla coils scream as much as they like :rofl:

Sorry to hear about your card though :shrug: It seems like, this non reference design is a lot worse that the reference. I think that's a world's first :eek:

I might give the vid mode a try myself later this week, I'll update the thread too. Thanks for everything *chew :clap:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ccaution

Mine screams too - all the way from 1.2V and upwards, in the heavy scenes. But I am not a man of merci :D Let those military-grade-bla-bla coils scream as much as they like :rofl:

Sorry to hear about your card though :shrug: It seems like, this non reference design is a lot worse that the reference. I think that's a world's first :eek:

I might give the vid mode a try myself later this week, I'll update the thread too. Thanks for everything *chew :clap:

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Just tested my other card, duplicated the circumstances the first card died at......this one is fine, that card must have just been a freak thing.

To bad that was the better card as ram goes. Both of mine top out 975 core..... well when one isn't blowing up :p:

It might took me a month or so, but boy, do I have news for you?

The bad news: I didn't manage to go over 980 core no matter voltage, vrm cooling and a swifteck waterblock on the core. I tried fiddling with the OCP resistance but I didn't see a noticeable improvement.

The good new: The fb mod worked like a charm. I kinda thing that the fb mod instructed voltages were more stable & spike free, compared to those applied by the Afterburner. At least my fluke said so :shrug:

The best news: I reattached the original OCP resistor and settled down to stock clocks @ stock voltage. I did some gaming during Christmas holidays, everything was fine. After a week or so, the card died! Yep, it's dead :clap: I was killing some Italians in the Mafia and a minute later it black screened and never revived. It doesn't even recognize it as a second card. No blind flash either. And I don't even care :wiggle:







So thanks for the time, I think I won't miss that card at all. It's been a mediocre card for me. I attach the bios that msi provided me for future reference, but I suspect it's the same bios my card came with. Chew* thanks for the time mate, you are the man :up: