FX5900 Ultra worth bios flashing?

[NinjaZX6R]

Hey Guys,

Just bought an FX 5900 Ultra built by EVGA. It runs 500mhz core and 900mhz memory. That is 50mhz more than the reference core speed. Anyway, before I do the flashing...is it really worth it? I am pretty sure the memory will already do the speed of the 5950. The guy said it would anyway. I guess my question is this...if I achieve 5950 speeds already, will the bios flash do anything for me?

-Collin-

[Elwood_Blues84]

correct me if i am wrong, but i think that flashing the bios simply sets the card to run at 5950 speeds by default. if you can overclock to the 5950 speeds with out flashing the bios, using a prog like rivatuner, then flashing the bios shouldnt up the performance any.

[NinjaZX6R]

That is what I was thinking. Also, my card runs a core speed of 500mhz, which is even faster than 5950.

They are the same card with the same memory, so flashing the bios to 5950 would make it a 5950 in every aspect except the cooling fan. There is no difference.

-Collin-

[bobmanfoo]

That is what I was thinking. Also, my card runs a core speed of 500mhz, which is even faster than 5950.

They are the same card with the same memory, so flashing the bios to 5950 would make it a 5950 in every aspect except the cooling fan. There is no difference.

-Collin-
i didn't see any gain with the flash on my BFG fx5900

[NinjaZX6R]

That's weird. I saw a pretty nice gain when I flashed my gainward 5900 to 5950 bios. In fact, I think I got another thousand points on 3d mark 03.

-Collin-

[BlueBall]

Check my sig ...

I can run 450/900 with my flashed MSI FX5900XT that has a stock speed of 390/700

I only added a case fan to the video card .. that stock one is a joke.

[bobmanfoo]

That's weird. I saw a pretty nice gain when I flashed my gainward 5900 to 5950 bios. In fact, I think I got another thousand points on 3d mark 03.

-Collin-
i didn't see any gain from an OCed fx5900 vs fx5950bios

[Nebulous]

i didn't see any gain from an OCed fx5900 vs fx5950bios


I did with mine :clap:

Gonna try to get that 7k ;)

[NinjaZX6R]

Nice score!

I guess I am just trying to weigh the price of a bad flash vs. the performance gain I will get.

-Collin-

[Nebulous]

Thanx :D Maybe you can try a different bios? I tried several before i found the one that werked with my card.

Btw, cool sig addition :beer:

[NinjaZX6R]

Btw, cool sig addition :beer:

Hahaha. Thanks man! So what are the chances I will flash the bios and the card gets a black screen from now to eternity?

-Collin-

[Murp]

From what I've heard, nVidia's GPU throttles like a Pentium 4. If it gets to hot, it'll slow down the clock so you don't overheat. I read that the 5950 is same as 5900 except with higher speeds and a nicer hsf to keep it all cool. So the purpose for the BIOS flash is that the 5950 may be allowed to reach higher temps with throttling. So by flashing to 5950, your card can get hotter without lowering the speed. Getting most of my info here (something I stumbled across while Googling for this kind of stuff):

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/guides/5900_Flash_Mod/

I did this mod myself and am waiting on a new heatsink to know if it has affected performance any. :D If it's not a significant increase in performance, at least it sets a higher default clock for my video card :)

[Nebulous]

Funny in that site it he shows the BFG5900XT flashed to a 5950 Ultra bios (Leadtek A380 Ultra) and it shows the temp. Mine doesn't show that :confused: Is it because the Leadtek A380 ultra bios has it enabled?

Nvm. I just flashed with a BFG 5950 U bios as described in the link and tho i got a huge 18 point increase in 3D03, the temp is still not enabled in the panel :-/

[shiltz]

I lost over 200 points on 3dmark03 on my EVGA 5900U with a 5950 flash, and it was clocked higher, 5900U @570/1002 it gets 7882, with the 5950U bios @575/1020 it got 7671.

[NinjaZX6R]

Wow...that is interesting. I wonder what kind of overclocks I can expect with air cooling. Certainly, I won't be reaching those speeds :(

Thanks for the info...it's good to find someone with the exact card as mine. Otherwise, it's really just a tossup. I guess the only thing to do is test with and without the new bios.

Too bad I'm still waiting for the jerk to send my card!

-Collin-

[shiltz]

just for a general idea of O/C on air cooling I was able to clock mine to 524/964 with the stock heatsinks on it.

[Sony]

Funny in that site it he shows the BFG5900XT flashed to a 5950 Ultra bios (Leadtek A380 Ultra) and it shows the temp. Mine doesn't show that :confused: Is it because the Leadtek A380 ultra bios has it enabled?

Nvm. I just flashed with a BFG 5950 U bios as described in the link and tho i got a huge 18 point increase in 3D03, the temp is still not enabled in the panel :-/

Might be BFG doesn't support Temp monitoring because my Leadtek A350 5900U (Unflashed) Shows the temp also.

[Nebulous]

Ahhh, most likely you're right.

Thanx sony ;)

[jonspd]

I lost over 200 points on 3dmark03 on my EVGA 5900U with a 5950 flash, and it was clocked higher, 5900U @570/1002 it gets 7882, with the 5950U bios @575/1020 it got 7671.


Thats due to the relaxed memeory timings used on the 5950 bios.



Ahhh, most likely you're right.

Thanx sony ;)


My bfg shows the temp what drivers version are you using.

[Nebulous]

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