KGB - Kepler BIOS Editor/Unlocker

[CrazyNutz]

KGB (Kepler Golden BIOS) Is an Nvidia Kepler BIOS Editor/Unlocker program I have written. Enjoy

KGB supports: GTX690, GTX680, GTX670, GTX660Ti, GTX660OEM and GTX660.


Instructions: KGB is a console application, you must use it from a command prompt in windows. Start menu then type cmd, then cd to the folder containing kgb.
You will need to extract your bios from your card with this version of GPU-Z http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/at...2&d=1344772659
When you are done modding your bios you will need to flash it back to your card with nvflash.

Usage Example 1: kgb.exe your_bios.rom
This will display info from the bios.

Usage Example 2: kgb.exe your_bios.rom unlock
This will unlock your BIOS. Make sure you have a backup of your original BIOS file!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


By default it will unlock to 150% Power, Voltage 1.1875v (1.2125v On Boost, only on GK104?), and Fan Range to 30% - 100% (You can now define these values in the kgb.cfg file)

NOTICE: When you unlock the bios your card WILL boost higher, It may boost past stable. If you have any overclocks set then it WILL very likely boost past stable.
Remove your overclock settings (from precision, afterburner, etc..) then try again. If it's still unstable you may have to underclock the base a bit.

WARNING: KGB works on all the bios files I have so far. However that's not to say it will work on yours. Make sure to look at the output of KGB after you unlock,
If something looks fishy do not flash it. If something goes wrong I take no responsibility. Use at your own risk!!!

Download:
LATEST: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fsxyvofr1idazhm/kgb_0.6.2.zip

Test version of KGB for titan. Only fan, and power supported for now:
TITAN: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dk54rmgce0...gb_titan.zip?m

OLD: https://www.dropbox.com/s/d6dimgnx8cxvlca/kgb_0.6.1.zip
OLD: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ouhpkeq5m4n6vn5/kgb_0.6.0.zip
OLD: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vrunxuq03vj0m5y/kgb_0.5.zip


Revision History
Version 0.6.2
-Added support for more bioses

Version 0.6.1
-Minor fixes

Version 0.6
-Added config option to change the max boost frequency.
-Added EXPERIMENTAL option to preserve the original checksum.
-Added fixes for some bios that KGB was not playing nice with.

Version 0.5
-Added support for GTX690
-Added fix_checksum option (if you only wan't to fix the checksum and not change any other values supply "fix_checksum" as the parameter rather than "unlock")
-Added kgb.cfg file. You can change the values in this file to customize your unlock values fan, voltage, power.

Version a0.4
-Added support for 660 OEM
-Added extra error checking

[W1zzard]

How do you fix the digital signature ? (Not the 1 byte CRC)

[fgw]

How do you fix the digital signature ? (Not the 1 byte CRC)

i'm interested in that too ...

anyway, as an owner of a 680 lightning im already able to take full voltagecontrol of my card using afterburner!

but i'm looking for a way to extend the fan range to 0% - 100%

[CrazyNutz]

looking for a way to extend the fan range to 0% - 100%

Yes, when I have some time I plan on adding some parameters so you can change the settings.

[CrazyNutz]

How do you fix the digital signature ? (Not the 1 byte CRC)

I don't fix it. I and many others have manually modded quite a large number of bios files, and they have been fine without fixing the digital sig.
I'm not sure what purpose the digital signature serves. Also some BIOS file don't even have it.

At this point I would have to say the Digital Signature section has nothing to do with validating the bios section.

[Mungri]

Will this work on non reference PCB kepler GPUs too?

[CrazyNutz]

Will this work on non reference PCB kepler GPUs too?

Yes

[leghmoh]

Thanks a Lot man, that is the tool I've been waiting for.

[C-N]

KGB (Kepler Golden BIOS) Is an Nvidia Kepler BIOS Editor/Unlocker program I have written. Enjoy

KGB supports: GTX680, GTX670, GTX660Ti, and GTX660 for now.

Usage Example 1: kgb.exe your_bios.rom
This will display info from the bios.

Usage Example 2: kgb.exe your_bios.rom unlock
This will unlock your BIOS. Make sure you have a backup of your original BIOS file!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right now that is it. It will unlock to 150% Power, Voltage 1.1875v (1.2125v On Boost), and Fan Range to 30% - 100% (Future versions will allow you to define these values)

Hey CrazyNutz Your unlock appears to do what it says on the tin but just thought I'd let you know my Palait Jetstream GTX 680 don't like running once unlocked.

Used example 1 to check my 680
Saved stock bios using GPU-Z
Run your unlock tool against my stock BIOS
Flashed mod BIOS using nvflash 5.118 from W8 CMD line
Checked again using example 1 & verified unlock worked ok.

Run MSI Kombustor at stock & screen went black within 30 seconds. Reboot & try again same result.... maybe driver crash.

Re-Flashed my original stock BIOS & tested all ok with Kombustor.

[CrazyNutz]

Hey CrazyNutz Your unlock appears to do what it says on the tin but just thought I'd let you know my Palait Jetstream GTX 680 don't like running once unlocked.

Used example 1 to check my 680
Saved stock bios using GPU-Z
Run your unlock tool against my stock BIOS
Flashed mod BIOS using nvflash 5.118 from W8 CMD line
Checked again using example 1 & verified unlock worked ok.

Run MSI Kombustor at stock & screen went black within 30 seconds. Reboot & try again same result.... maybe driver crash.

Re-Flashed my original stock BIOS & tested all ok with Kombustor.

After the unlock your boost clock will boost much higher. It is likely that it will has boosted past the stable point. You may have to control this by either down clocking the base clock, or lowering the power slider.

[Warboy]

Can the power target go higher then 150% and isn't there a way to customize the power draw since I saw that discussed in some bios mod forums.

[fgw]

did a quick check:

my lightning bios has already a powerlimit of 300%

was curious to see what happens if i run unlock to set the new powerlimit to 150% (as intended to be set during unlock) or leave it at 300%.

it stayed at 300%. guess your unlock is not touching the limits if the limits contained in bios are already higher ...

[C-N]

After the unlock your boost clock will boost much higher. It is likely that it will has boosted past the stable point. You may have to control this by either down clocking the base clock, or lowering the power slider.

Yup looks like that is what it done although I can stop the driver crashing if I max out the power slider in Afterburner. I also added 100MHz to the clock making 1185 base & with the fan on 100% & the power slider @ 150% it runs fine on stock core voltage. Looks to me your mod will work good once you get round to adding the ability to pre define values from the BIOS.

BTW thanks for sharing

[CrazyNutz]

Can the power target go higher then 150% and isn't there a way to customize the power draw since I saw that discussed in some bios mod forums.

I will eventually add the ability to set the values yourself. However this version is Alpha, and I'm just looking for feedback. Thanks

did a quick check:

my lightning bios has already a powerlimit of 300%

was curious to see what happens if i run unlock to set the new powerlimit to 150% (as intended to be set during unlock) or leave it at 300%.

it stayed at 300%. guess your unlock is not touching the limits if the limits contained in bios are already higher ...

Yes the lightning LN2 Bios is already maxed out.

Yup looks like that is what it done although I can stop the driver crashing if I max out the power slider in Afterburner. I also added 100MHz to the clock making 1185 base & with the fan on 100% & the power slider @ 150% it runs fine on stock core voltage. Looks to me your mod will work good once you get round to adding the ability to pre define values from the BIOS.

BTW thanks for sharing

Ok so if you maxed out power limit to %150 then it was stable?

[C-N]

Ok so if you maxed out power limit to %150 then it was stable?

Yes both stock 1085MHz & +100 1185MHz on stock core voltage.

[Mungri]

Hmm, I just tried dowloading and running the program, but it just flashes open and instantly closes again, maybe because I'm running window 8?

I also uploaded my bios to Techpowerup because they didnt have it yet, but I'll have to wait until KGB works for me.

[CrazyNutz]

Hmm, I just tried dowloading and running the program, but it just flashes open and instantly closes again, maybe because I'm running window 8?

I also uploaded my bios to Techpowerup because they didnt have it yet, but I'll have to wait until KGB works for me.

It's a console program. You have to run it from a cmd prompt.
open a cmd prompt, then cd to where the kgb.exe file is then type: kgb.exe your_bios.rom

[Mungri]

Nicely done, I flashed with an unlocked bios and now I'm stable in Heaven with 1267 Mhz on the GPU

But I need to set the core clock to -25 Mhz, otherwise it runs at 1293 Mhz which isnt stable.

1267 Mhz plus my golden 7500 Mhz ram will be lovely

Screenshot:

http://i.imgur.com/4kD2b.jpg

I dont know why my power graph only stays at 80 though, I think theres something wrong with that which is why I cant go any higher.

[CrazyNutz]

Nicely done, I flashed with an unlocked bios and now I'm stable in Heaven with 1267 Mhz on the GPU

But I need to set the core clock to -25 Mhz, otherwise it runs at 1293 Mhz which isnt stable.

1267 Mhz plus my golden 7500 Mhz ram will be lovely

Screenshot:

http://i.imgur.com/4kD2b.jpg

I dont know why my power graph only stays at 80 though, I think theres something wrong with that which is why I cant go any higher.

Nice. I plan to have a parameter soon that you can use to cap the boost frequency. In your case you would set the boost cap to 1267, this would keep your card from going past that.

[nuno_p]

My gtx660ti its a really bad overclocker, i can only get 1189Mhz stable on the core with bios unlocked.

When will you release the boost cap feature?

I had to change the core offset to -110 to be stable.

Other than that your tool its working great so far.

Congrats.

[fgw]

CrazyNutz, need some clarification:

here is the output of my stock bios (680 lightning)

Power Target: 225000
Max Power Target: 300000 (133%)

Voltage Table:
1150000
1150000
11500000

1150000
1150000
11500000

unlocking it with kgb and checking again without unlock switch resulted in the following output:

Power Target: 225000
Max Power Target: 337500 (150%)

Voltage Table:
1187500
1187500
11875000

1187500
1187500
11875000

regarding your statement in your first post: "It will unlock to 150% Power, Voltage 1.1875v (1.2125v On Boost)"

shouldn't it read something like

Voltage Table:
1187500
1187500
11875000

1212500
1212500
12125000

after unlocking?

is max applied boost voltage shown in the output of kgb? had the impression the last three voltage values might apply to max boost voltage?

[CrazyNutz]

CrazyNutz, need some clarification:

here is the output of my stock bios (680 lightning)

Power Target: 225000
Max Power Target: 300000 (133%)

Voltage Table:
1150000
1150000
11500000

1150000
1150000
11500000

unlocking it with kgb and checking again without unlock switch resulted in the following output:

Power Target: 225000
Max Power Target: 337500 (150%)

Voltage Table:
1187500
1187500
11875000

1187500
1187500
11875000

regarding your statement in your first post: "It will unlock to 150% Power, Voltage 1.1875v (1.2125v On Boost)"

shouldn't it read something like

Voltage Table:
1187500
1187500
11875000

1212500
1212500
12125000

after unlocking?

is max applied boost voltage shown in the output of kgb? had the impression the last three voltage values might apply to max boost voltage?

The two voltage tables for GK104 bios are always the same values. The boost logic automatically boost the voltage up 2 levels.
You have notice i'm sure that your stock volts 1.150v will go to 1.175 on boost.

1150000
1162500
1175000
1187500 < my tool sets the voltage tables to this
1200000
1212500 < The boost logic will bring it here, (if the GPU is cool, and not drawing too much power))

[fgw]

The two voltage tables for GK104 bios are always the same values. The boost logic automatically boost the voltage up 2 levels.
You have notice i'm sure that your stock volts 1.150v will go to 1.175 on boost.

1150000
1162500
1175000
1187500 < my tool sets the voltage tables to this
1200000
1212500 < The boost logic will bring it here, (if the GPU is cool, and not drawing too much power))

is this the complete table?

so max possible boost voltage is 1.2150V ?

[trayton]

The two voltage tables for GK104 bios are always the same values. The boost logic automatically boost the voltage up 2 levels.
You have notice i'm sure that your stock volts 1.150v will go to 1.175 on boost.

1150000
1162500
1175000
1187500 < my tool sets the voltage tables to this
1200000
1212500 < The boost logic will bring it here, (if the GPU is cool, and not drawing too much power))

Hi CrazyNut,

First of all, thanks for putting together this tool! I really appreciate initiatives like this and happy to give you my feedback to make the tool even better.
I was able to put my hands on an ASUS GTX660 vanilla version (DC2-2GD5) this week and modded the BIOS with KGB 0.4a. After modding, everything looked fine except the voltages in practice. I read the relevant threads on the forum and according to you the Vcore should rise automatically from 1.187 to 1.212 when the card boosts. Apparently, this is not happening and Vcore is constantly at 1.187V. I thought this might be due to my settings in AfterBurner 2.3 but even after playing with the settings I can't make Vcore go higher. If I recall someone else already raised the same issue in this or another thread. For your reference, I added the original BIOS.

Would you be able to mod the bios or add functionality to KGB so that we can set a custom Vcore?

Regarding fan settings, the ASUS DCUII runs with a 10-100 setting and after mod the temp/RPM slope didn't change. It's just starting at 30 as it's expected.

Original BIOS of the card:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dxexxdbiwm...5_original.zip

Voltage table of original BIOS:
1212500
1212500
12125000

1150000
1150000
11500000

After modding:
1187500
1187500
11875000

1187500
1187500
11875000

Lastly, many people have asked how to do the flashing itself. I suggest adding nvflash to the package including a little readme:

With a single graphics card:
nvflash --protectoff (turn off BIOS protection)
nvlash [rom file] (flash BIOS)

With multiple graphics cards:
nvflash --list (lists graphics cards indexes/IDs you have in the system)
nvflash --protectoff --index=[ID]
nvlash --index=[ID] [rom file]

I have been using nvflash 5.118 without any problems.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/geu3lg36q5...flash_5118.zip

Thanks,
trayton

[fgw]

CrazyNutz, the observations made by trayton brougt up my doubts regarding voltagetables again.

you said kgb will flash all tables to the same value and boost voltage simply will be selected by stepping up the voltage two steps in the standard table:

The two voltage tables for GK104 bios are always the same values. The boost logic automatically boost the voltage up 2 levels.
You have notice i'm sure that your stock volts 1.150v will go to 1.175 on boost.

1150000
1162500
1175000
1187500 < my tool sets the voltage tables to this
1200000
1212500 < The boost logic will bring it here, (if the GPU is cool, and not drawing too much power)

first question here: is this the complete table or are there any lower or higher steps available?

there are six voltage values displayed when running kgb. could you elaborate what this six voltage values relate too?
from a logical point of view it would make sense, that some levels relate to standard voltages and some other relate to boost voltage.

need to think a bit about this and see how i can verify this with my lightning. but as you know, lightning cards have their own voltage control
and simply add some offset voltage on top of the voltage delivered by the standard nvidia voltage controller. at least thats how i understand this.

so the most interesting question to me is: what is the meaning of this six voltages displayed and modified by kbg? may be we come to the conclusion
it would be best to change all this voltages independently. than we can check with the multimeter whats really going on ...

anyway, great tool! thanks for your work!