Games don't perform very well with 211 bios and new vbios

I have a GSOD-free g73 and it ran games pretty smooth with the stock vbios, 209 bios and stock driver.

However,I updated my g73 to 211 and Gary's new vbios. Now games don't run smooth as they used to (freeze for half of the second for every 10 secs, minor lag but very annoying) on both stock driver and 10.8

Any suggestion? Should I flash my g73 back into stock vbios?

Update: The lag seems to happen more while the characters or object in games are moving fast. This happens in everygame not just hardware demanding games.

 

Try disabling powerplay.
It could be powerplay downclocking for a fraction of a second when it shouldnt.
Im having the same issue and im testing for solutions too so report if disabling powerplay in CCC does anything for you.

 

No, it didn't help at all.

Update: I have tested your solution again on PES2010, less lag but still some here and there.

 

Darnit... would you be willing to try flashing the bios to 209 and trying how that works? Could also be tied to a voltage drop when the fans spin up to max and that happens sooner on 211...

 

all games doing this or some game in particular?

 

all games are doing this

 

i'm having the same issue in all games, and i'm on bios 211, stock Vbios and catalyst 10.8..
hum, strange..

 

Can you guys give an older driver, say the 10.4/10.5 a try? See if its driver related.

 

@ Hell Cry
I might try to flash back to 209 tomorrow or so when I have a working USB stick )

@IM0001,
I got the same issue on both stock driver and 10.8 since I updated my g73 to 211 and new vbios so i think it's either related to 211 or new vbios.

 

I'm having the same problem, really annoying when playing Dirt 2. People, please post here if you have the same problem. Let's see if it's a problem that many of us suffer from.

 

Hmm. Look forward to some testing when I get home to a freshly delivered A1. First things first. Wipe clean, Install 7 Ultimate, then the usual from there. Will report back findings as soon as I have some.

 

Do you have Creative installed? I do, and I wonder if that may be the problem?

 

If you are experiencing 1 or 2 second freezes, I believe it is a windows 7 thing. There was a fix for it posted recently. I'll see if I can track down the thread and post back. Hopefully it will help.

Edit: I believe Xellon found this. Users have reported this as a fix for games stuttering: Fix Windows 7 Randomly Freezes and Stops Responding - KezNews.com

Here is the core parking thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/494232-how-adjust-core-parking-inside-windows-7-a.html

 

Yep, just google Windows 7 Core Parking.

This is probably something with Windows 7 trying to park some of the cores, for power management. This is likely happening I suspect in games where CPU usage is low, which like all of them. The i7 720QM may not seem much, but most games likely won't even use 20-30% of the i7.

Preventing core parking may help.

 

Windows 7 & Core Parking .... a *better* way to Turn It OFF ....
I followed this guide and tweaked my core parking but nothing seems to change.

I'm not having 1-2 second freezes, just a fraction of the second lag but very annoying. Seems to happen more while my characters or objects in games are moving fast.

Please notice that the problem only happens after i updated my g73 to new vbios and 211.

 

- Ive had cores unparked since the beginning,
- I installed the windows 7 freeze fix long ago,
- I just installed Creative yesterday and it started before that.
It only happens on this newest vBios with any driver i try (but not on any driver on the MSI vBios or the stock vBios and drivers), but im also on 211 bios atm so it might also be the bios or the combination of the two. Ill try flashing to the 209 bios when i get back to my laptop, but id like the others who have this problem to try too if they can.
The game where it happens most often for me is DDO. Also got it once or twice in SC2.

 

Can you run GPU-Z or some other monitor and verify that your GPU is running PCIEx16@16? Also, can you start a game while GPU-Z is running and verify that your GPU is clocking at 700/1000?

GPU-z will show 405/1000 when idling and plugged in. It should show 700/1000 when 3D gaming. Note: These are the clocks on Chastity's modified vBIOS that enables OD. You should see 700/1000 when gaming for sure. If you don't then that is the rabbit we should be chasing.

Edit: ( Directed at jasonnam, HellCry. I know you know how to check clocks. )

 

I'm using Creative with the 2.52 fixes, BIOS 211, vBIOS 93, and Cat 10.8 and I'm having zero issues in the following games...

Borderlands
Mafia II
BF BC2
SC2
UT3
GoW
WoW

It's so freaking odd how we all have the same hardware and software installed and end up with different results...how is that even possible?

 

I also am using Creative with the 2.52 fixes, BIOS 211, vBIOS 93, and Cat 10.8, Windows 7 feeze patch which seems to have fixed SC2 locking up.

Playing with no problems -
SC2
Counter Strike

 

mm When I installed 10.8 I had this probem running ffxiv benchmark (the fps graphic shows drops every 5 secs).. But after restarting it has not happened again

 

Im running PCIE x16@ x16 and GPU-z shows constant 700/1000 clocks when gaming, so if its downclocking for a tiny moment its really so fast that even GPU-z didnt register it, but thats doubtful right...

 

FFXIV bench shows same results with and without this "bug", It seems that it doesn´t have strongly influence the final result.


You can run FFXIV bench and see if there are declines in the graph

 

LOL! Try to close GPU-Z

 

FFXIV bench with GPU-Z running: http://www.asusxperts.puchu.es/var/g1.jpg

FFXIV bench without GPU-Z running: http://www.asusxperts.puchu.es/var/g2.jpg (lol, i take screenshot at the same test time: SCORE = 82 )


Same test results (2100points 1080p)

... but it seems that GPU-Z interferes with the GPU at real time----->play without GPU-Z !!! xD

 

Your compy has a heartbeat there lol.

 

I dont play with GPU-z open i just did it to see if the GPU underclocks. There is usually nothing running in the background when i play.

 

I couldn't notice anything wrong with the game now(DiRT 2), when I didn't play with HWINFO. I had it running in the background before. Maybe that was the whole issue. I don't know. I'll play more later to see if the problem is still there.

 

GPU-z, HWInfo & Hwmonitor can interfere with games and cause furmarks temp sensors to go haywire so using them while gaming is definetely not a good idea, but thats why i have furmark, to test if my temps will hold at decent levels before, so i dont have to worry and keep monitoring software open when i game .

 

Question. On the X2 I have the main thing you have to watch is not the GPU Core temps but the VRU's (Voltage Regulator Units.... I believe) that go way above 110C if you don't watch it under Furmark. That is why furmark is known as an ATI X2 killer alone. Do we have VRU's on our GPU's and any way to see their temps? If those go out then well, its a dead GPU either way.

 

We have 3 sensors - core, memio and dispio. The core is always cooler than the other two.

 

Not always true, mon ami. I've seen core creep higher than dispio, and sometimes even memio.

 

It's definitely going to depend on what you are doing and how the game is using the GPU. Hence why Furmark will push the VRM's on the X2 so hard, but other games/benchmarks push the core harder, etc.

In furmark for this 5870m Chip, what gets hottest?

 

It depends if you have a good paste job too. The stock job has MemIO hottest at all times. With my paste job, the 3 fight it out for king of the heat!

 

I'm noticing such heavy stuttering in SC2 now that I had to drop my settings from ultra to high since doing this change to the 211/new vbios/10.8.

This can't be good. :/

 

i only notice it if GPU-Z is runing...

 

Haven't seen any performance issues yet. Have had occasional weird graphical glitches, but no more than I used to.

 

My SC2 fps seem to have had a boost after going to 10,8. The vbios did not change anything for me in reguards to game performance.

 

I'm still having the issue with gpuz turned off. I think i will flash my g73 back into 209 and stock vbios.

Besides, any1 know how to flash to stock vbios?

 

soooo glad i waited on updating the vbios looks like we traded Gsod for annoying glitches and freezes... ill keep my 705/1015 overclock i think for now

 

I will make you a package... give me about ten minutes.

I took the package that Chastity provided, added the original vBIOS to it (stockbios.rom), zipped it and put it on my web site. The batch file called backstock.bat will flash you back to the original vBIOS that shipped with all G73JH machines. It has the good beta vBIOS from Gary, Chastity's Overdrive enable version, and the old stock version.

stckbios.bat flashes stckbios.rom which is original.
updateod.bat flashes fix_od.rom which is Chastity's Overdrive enabled version of Gary's non-GSOD beta.
VFlash.bat flashes Gary's non-GSOD beta version.

http://www.pelzel.net/stuff/StockChasODGaryBeta.zip

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! I am not a doctor. I just play one on T.V.

Edit: Filename was longer than 8+3. This is now fixed and the download will work.

 

I think this vbios fixed the issue for a metric crap-ton of people. It's just a few that are having strange problems with performance. It could be their driver load (10.8 not installed well becuase some remnant of 10.7a didn't delete properly) or something like that. It is beta, though and I don't blame you for not taking the risk if you're happy with your machine the way it is.

 

Thank you but can you please modify backstock.bat and stockbios.rom to a shorter names since Dos can't read those long file names

It only display as backst~1.bat and when i typed backst~1, it said can not find stockbios.rom (ofcourse since dos read stockbios.rom as stockb~1.rom)

 

Allright, ill rephrase it, the core should be cooler if theres full/equal load on everything, especially considering the core is pasted with a thermal paste and the rest of the chips with pads, which have lesser heat conductivity.
With the settings i play at the core is always cooler, but i guess you could make it hotter with the right settings...

The GSOD issue was still much worse, so trading for a short stutter now and then is much better, but of course i still want to solve it since it does get annoying.

 

I dont understand why you keep making bat files when you can do it much simpler and just give people the .rom files and tell them the flash command for atiflash:
First for those who still need to make a bootable USB stick (copied from zfactors guide):
the first is a small utility from hp to make a usb stick bootable:
RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

the second is the actual bootable files you need to add to the usb stick:
RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

this can also be done with any burning program that can burn a bootable cd/dvd disc. once you select make the disc bootable you will need to add the bootme files to that disc.

Making a bootable DOS USB Key:

first: Extract and nstall the HP USB Drive program.

second: Extract the DOS boot files somewhere just remember where you extracted them. Let's for now say we extracted them to C:\bootme\ (if you do not have this directory it will prompt if it should make it answer yes or extract them someplace you know where they will be. remember we will need to find these in a minute)

third: Now run the hp utility. VISTA: You need to start the HP Drive Key Program as an administrator by RIGHT CLICKING the icon and selecting "Run as Administrator".

fourth: Insert a USB stick and it should install the drivers automatically if this is the first time using it, if not they should already be installed now.

fifth: in the hp "drive key" program Choose FAT32 as the filesystem. call the volume whatever you want i call mine dosboot, but it doesn't matter. Under "Format Options" check the box next to "Quick Format" and "Create a DOS startup disk" . Choose the button next to "Using DOS system files located at:" and click the little browse button "..." next to the blank and navigate to C:\bootme (or wherever you extracted the DOS boot files earlier). Click OK.

Now click "Start" and the HP Drive Key utility will turn your USB device into a bootable DOS disk! It will popup a window asking you to confirm! answer ok and it will continue.

now if you check the usb stick there should be 3 files installed on it. command.com, io.sys and msdos.sys. if you do not see them you may have to unhide them if they are "hidden" files. or just simply dont worry about it they are there now so no big deal.

Now here is a rar with files you need to flash the vBios to either stock or beta:
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

Files inside RAR are:
Stock.rom (the stock vBios), Beta.rom (the beta vBios) and Atiflash.exe/.cfg (flashing software for vBios).

Now all you have to do is extract these files onto the bootable usb stick, reboot and keep pressing esc and when the boot menu pops up choose your usb stick (much easyer and much less problematic than changing boot setting in bios, i also dont know why those instructions were given) and once the dos screen appears, type the command:
atiflash -p 0 "filename"
"filename" is the vBios you want to flash onto the GPU, so if you want the stock vBios change filename to stock.rom, and if you want to flash the beta to beta.rom. So it should look like; atiflash -p 0 stock.rom or atiflash -p 0 beta.rom. After you get the message that flashing is done, just press ctrl+alt+delete to reboot. If theres ever a new or modded vBios you get and want to flash, just name it something shorter than 8 characters (like new.rom), put it onto the usb stick and use the command with the appropriate vBios filename (like atiflash -p 0 new.rom).
No need for bat files anymore.

 

But we like .bat files. They bring back such fond memories.

Cheers,

 

Apparently, after 12:00 AM in Texas, I can't count to eight anymore.

I shortened the stock vbios name to stckbios.rom and changed the name in the batch file to match. Sorry about that.

If you want to flash it directly instead of using the batch file:

1. Make a bootable USB flash drive using the HP tool and the Win98 boot files which are included in the download. Detailed instructions found in the sticky thread.
2. Copy atiflash.exe and stckbios.rom to your bootable flash drive.
3. Boot to this flash drive.
4. Type atiflash -p 0 -f stckbios.rom
5. Wait for it to finish the flash and reboot.

Here is the corrected download (same link as before. I updated the files and rezipped.)
http://www.pelzel.net/stuff/StockChasODGaryBeta.zip

 

Does anyone know if it is safe to flash from a bootable CD? I can make an ISO of a CD that is bootable with an autoexec.bat that gives you the choice of the three vBIOS to flash. Press 1 for original stock, 2 for Chastity's OD, 3 for Gary's official beta. Then all you have to do is download the ISO, burn it to a CD, boot to it, and make a choice.

 

I am running the new vBIOS+BIOS 211+Catalyst 10.7 (I was not satisfied with Cat 10.8) and I haven't noticed any stuttering. In Mafia 2 I was even shaking my mouse for a minute and I didn't see any stutter.

Only thing I didn't liked that I experienced screen tearing in cutscenes of RE5 and Mafia 2, but Vsync fixed those.

 

Hmm, it's all been fine up to now, but just now I got a "driver failed to work, and has been recovered"-type of message. Has that anything to do with... anything? It happened right after I turned my computer on, if anyone's wondering.

 

Thank Jody and Hellcry for the vbios.

Ok, I flashed mine back to 209 and stock vbios but nothing change and I'm getting a bit frustrated . I might reinstall my window to see if anything change.

How about you Hell Cry?