SOLVED Slight voltage mod for GTX 780. New BIOS?

Hey guys.

I'm looking to extend my cards OC abilities a bit, and would therefore need to up the voltage a little.

The highest OC I have been able to get that is stable in games and benchmarks is 1055 MHz core and 7200 MHz on the memory, with the voltage at 1200 mV and power limit set to 106 % (In firestorm). Not sure what the actual voltage is since I haven't measured it with a multimeter. Check out this thread for more info about my set up and cooling, feedback is welcome:

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/750396-Question-about-throttling/page2

So what I'm hoping to achieve is a Firestrike score above 10k with a OC that is stable in games. To do this I would like to increase my max voltage to 1212mV (Which is the limit by the Nvidia driver as I understand it), and increase my power limit a bit as well. My current maximum score is 9838 and can be seen here: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4467017?

I realize there is a lot of info and custom bioses out there, I have done some research but have gotten kind of lost in it all. I don't want to mod my bios for a crazy OC, just the slight bump in voltage and power limit.

Is anyone here familiar with the Kepler Bios Tweaker? I would really appreciate it if you could help me mod my bios to meet my requirements.

Also, how can I upload my current bios to this site? I get a "Invalid file" message when I try to upload it.

Erik, I have a 780 Lightning, so your results may differ then mine, but I used a modded BIOS seen here. Im able to run Firestrike at 1340/1640 on mine with it.

Raise the CPU overclock and you will get there...(the Physics test is CPU dependent).

I don't think you can upload rom's to the site. I would look at the link Mandrake gave you and use an already modded bios (Skyn3t's).

That said, what is your actual clock? That seems pretty low for the amount of voltage. You may be throttling out of the gate with the voltage cranked to 1.2v... (see your old thread on throttling).

Mandrake4565 said:

Erik, I have a 780 Lightning, so your results may differ then mine, but I used a modded BIOS seen here. Im able to run Firestrike at 1340/1640 on mine with it.

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Thanks for the reply. I can run Firestrike at higher speeds, but its not stable in games then. The highest score I ever achieved was 9962.

The BIOS from the site that you link to has a 300% power limit, which is much to scary for me Since the stock card has a power limit of 106% according to firestorm, I was thinking that maybe 110-115% was sensible.

What score do you get with those speeds?

Well, what are you after? A benchmark score right? If so, it doesn't matter if a game is stable with those clocks. If you want to be game stable, test against the game and not a benchmark. You may not be able to get both (you should after a bios mod).

Also, his score will be different than yours because of the CPU he is using with it is different (has more threads which matters in the physics section and overall score).

EarthDog said:

Raise the CPU overclock and you will get there...(the Physics test is CPU dependent).

I don't think you can upload rom's to the site. I would look at the link Mandrake gave you and use an already modded bios (Skyn3t's).

That said, what is your actual clock? That seems pretty low for the amount of voltage. You may be throttling out of the gate with the voltage cranked to 1.2v... (see your old thread on throttling).

Click to expand...

I'll try pushing the CPU a bit further Not sure what you mean by "actual clock", can you specify?

I don't think my card is throttling.. but I'll check power consumption and load values again to be sure.

EarthDog said:

Well, what are you after? A benchmark score right? If so, it doesn't matter if a game is stable with those clocks. If you want to be game stable, test against the game and not a benchmark. You may not be able to get both (you should after a bios mod).

Also, his score will be different than yours because of the CPU he is using with it is different (has more threads which matters in the physics section and overall score).

Click to expand...

The games I have tried have a lower threshold for crashing than the benchmark.

Like I said, my goal is that this score also will be stable in games.

What I mean by 'actual clock' is just that. If you look at GPUz, it will not report the actual boost clock (its higher) you would need to look at GPUz's graph or MSI Afterburner's graph and see what the core speeds hit because of boost.

If you want stability in both games and benchmarks, you need to lower your clocks or get that bios mod in. That is a curious goal though because you are trying to make two different things (a sprint/race - benchmarking, versus a long jog - gaming) match. Its possible, but going UP may not be the answer. Worry about finding the highest stable clock for your games, then worry about the benchmark score is my suggestion.

Thanks!

I ran a unigine heaven bench to see what the values where during the test.

GPU load: 99% max, 92% average.
GPU Core Clock: 1228,1 Mhz maximum, and flat for the entire test.
Memory clock: 1800MHz maximum, and flat for the entire test.
Power consumption: 96,8% max, 88,4 average
VDDC: 1,2 max, and seems to have been at 1,2 during the entire test.

Dont know if this is useful

What I meant is that my goal is an OC that is stable in games, and in the same time is >10 000 in firestorm. Not that the maximum bench capabilities of that clock should be 10 000

Some of that is useful... the GPU core clock. So your ACTUAL clock that I asked about is 1228MHz.

I would go to that link Mandrake posted and get to flashing!

Alright, thanks for the feedback

Good thing you said that the physics score is CPU related. I see its much lower than the graphics score.. I feel I'm already pushing my 2500k at 4,5 GHz, but I'll see if I cant make 4,6-4,7 (already at 1,36V and llc at ultra high).

However, like I mentioned before, there are a lot of bioses out there that are meant for what I think is a serious OC but I'm looking for one with milder settings I'll see if I cant find someone to edit my original bios to my requirements, this way I'll be sure that the bios will work and that I cant blow the card by accidentally moving the voltage bar all the way to the right

Erik the reality is what you need the OC for. As ED said if your looking for it to see how far you can push a benchmark then it's no hold barred. Push the Cpu and Gpu oc as far as they'll go an be able to run the bench. If you're looking to see how far you can push the OC and play a game with stability, then you need to test it on that game. Every game/bench is different and some games/benches you will be able to push the clocks further on then others.

However, like I mentioned before, there are a lot of bioses out there that are meant for what I think is a serious OC but I'm looking for one with milder settings I'll see if I cant find someone to edit my original bios to my requirements, this way I'll be sure that the bios will work and that I cant blow the card by accidentally moving the voltage bar all the way to the right

Click to expand...

Even with one of the modded BIOS that I linked you're not going to be able to go above 1.25 Gpu V if I recall correctly, if you keep the temps down you most likely will not harm the card. Though, with that said it is Ocing and running the card out of spec. There is always the risk that you could hurt it.

Mandrake4565 said:

Erik the reality is what you need the OC for. As ED said if your looking for it to see how far you can push a benchmark then it's no hold barred. Push the Cpu and Gpu oc as far as they'll go an be able to run the bench. If you're looking to see how far you can push the OC and play a game with stability, then you need to test it on that game. Every game/bench is different and some games/benches you will be able to push the clocks further on then others.

Click to expand...

I have tested in games, and when it was stable in games the max score was 9838. If I push further I can reach 9962 but then the OC is too unstable for games.

Mandrake4565 said:

Even with one of the modded BIOS that I linked you're not going to be able to go above 1.25 Gpu V if I recall correctly, if you keep the temps down you most likely will not harm the card. Though, with that said it is Ocing and running the card out of spec. There is always the risk that you could hurt it.

Click to expand...

Is there a way to be 100% sure that the bios on that site is compatible with my card? (I dont have a Lightning version, but a Zotac with that came with stock cooler and ref PCB) Can you point me to a specific version or should I just go with the latest?

Wait... you have a reference card and cooler and want to add more voltage and raise the power limit? I wouldn't do that...

Sorry, that came out wrong The card type is the one with the typical cooler and with the reference pcb, not the type of card that has a 3 fan cooler etc. My card has a H75 to cool the core and heatsinks to cool memory and voltage regulators. In addition to the small G10 fan I have 2x120 mm fans blowing on the card. Here is what it looks like:



Hope that clears it up

EDIT: I guess the type of cooler doesn't matter, but the type of PCB does. Reference/non reference. So I'm wondering if a bios for a non ref pcb will work with a card with a ref pcb.

I wouldn't do it on the reference PCB regardless. The reference 780 power bits are not made for pushing past what NVIDIA allows one to...

... I don't think it would work anyway unless you find a bios that is modded from the a reference card.

Ok, I'll lay of the bios modding then

Trying for 4,6 GHz on the CPU now @ 1,42 V, llc at 75% and cpu current capability at 120%. Running p95 blend test. 4,7 was a no go, it would need way to much voltage.

By the way, would you say that my current OC is too harsh for my card?

1.4-1.45v is the most I would put through Sandybridge 24/7...

The clocks are fine with the default limits in place on your 780.

Good to know, thanks

Barely made 10k: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3054000

But not stable at all

With the new CPU OC I get 9884 at stable settings (1254,2 Core/1800 Memory). I guess I'll call it a day at that, thanks for the feedback!