Flash GPU BIOS

[TheGazMan]

Right, sticking with the 4850X2 for a while so am going to make the effort to make it quieter. My card came with the updated BIOS but it's still stupidly loud - I dread to think what the original sounds like! I've never flashed a GPU BIOS before so wan't to make sure I don't brick it.

Found this guide: http://www.driverheaven.net/dh-revie...rheaven-2.html for editing the BIOS to drop the fan speeds.

Question is how likely is it that I'll murder my card or succeed and live in peace for a while?

I'm not going to get any new fans for it - the Zalmans are OOS verywhere or £40 a pop and there's no point spending £80 on two new fans, if I was gonna do that I may as well have bought a GTX295 on day one!

Any advice much appreciated.

Gaz

[pilgrim72]

Sorry for the post intrusion, i just wanted to tag this thread for info for later - Ive always wondered about this stuff.

Good luck with your question.

[TheGazMan]

Thanks, hopefully I'll be successful in my quest for a quiet 4850X2. Pretty sure I'm damn near the only one in this forum with this card... methinks I won't be making an impulse buy on components again! We only do it once...

[Jasonkruys]

TBH it's easier (and safer) to use ATI Tray Tools (or similar) to set the fan speed, and overclock the card at the same time!

You can just use it to purely set the fan speed though...I used it for my X1950pro

[pilgrim72]

I think there are one or two others with it - dont know if theyve tried anything like flashing the BIOS though. Ive not heard of anyone doing it on the forums that Ive noticed though...

t seems to be a bit of an issue with ATi coolers though. They're brilliant power at a budget, but the coolers could learn alot from Nvidia...

[TheGazMan]

Thanks will check it out now.

[TheGazMan]

Can't get the damn thing to install. Unsigned drivers curse. Turned that pile of **** off in CMD but it still doesn't start. Arf!

[system7]

TheGazMan, flashng a GPU bios is deep stuff, and you need to be VERY sure what exact revision of graphic card and GPU bios you are dealing with. Probably Sapphire would assist you if you raised a ticket with them.

I don't think you'll cure the gaming noise issue without temperatures soaring, but idle may be more adjustable.

GeordieNo.1 was the main man here on GPU bios, but he doesn't hang around anymore for various reasons.

Given it's an expensive card, I'd really try to do this through Sapphire. GPU-Z will probably give you the exact details that they will need.

[scrivz69]

Jeez I thought the noise can't be that bad until I saw this on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7I2I_1J3qU

And this one.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsHv6...eature=related

Another one.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiwIR...eature=related

That is terrible.

[death9000]

have you got a new cooler installed or is it the stock cooler? otherwise is it worth your time?

[TheGazMan]

Raised a ticket with them this afternoon, waiting for a response - although I'm pretty sure the card I bought came with the adjusted BIOS (from rev numbers etc). I can generally deal with the gaming noise as the speakers are whacked up but on idle it needs fixing as it;s sat here hoovering up the dust outta my case at a fair rate of knots.

Either way I'll be sticking with the card for a while - wish those Zalmans were a tad cheaper but it's jsut such a waste to spend £80 on cooling for this card - might as well stick this on ebay and put the money plus the saved £80 towards a new card. 4890 Vapour X would be nice but now the 5s are out I want one of those even though I just don't need one!

[TheGazMan]

Stock cooler - reasons as above. That video is EXACTLY what I'm dealing with!

[scrivz69]

No doubt Gazman you have done your homework on this.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=219622

The guy says removing the shroud helps.

[death9000]

@ what fan speed does it become a problem?

edit haha ok ive been reading and now i see... hmm the problem with the 4850x2 is where its a pretty uncommon card there arent really many after market coolers so i guess this is your only shot at it. unless you can mod the card at all...?

[TheGazMan]

When it's at idle the auto 12% which eqautes to 1RPM according to CCC & GPU-Z is audible above my TV. At 20% (still saying 1RPM....?) it's annoying, and as you can see by the video it gets phenomenally loud. Ouch. Not sure why CCC and GPU-Z are picking up fan speed at 1RPM all the time though.

[TheGazMan]

Can't mod it too much I don't think. Can take the shroud off which drops the noise a tad but not by much. Don't want to add to much to it (cooler wise) as I'm unsure of the weight - it's pretty heavy as it is and you can see it's putting stress on the PCIe slot - managed to get hold a some tidy stainless steel straps (including some neoprene gromits for isolation) to support it at the rear end on the HDD bay lol.

Noone has made an aftermarket cooler as far as I'm aware. Tis why I want to edit the BIOS!

[David84]

have a look at this mate might be of some help

http://www.overclock.net/ati/536456-...od-xd-56k.html

[cje]

I feel where you're coming from mate. I've got 2GTs 250's and they're noisy as hell. Wouldn't go as far as to flash their BIOS's though. Fans are actually now on 30% auto, but still loud. I've just stuck the pc quite far from where I want to sit...

[sniperdude]

yeah my 4870 was noisy as hell out the box so having 2 GPUz like them on the same board must be bad

[system7]

I quite like David84's link to a ghetto mod with two 80mm fans zip-tied on to the heatsinks.

Here's a reminder how the Zalman Z900 solution looks:



I really would expect that to run cool enough. But it's interesting to speculate if two 92mm fans could fit to the shroud, since 96mm seems to be tha max width for heatsinks.

Ponders...lol