Unofficial BIOS to fix throttling for G73SW

This fix is 100% unofficial, and will require you to flash the BIOS. Which can be done with EasyFlash from within the BIOS menu. This is still done at your OWN RISK, so I am NOT responsible for any laptops not working after flashing.(However as a side note, flashing the bios is a fairly safe thing to do, especially when using the built in flasher Asus already provides.)
*Warning, this also might put more strain on your battery when running on battery only, But I've yet so see any difference during my test. Just beware of the possibility, I am in no way responsible for any damages done.

To understand more about the kind of throttling this fixes, CLICK HERE.

The basic rundown is that BD-PROCHOT causes the CPU to throttle to 798mhz(it also goes down to 997mhz and 1496mhz as well) when there is significant load on the CPU + GPU at the same time. So this wont happen in all games, or applications. But as more powerful games get released, the more we will see throttling.

Anyhow, what this fix does is disable Bi Directional PROCHOT within the bios, so there will be no need to run Throttlestop on bootup anymore. I've been using this bios for quite some time, and I have had no problems, so the risk should be minimal. Also, as a bonus, this bios also enables AES( Learn More) that Asus so kindly forgot to implement into our original bios. The download link is below and the instructions for flashing will be below that.

Download: G53SW_AES_Throttle-Fix.zip
Download: G73SW_AES_Throttle-Fix.zip
Download: G74SX_AES_Throttle-Fix.zip


Instructions:

Step 1: Download the file above, extract the 2 files onto a flash drive. Leave the flash drive plugged in.
(EDIT: Please do not flash the file from the HDD/a NTFS partition drive. It could brick the laptop, so if you don't have a flash drive, I know it would suck, but try to at least borrow one to flash otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. One user has already suffered, and I'd hate to see another. This is an Asus problem, nothing to do with the bios being custom(it can happen flashing a bios straight from asus's website). Also be aware of using the usb3 port to flash, it may cause problems. So to be on the 100% safe side, stick to the usb2 ports.)

Step 2: Reboot the computer, and press and hold F2 to get into the bios. Go to Advanced tab, then Start EASY FLASH.

Step 3: You should see the 2 extracted files once into easy flash. Using arrow keys, choose the one with _TFIX(_ORIG is for if you want to go back to default bios). Then hit enter and Yes to update. Let it do its thing, (it will shutdown, but just turn it back on after it shuts down).

Step 4: Once your back into windows, to test for success, download this MSR Tool and type in 0x1fc in the MSR Number box, then click Read MSR. Under the EAX box, you should see " 0x0004005E", E being the key here that BD-PROCHOT is disabled(it will be F, it PROHOT is still enabled).

Step 5(optional): You can also test by running Prime95 + Furmark at the same time. Using RealTemp 3.67 to monitor cpu clocks. It should never fall below 1995mhz essentially, but for me, lowest I see it go is 22xxmhz.

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And thats it! Shouldn't see any throttling.<strike> I do have plans to do the fix for 53SW + G74/53SX owners, but since I don't own those laptops, I'd prefer to test it on those before releasing, so if you would like to test, PM for the link, and I will let you test. Once we can confirm it working, I will post it here.</strike>
Edit: Now have been tested and fully working thanks to AbbyY on ROG forums for testing and confirming G74SX TFIX bios works and steelblueskies for testing/confirming the G53SW TFIX bios. :>

Thanks for reading, Asus doesn't seem to have their own bios fix in the works, so this seems to be the best we can do.

 

You should warn against using battery power with PROCHOT disabled. If you max out the GPU+CPU your battery may fail.

Also curious as to how you went about disabling it. Did you author the BIOS mod yourself?

 

As far as I can tell, the CPU still runs at the same speeds when PROCHOT is enabled or disabled when on battery. Ive been testing for a couple of weeks, even on battery a few times, with no problems. So don't think it would cause any batteries to fail.

And yup, I edited the bios myself with the AMIBCP tool, it was posted a few weeks back on the G73SW owners board. Its a pretty straightforward GUI bios editor. I know it was just posted recently for the JH but it works for all G73/74/53 bioses as I've checked them all out to see the options.

 

OK, back when first testing with the G51J it melted a few batteries. The G73 might have a more powerful battery, but I still wouldn't risk it myself.

Nice to have the tools you need, eh (AMIBCP for APTIO UEFI). Would have saved us all a ton of time two years ago... :-/

 

Ah, fair enough, yeah, I waited quite some time to make sure this is 100% safe, seems to not really be any different than running Throttlestop to fix it, except now it's disabled 24/7 and no matter what OS your running.

I put the warning up though, so users that do decide to flash know. So thanks for the forewarning, hopefully we don't see anybodies batteries melt/die here.

 

Good thing you put the warning there, people will flash knowing the potential risks. Even if it ends up not being perfect, it is still a nice fix for SW owners out there.

 

Yup, I don't see the harm in putting up a warning just in case.But hrrmm, I just did a test in GTA4 logging cpu clocks with BD-PROCHOT disabled, then enabled when on battery only. The CPU clocks still drop no matter what even when PROCHOT is disabled.

So I'm not sure what BD-PROCHOT exactly did for the G51J. But it has to be done differently on the G73SW, as even with CPU set to use 100% within Windows Power settings, it still drops to around 1600mhz and under the entire time I'm on battery during GTA4. So BD-PROCHOT being disabled only seems to help when on AC power.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I just had assumed since so many used TS to stop the throttling, which all TS did was disabled PROCHOT, and thats been safe to use. That disabling in bios wouldn't be any more harmful to the battery.

 

Thanks a lot!! This BIOS has fixed the Throttling issue on my G73Sw and now it's faster than ever!!

This is a must install BIOS for anyone with a G73Sw

Good job!

 

hi all: would this BIOS work for a G53SW model too or it's a completely different story? thank you.

 

three questions:

1.with your aes enable, is new microcode patched in alongside the enable bit for 2630qm chips still using a microcode 14[mine](or any microcode prior to 19 which was the earliest aes-ni supported version for this cpu afaik)?

2.is the same answer applicable to the g53sw version?

3(slightly offtopic). in amibcp advanced>power and performance>cpu power management control -do you happen to know what 01c9 ac brick capacity is all about and why does it read 90w with a g53sw 203 bios loaded? holdover/baddata?

just found it odd while looking at doing it manually before finding your post here.

 

as an update. obtained the g53sw fixed bios from him. currently running it.
no problems day one with sleep/hibernate or any other noticeable oddities.

it does in fact have microcode update 1b for the 2630qm incorporated.
going to run it for a bit longer before giving final word, but looks good so far.

 

Does using this BIOS void your warranty? Does Asus check?

 

well i can say the bios is the same size overall, and the flash process see's it as the same date/version as the official203 bios. two byte edits, and a replaced intel microcode section, so a binary compare would show differences.

beyond that it's not exactly throwing bells and whistles saying it's not the official bios. no need to run ts to disable bd prochot, hard to feel, but visible if looking for it differences in cpu usage when dealing with certain cryptoheavy functions in the day to day use, and a big bump in performance in cryptheavy bruiser apps like truecrypt (50mb buffer bench 2.1gb write 2.4gb read, 500mb buffer 2.4gb write and 2.5gb read vs 2xxmb figures before).

as to voiding. gotta reason its unofficial so technically yes. granted if the system doesn't post when its sent off, its gonna be hard to pull to compare, even assuming they'd try, and if it does post still one can reflash the official bios if so concerned.

 

Glad to see its helping others, and thanks steelblueskies for trying out the bios. Once he confirms about it being good for a week, I'll post the link in the main post for any other G53SW users wanting AES and their throttling disabled.

Also, @sarge, yeah, on the Asus ROG forums, they've pretty much said it would void the warranty, but no clue on if they would even check. Not to mention, I'd be glad to use an official bios if they would stop being lazy and or actually start caring about their customers enough to release one that fixes throttling.

Admittingly, I've had my laptop for a year, and yeah, it hasn't been so bad, no problems with it. But HP handled their throttling problem within a month, and its been, what, almost a year now? Yet, nothing from Asus, not even a hint they will release a fix. So, Asus lost me as a future customer. Not because of a problem, but because they've shown they don't handle things properly when there is.

 

Download: G73SW_AES_Throttle-Fix.zip


will this work for the g74sx?

Also tried shutting off the bd prochot using throttlestop and tested with MSR TOOL and get the reading of 0x0004005E (E sybolizing bd prochot is off, otherwise it would be F) and i have noticed no increase in my fps. Specifically diablo 3, i bought this computer hoping to run max settings and i am getting low fps. All drivers up todate the last thing i could think of was the bios mod...but if throttlestop doesnt do anything is there any point in flashing the modded bios?

 

Are you getting constant low fps or getting drops like shown in the video?

 

Has been a week now, just wondering if the bios is stable and ready to be released

 

can't wait for the G53SW version too

 

haven't noted any negative impacts.

do remember when its finally available asus seems to have retarded flash update code when working from ntfs volumes, so if you use bios easyflash put the new one on a fat32 flash drive or the like.

just a matter of if/when monseignor dkillone decides to post it as far as i'm concerned.

 

Hello!

So I'm waiting thrilled for the G74SX Bios. I've been trying Throttlestop, but I'm unsure if I had set it up correctly, as it didn't really work. Do you think this would work for a G74SX if TS didn't??

 

Nope, you'd need a modded G74 bios, you'll likely brick your G74 with a G73 bios.

 

I was thinking of when he came out with a modded G74 BIOS

 

Oops, Sorry guys, forgot to put them up. The people that are testing them haven't reported any issues. So should be 100% good. Feel free to report back with any issues(hopefully there isn't any).

Anywho, I've updated my original post with the links, but I will put them here too to save trouble of having to go back. Instructions are the same, so have fun, and good luck.

Thanks everyone.

Download: G53SW_AES_Throttle-Fix.zip

Download: G74SX_Throttle-Fix.zip (doesn't have AES enabled)

 

Thanks, i have just successfully changed the bios on my g53sw and checked with the msr tools, everything is running fine.

 

Well after updating bios and the notebook shut down, my computer does not turn back on.

I can't turn it back on, the computer won't respond at all when I hit the power button

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/658936-asus-g73sw-will-not-power.html

Help please?

 

Uh oh, thats not good, you can try the response in your thread. Not fully sure what you can do. Does any of the lights come on, or is it completely lifeless, as in not a single led turns on after pressing the power button?

 

It's like as if nothing happened when I hit the power button, nothing will turn on at all.

What are my options? What exactly is the issue? I'm kind of panicking right now

 

You did something wrong and now your laptop is dead. Examples include:
* using the wrong BIOS file
* corrupt download
* interrupting the update process
* flashing from NTFS.

Keep calm and:
1) RMA it.
2) Buy a new laptop.

 

I think I'll choose to RMA it heh

don't do it from hard drive! use flash!

 

I think we can blame Asus on this one. There is no warning and no way to know that beforehand. It looks like it works, but then just bricks your laptop.

Oh well.

 

hard drive is by default ntfs. i'm quoting myself from page 2 at the bottom.

pulling the new bios off the internal hdd when its ntfs formatted the easyflash bios utility writes the ntfs directory structure to the bios instead of the update file. it will do this in this scenario with any bios update file, even replacing a copy of the current bios and reflashing it. its the easyflash that has the bug.

if you were running linux partition schema's, well to be honest i'm not sure what exactly would happen.

also, probably best not to use a usb3 drive+port for this.

sorry for your ill fortune. i suppose it'd be worth adding to the main post as a further disclaimer

 

hello,
I have a G73SW with an i7 2630QM. I'm not experiencing throttling right now, but I'm very interested in an AES version.
If it's not too much work, would it be possible to have an AES enabled version only please ?

thanks

 

Sure, here ya go :>

G73SW_AES.zip

I put a warning up in the OP, so hopefully this wont happen to any one else. Forgot about the usb3 port, prolly a good idea for people to stay away from that too. Thanks

 

Thank you, i'll give it a try. There was another thread where i found a modded bios for that problem, but without success.

 

THANK YOU!!! This worked PERFECTLY! Ya, I used a flash drive like you said! and it worked swimmingly? I was wondering why TF2 Would randomly stutter, and thanks to you my problems have been solved! You are my new digital messiah.

 

It doesn't seem to contain a microcode update I need with my 2630QM
Thanks anyway.

 

Same here...damn I missread the first post and I thought a flash drive with NTFS would be not a problem...I bricked my laptop and it does not turn on anymore...then I RMA'd it. Once it'd be back, I'll need to flash the firmware with a USB flash drive, FAT32 formatted and plugged in a USB 2.0 port. This is mandatory, otherwise I'll brick my laptop again!

 

Flashed your bios for G53SW, everything ok, but on tests noticed trottling to 798Mhz =\

MSRtool shows, that AES is enabled, like in your first post.

Any solution to fix trottling?

 

Gents, downloaded the custom bios, but winrar says the zip-file is damaged or corrupt, and I see only 1 ORI file inside(((
Looks like there is problem with the link. Maybe anybody could upload v205AES+Throttling again with working link, please?

 

Anyone knows workaround to flash bios if my battery is dead? Easyflash requires at least 20% of battery level to start.

Thank you

 

Since it uses a bios tool I don't think so, if you had a command line you could see if there was a force option.

 

Hello!
I exchanged CPU of VX7SX for 2960XM, but Turbo Boost was in the state which doesn't operate.(BIOS205 AES-NI Enabled)
Mother Board in VX7SX is same as G53SX.
I hope for VX7SX Throttle-Fix.

 

That does not seem to be the same issue as the OP, have you tried playing with throttlestop to see if you can coax it into working?