Mobility 4870 vBios MOD (Overdrive + Undervolting) (Work in progress)

So as requested i'm releasing my modded Mobility 4870 vBios.
It will work on M17x R1 or R2, and should with any other model that supports it

What you will need:
Bootable DOS USB: Bootable USB
DOS Atiflash: Atiflash
4870 Mobility card (or two), and ofcourse, one vBios of your choice.

*Disclaimer* - I'm not responsible for a bad flash or any other damage that comes from this guide. If you're not confident in your ability, don't try it.

Supported latests drivers (13.9) for 4870.

I've succesfully undervolted the 2D profile wihout the annoying flickering and all side-effects
Meaning you are going to notice temperature drop (minimally 3°C, up to and over 12°C drop) when using your laptop and increased battery life.
2D clocks@Voltage - 250/[email protected] (stock 250/[email protected])
UVD clocks@Voltage 500/[email protected] (stock 500/[email protected])
3D clocks@Voltage range from 550/[email protected] to 650/[email protected] (stock 550/[email protected])

Temperatures (No other external cooling was used, no modding done to the cooling system or fan profile, everything is stock)
Idle 4870 150/[email protected]
vs stock

And max load temps after 4 loops of Crysis GPU Benchmark (1920x1200 @ Medium) (Using the UNV version with 550/[email protected])
vs stock

The differences aren't as extreme in my case because i have good temps to begin with, so there isn't much room for improvement.
But 65°C is pretty darn good considering that i haven't done any modding to my cooling system.
With my friend's clogged up GPU HS i've noticed 9-15°C drop on all sensors.

Second thing that i've implemented in this vBios release is unlocked Overdrive, so you can unleash the true potential of this old sucker
Limits are at 860/1200, wich i believe, should be enough for any 4870 card


There are 4 versions, that are identical in all but 2 aspects (the 3D profile Clocks/Voltage setting and enabled AMD Overdrive (Official overclocking))

Version 1 is low profile, meaning that the voltage in 3D profile is lowered to 1.00v from stock 1.1v, while the clocks remain stock.
Get it from here: UNV

Version 2 is low profile OC vBios, the voltage for 3D is lowered to 1.05v while the Clocks are bumped up to 600/950
Get it from here: RE-TESTING

Version 3 will OC your card in 3D profile to 650/1100 while staying at stock voltage (Make sure your card is capable of suck overclock prior to flashing this vBios, but most of the cards should run it wihout any issue)
Get it from here: RE-TESTING

Version 4 is overclockin vBios, the voltage for 3D is left at stock 1.1v for maximum stability and highest possibile overclocks. (On request i can provide 1.15v vBios with enabled overdrive, but i reccomend a good cleaning/repaste before you attemt to overclock with it)
Get it from here: EOD

If you dont like my version, you can always revert back to stock vBios REV0


How to update vBios:
Download the DOS USB Bootable from above, this is the tool i use to make bootable USB.
Start it up, select "Create DOS startup disk", point it to win98boot directory and click Start.

Then download 4870 vBios that you want to use and DOS Atiflash.
Put both files on the USB.

Restart PC, and select it to boot from USB.
Once running the DOS from USB execute these 2 commands:
atiflash -unlockrom 0
atiflash -p 0 rev1.rom // replace rev1.rom with whatever version you want to use.

If you have crossfire you have to additionally run these two commands to flash the secondary card too.
atiflash -unlockrom 1
atiflash -p 1 rev1.rom // replace rev1.rom with whatever version you want to use.

Everything else should complete automatically, and when it's done, just "Ctrl + Alt + Del" to reboot your PC.


Have fun with overclocking
If you have any requests, i can try to make it happen, as long as it's within my power
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

I'll update this thread if enough interest.

 

Wow this makes me wish I still had my 4870m's. Cool stuff!

 

Haha, well this one that i have is being used now just for the sole purpose of helping those still running this once almighty card
I have a 5870M for everyday use otherwise

 

Simply amazing! Hopefully there are still people running the 4870M that will take advantage of this :thumbsup:

Anyways, is there any chance that you can increase the voltage of the 5870M through the bios, asumming you haven't already done so with your 5870M bios you have already made. I am not home right now so I can't check my M17X lol.

 

We'll see i hope that there are still some foks playing on these cards

No, i haven't increased it, but sure, i can do it
I think i should be easily able to bump it to 1.15v (stock is 1.05v) the question is if it will benefit the clocks, and how much

 

Bump, added info about the flash process and updated the thread a little bit.

@akazeth, i've modified the 5870M to 1.15v but i'm still testing it... It also appears so that 5870M can run on 1.0v @ 700/1000, need to test more to confirm if it's stable and if i can go even lower

 

@akazeth, it seems that when overdrive is enabled, the 3D voltage is automatically set to 1.15v, so the vBios Mod is not necesarry, but i will be releasing undervolted 5870M vBios soon.

I have to test if the same thing happens on 4870, in case it does, the Version 2 vBios is unnecesarry and will be removed.

I'm also working on even more undervolted vBios for 4870, crossing fingers that i dont kill the card in the process xD

 

I'll definitely be interested in an undervolt, especially after my GPU fried haha. So is there a way to flash the card to higher clocks without changing the voltage? I'm thinking about 780/1050 just to keep it safe.

 

Sure there is , i've found that 0.95v@stock is enough for both of the test 5870M cards, and one works on 700/[email protected] wihout problems too (the other one can't take Crysis stress test so i've flashed it back to 0.95v), so there is a lot of undervoting potential to begin with. (5-10°C temperature drop in load, wihout repasting or anything)

I think it's safe to say that you should be able to run 800/1100 @ 1.05v, maybe even 1.0v
Will test the clocks on mine

To bad to hear about your GPU , but many people are running my vbios, and no1 seems to have issues with it :/

 

Alright, if you make the 800/1000 vBios I will be extremely grateful. I think my card fried because it was already on it's way to the grave, the overclock/overvolt probably just put it down early . I have put the card under an insane amount of stress, from pushing the card under extremely long gaming sessions with the highest graphics possible, benchmark tests, and of course my old MMO days. I used to leave my pc on 24/7 with me logged into the MMORPG just showing off my gear and such in the main city, with only a quick reboot once a day before getting back at it.

The way I see it, I'd rather have this problem now than later - I was going to take my M17X apart anyways for a 1200p screen update, DVD Drive swap, and crossfire 5870m's :thumbsup:

 

Ok, i'm on it meanwhile you can use the 0.95v 700/1000 vBios if you want

Yeah, well running under load 24/7 isnt really the way to go on a laptop xD, mine is on 10h per day and of that it's only 1h under heavy load xD

 

I am still using this beast @ Crossfire... Will try it out and give a feedback here... thanks for the vBios maxslo

 

The link for rev02 and rev09 is the same?

 

Yes i'll be removin the REV09 completly, because i think it's not necesarry, neeed to confirm that with testing.

 

Ok, i've confirmed that Overdrive doesnt auto-overvolt on 4870 like it does on 5870M, so i'm making the REV09 available again.

Can some1 using REV02 or REV09 please PM me, i need to confirm something before releasing 0,95v or 1.0v versions for Mobility 4870.

 

flashed using rev02.rom

I could not flash all of it at once
atiflash -pa rev02.rom

I could however, flashed them one by one
atiflash -p 0 rev02.rom
-----
---
-----
finish

atiflash -p 1 rev02.rom

it doesn't make my flicker goes away however...

I'm trying the rev09.rom now...

 

Hmm, did you try to reinstall the drivers afterwards?
(i didn't really had to, but it could be that you are using some old drivers), try the latest ones from AMD: http://www2.ati.com/drivers/legacy/13-9-legacy_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc_whql.exe

It could also be overheating (the 1.05v vBios should have made the flickering less frequent, or just one card going faulty.

Does the screen only flicker in games or also on the desktop, while surfing the web and watching movies?

 

A little preview, the Undervolted 5870M vBios (700/[email protected]) can be found here: removed for now, will be back shortly

I am still testing the 0.9v vBios, just got a couple of 5870M's for free, that i'll be using for testing (The cards that run it, don't go over 68°C wihout touching the fan speed , so the GPU fan stays quiet )

Does anyone know if it's safe to undervolt the 0.9v 2D voltage, because if cards are capable of running 700/[email protected]
I think that they should be able of 0.8v in 2D.

 

REV09 has been removed, because there is no real gain with it.
Modded the REV02, because the 0.9v was to low for some cards and causing artifacts during HD video playback.

Bug found on some cards with 4870M Overdrive enabled vbios (The 2D voltage drops to 0.9v automatically, so if you have one of those, use REV1 that was recently added.)

 

Hey, my M17X is revived back from the dead with the new motherboard and RGB LED screen - and ohh boy it looks beautiful . So anyways, I am wondering if you have the modded vBios for the 5870M ready that overclocks/undervolts - I would love to try it out in crossfire and see the performance increase hehe. Until then I'll be using the 700/1000 ones you already released, but how do I flash both cards at once? I have only flashed one card before lol.

 

So your GPU wasn't dead after all?

Here is the 800/[email protected] wihout Overdrive. (Confirmed working with all cards)
REV2 THIS IS 5870M VBIOS!!!

Flash the crossfire cards one by one:
atiflash -p 0 rev2.rom (wait till it says it's done)
atiflash -p 1 rev2.rom (After it's done just reboot as usuall)

Due to lack of time i have to postpone 800/[email protected] and 0.95v testing.

I'll have to make a new thread for this soon, i don't want anybody with 4870M to accidentally flash this vBios on their cards

 

i dunno y me, but for some reason, my games does not work with the 700/1000 setting, even with 1.15v when i put it in full screen (crossfire mode). i'm using two 4870's btw. any suggestion? and can u tell me what drivers you are using plz? i'm on windows 8.1

 

Well not all cards are capable of same overclocks, I had one 4870 that was capable of 735/1125 but the one that i have now has issues with anything more than 620/1000 (I'm using 1.05v vbios)
I've removed the 1.15v vbios because for some reason when Overdrive was enabled it reverted the voltage back to 1.1v. (no reall use in pushing the card 0.05v more juice if it undervolts when you want to overclock it)

Did you confirm with GPU-Z (or any other monitoring software) that the voltage was indeed locked at 1.15v?

I was using 13.1 till recently, with the latest tests i was using 13.9.

 

can i get a link to the 13.9 that you're using on your 4870 please? i'm on windows 8.1 x64

 

Here it is http://www2.ati.com/drivers/legacy/13-1-legacy_vista_win7_win8_64_dd_ccc.exe it's for Win 8, but it should work on 8.1 too

 

thnx gonna try it

 

Oh no, my GPU was definitely dead, it physically lit on fire for a second and melted quite a bit. What I meant was that I replaced the motherboard/gpu/screen. I did not want to take any chances since there was a fire so along with the gpu replacement I ordered a new motherboard as well. I have one working card already here, just waiting on the second 5870M to arrive so I can set up crossfire. The screen replacement was just an upgrade from the stock 1440x900 to an RGB 1200p screen.

 

Oh ok , did you diagnose what led to that?

The screen is a really beauty indeed worth the upgrade....
Did you try the vBios?

 

It's gonna be about a month or so before I can actually try out the vBios... the motherboard that I received AlienFX doesn't even work on it - I have to ship it out and then wait for my replacement.

 

Out that's a bummer :/ hope you get a new one soon.

 

*deleted stupid question that was answered in previous post lol*

 

Hello

I need a Vbios from a Mobility HD4870 1GB GDDR5,but not from Dell Alienware.

Thanks

 

Which vBios do you need then?

 

I am having a slight issue after I flashed my 4870x2's on my M17x R1 with your REV02 bios and I am wondering if you would be able to help by chance.

I am getting very high DPC latency spikes from my after I install catalyst drivers. This didn't happen with my original vbios. I tried various drivers, but I am currently using the 13.1 legacy driver. There is no latency issue until ATI drivers are installed. When I turn off crossfire & then disable the second GPU in device manager, the DPC latency spikes go away. (Turning off crossfire alone doesn't get rid of them)

Edit: It looks like the spikes still occur even with the 2nd GPU disabled so I'm not 100% sure what cause is at this point. Disabling powerplay seems to eliminate the spikes completely, but then my game performance is horrible with powerplay disabled, not sure how to correct that.

Thank you!

 

I think I figured out a fix for the problem. I just used MSI afterburner to set the clocks with unofficial overclocking enabled to bypass powerplay and the DPC latency spikes are gone. Perhaps using overdrive could fix it also?

vBios is working great now. ty

 

Greetings! It seems as though the links in the initial post are dead. I wanted to try and flash using your REV1

 

Yeah the host i was using deletes the files after 3months of inactivity, I'll reupload as soon as i get home and update the hyperlinks...

Sorry

 

Thank you so much! I can't wait to try 'em. Which one would you recommend for stability and performance?

-P

 

Updated the links for vBioses, now modifying the post to include new information

Also made changes to the old revisions, so everyone already using the old ones, i suggest you try the newer ones.

Even lower voltages and temperatures

 

i tried rev1 and rev2 with no luck. stayed stuck on windows bootscreen. reverted back to rev0 and all works fine now. was able to but into safe mode with rev1 and rev2 but couldn't reinstall drivers because the catalyst software couldn't detect my hardware.

Edit: eod worked so im gonna see how the clocks go on it.

 

Huh, okay, that's weird, all 4 of the cards i used were ok with REV1 and REV2 :/

I'll put the CF 4870 back in and stress them out again.

 

I know I might be beating the dead horse here asking, but being all but desperate, I need to know... does anyone have a fan issue with the mobility 5870 and did flashing this Vbios help? Also what drivers should I install after flashing.

And a final question: flashing this - https://mega.co.nz/#!fNxCwB5T!NXg5q0rfIvXFQ_N2rZ2U2G56HYgEKvfAZ2l_7XVwRVM - fixes the fan issue with new drivers on Alienware R1?

 

DO NOT FLASH THAT VBIOS ON 5870M!!!! It's for 4870M only!

I have a vBios for 5870M (REV00, REV01 and some modded ones), if you need i can upload it, i cant really remember if it fixed the fan issue on R1, i think it only enabled others to install drivers.

As far as i know if you have issue with the 5870M on R1 motherboard the GPU/motherboard are incompatibile revisions and will not work no matter what you do. If you can't force fan to run in HWinfo I'm affraid you have to look for a different card....

I've seen your pastebin and i'd recommend that you try each of the 260M's separately in the left (Primary) slot, you will have to swap heatsink on the slave card... most often in CF/SLI only 1 card dies and the system becomes unusable because of it...

That way your mother will atleast be able to use the Laptop while you are away and we can try to solve the problem when you are not in a rush....

 

Thank you, in the name of all that is holy for your reply.... I mean I just got back home and connected the USB and was only minutes away from flashing this... Ok, I got two more days till the 25th before I depart and i'll be gone for 4-5 month on the other side of the globe. Can we solve the issue by then? Can you upload that version of the bios? I would greatly appreciate the help. In the meanwhile, I'll test what you said. If it truly is that, then my best chance is to swap the cards and see which one died and which one still works.

I see... so it might be an incompatibility issue. I was going to buy another card and make the two run crossfireX - if that one works, then it's ok and at least I got a working one. I did set up HWinfo as well as I could, but the fan stays on 30% max power and does not go above it. All in all, the card can be kept inside, i left the laptop running and it stayed at 40-45 degrees with the fan. Only when I tried a benchmark did it go far beyond it.

I put artic silver paste on it and got some good quality thermal pads so all in all it should be ok. But no HWinfo does not work on alienware GPU fans to change speeds. If possible, and you have a clue, where I might get a fix for the fan issue, I'll await a reply.

P.S. Many thanks for your reply and once all is said and done I'll make a topic with the things you have done on the Alienware R1 as well as some advice for anyone else looking for to do an upgrade.

P.P.S. Small to do:

• Flash Vbios in hope better voltage, cooler times.
• Find a way to start the GPU fan, or a program that could configure the card better
  
• Cry if all else fails, but leave the laptop working.
• Thank maxslo one more time.

 

Sure, we can try

To anybody stumbling on this thread, DO NOT FLASH THIS ON 4870M! this is for 5870M only. vBIOS for 4870M is in the first post.
REV15 700/[email protected] (Stock 1.05v) and Overdrive Enabled (you can lower the frequency to even further lower the heat in load)
REVUV 700/[email protected] (Stock 1.05v) without Overdrive

Flashing procedure is the same as for 4870M.

I don't own an R1, and never had so i don't really have any experience... i guess the cards are just picky, for some they work, for some just dont...

I think HWinof should be able to control the fans, does your fan spin at all or do you get 0 RPM reading in HWinfo for GPU1 ?

 

Ok downloaded them, but it's midnight here. I'll do it first thing in the morning and see how it goes. Thanks. will get back to you. Again for anyone reading the above is for AMD RADEON MOBILITY 5870M CARDS ONLY.

You don't happen to have a stock vBios in case anything goes wrong?

Also, this here shows the cards current situation. http://i.imgur.com/TVm9GSt.gif ... Could it have anything to do that it's not a crossfire install in a laptop with SLI?

 

No problem, sure i'll upload the stock vBIOS REV0 and REV1 // the REV1 is latest with some fixes for BS on Sleep and BS when going on battery, but in some laptops it causes inverted colours (M15x, G73JH) i don't know about R1, so i'm uploading the REV0 too.

AGAIN, this is 5870M vBIOS, not to be confused with REV0 4870M vBIOS that is on the first post!!!... you can tell by the size, 4870M vBios is 64KB, while 5870M's is 128KB.
REV0
REV1

This is before flashing the undervolted vBios?... From the temperature rising i'd say your GPU fan should be fixed at 2500RPM...
Not really, as the R1 was also shipped with 4870M CrossFire configuration.

 

Got it, awesome work. I just flashed the new REV15 on the card, so it's all peachy. And yes, that was before flashing the vbios. And, I cannot find a way to do it. There is no way to use hwinfo to change the fan speed. it stays there at 30% constantly no matter what I do. I can't change the RPM or anything for that matter.

 

Hmm ok. What are your temperatures now?....
If you still og in the 90's i'd try underclocking a bit in CCC.

Yeah that sucks :/

 

Actually, I would rather not try going over the edge with any GPU stress tests atm. Wait... what's CCC?
It does hit 90 - but it just kinda hangs there. Doesn't go much above 92-93.