K53TA.. The best deal ever... could be!

ok. i just updated to official bios 212, and my vbios still says 012.043.000.015.041326
for both the igp and dgpu

my stupid screen shows- see below.

it's an older vbios, and different bios part number.



update:
Well, I give up for now. I installed the modified bios 212 from bios-mods.com, and nothing changed.

at least it didn't brick my laptop though.


edit2: looks like HP forum has a mod for this already for llano laptops, which looks just like there148's mod-
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...unlock-fixed-dynamic-switchable-graphics.html
looks complicated.

 

After a few days of testing, I've concluded that asus made the best decision with the dual graphics setup. If they wanted to sell a single graphics card laptop they wouldn't have released this model. Yes running exclusively on the 6650m is very fast(I've noticed a 30fps increase in certain games), but is the trade worth disabling the integrated graphics? With the dual graphics option, you can play one game on the integrated while running another application on the discrete. Overall you get better performance by splitting duties to both cards rather than having one card render both games.

This mod is only useful for inquiry and in my opinion not a better solution than the default dual graphics setup.

 

^^^ yes, but openGL sucks on igp. I mean unbelievably sucks !
33% fewer shaders, and slower memory.
Just look at the opengl benchmark of cinebench below. The igp gets 21fps, whereas the HP 6750 gddr5 version of our card gets 37fps. We should get ~32fps on the 6650m.
That's at least a 50% performance jump. More useful than 'for inquiry'. That translates into realworld performance.


Can you explain how to mod and disable igp? or is it complicated ?

if it is easy to turn on/off igp disable option, some of us would like that option, even if you think it's not for you.
Care to share ?

 

Confirmed the Varibright (the automatic display brightness feature) is removed in 212. just downgraded to 207 its back. No other visible chagelog yet
212 is a minor update since smbios is still 207

 

After you flash the bios, you probably need to go in bios and enable fix mode. It doesn't hurt as you can pick dynamic or fixed in CCC(driver sometimes do crash when it fail to switch from powersaver to high performance or dynamic to fixed, but a restart clear it straight) . Some stuff just don't like dual graphic.

It is not complicated .It probably similar with the dv6z as they have similar spec. flash the bios, change a setting. wahla.

 

Your mod could be the solution for running openGL games like RAGE or Alice McGee at 40-55 FPS instead of 15 FPS. It may also help with DirectX10 games that are not running off the dgpu [most all DirectX9 & 11 games run perfectly off dgpu]. In the coming year this may help us play future openGL games like Doom4 and Prey2. We are all hoping you found a potential solution to playing every game on the market, just as long it is easy to go back and forth between the original configuration out of the box and your mod.

there148, Any possibility you can upload your exact bios file on mediafire or elsewhere so everyone can download & try out you Bios mod? It would make everyone's life easier rather than second guessing and trying different things.

I hope there148 can retrace his steps and maybe upload his exact bios file on mediafire for sharing with the rest of us to try out. And maybe provide all necessary steps to follow.
The worst case scenario is that everyone here with an Asus K53TA purchased/manufactured on or before September 2011 can't do the mod (but probably unlikely)...
update: vbios 012.043.000.015 refers to 6520G while vbios 013.012.000.028 refers to 6650M.

It's seemingly complicated for our Asus laptops.
After flashing with bios 212 or a "possible modded 212", people still can't find in their bios anything having to do with dynamic or fixed mode.

 

Are you sure you're looking at the right adapter? Attached is what I have, the top highlighted number being the integrated and the bottom being the discrete (two vbios).

I'm still on the modded bios and the 12.2 mobility drivers. There aren't any new options in the bios to mess with, so the hp dv6 thread linked is of no use to us since they had such an option in their bios. Unless there is some hidden key press to use to access it, I'm not seeing any new options anyway.

add: messing with the drivers hasn't been a hassle at all for me. I just use the uninstaller built into the setup and uninstall the video related ones only. I still only ever see the "vision" label on the ccc... never "radeon" on that top icon.

 

Thanks for seeing we missed something. You are right.
The 012.043.000.015 is referring to the 6520G igpu. And I had to "enable radeon dual graphics" to see the Linked Adaptor (6650) information. And lo and behold my vbios is also a 013 number. But since I'm still on the Radeon 11.12 drivers, my vbios is lower and as follows:
BIOS Version 013.012.000.016
BIOS Part Number BR40844.001
BIOS Date 2011/04/26

I think if we can just get the right Modded Bios, then we can all do this.

 

Thanks bro... Now what Bios are you using (as in could you pretty please source where you downloaded them from)?

Nobody is missing that step. The option isn't in the Bios.

 

All Slics 2.1 (Modded Bios List) - Note: For requests use 'Bios Mod Requests' section - Page 955

Have a look at this, not sure what they modded though, cant find the original source.

Edit : source is here

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/7033-Insyde-bios-mod-requests?p=535220&viewfull=1#post535220

 

@ baiii Its regarding windows activation, nothing else

 

Hi new here. Been reading this thread ever since i got this notebook back in september. It's a K73ta but it si the same as k53. So just wondering, can i flash my bios from 206 to 212 with skipping the 207? thanks in advance

 

ok, yeah. I turned on crossfire, and now see the 013 vbios.

the HP dv6z bios is different from ours.
theirs is the fancier Insyde bios.
Ours is ancient AMI bios.

if there148 can't provide the mod, then this was just a big tease, and that's not nice.

yes you can.

 

The 1 I just link is for K43/53TA not for dv6z. Not sure what they mod since they said nothing about it.

 

I'm calling BS on this one, lol.

 

Windows 8 Consumer Preview works fine on this laptop, I haven't tested the graphics abilities fully yet though.

 

I updated to the Asus BIOS 212 as Catalyst 12.3 and can confirm, as others, that there is still no option for manual switching. I also re-ran the WEI afterward and got scores of,

Processor - 7.0
Memory - 7.3
Graphics - 3.5
Gaming Graphics - 5.3
Hard Disk - 5.9

But my actual game performance remains the same. Anyone else encounter this?

 

why would anyone not encounter this?

bios 212 and catalyst are not supposed to give you increased performance.

and if it's not BS, then only one person in the world has this mod and is taking it to the grave, without further enjoyment by the rest of the world.

If it were me, I wouldn't hold out on info like this. Those guys in the HP forum share everything. Now it makes me wanna get a dv6z.

 

I was not expecting increased performance but I was just curious if anyone else gets the really low WEI

 

don't worry about WEI.

that's a stupid test anyway.

download cinebench 11.5, and if you get around 20fps for the openGL test, you're ok.

 

I will release my work tonight. Check back then. Keep expectations low for the default dual graphics you all have is not as bad as you would think.

 

^^ the default dual graphics is not bad, as most graphical apps we use are directX games.

However, occasionally, we come across openGL, and need an easy way to toggle off the igp with a simple reboot.
I would go even further to say that I'd use only the dgpu while plugged in.
I seldom use any apps that would need simultaneous use of both gpus.


Anyway, after being prompted by the bios-mods guys, I downloaded amibcp 4.53 http://www.sendspace.com/file/owfsdf
and took a look at the bios.
Surprise...... Asus has been holding out on us !
there is an option called PX FIXED MODE alongside PX DYNAMIC MODE.

I would imagine a toggle switch to flip the two modes would allow us to use the dgpu for openGL.

I don't know how to compile a bios, otherwise I'd do it. The last time I touched a bios compiler, it came out corrupted.

Now the only issue left is whether Catalyst can adjust to fixed and dynamic modes with every reboot.

 

In which particular games did you see the largest improvements? Have you tried any openGL games like Rage...just curious to know if this mod has really made a difference in running faster.

Big thanks and looking forward to it. I'll keep my own expectations low since I don't own any openGL games or direct x 10 games that could benefit from forced dgpu..atleast not yet . If this works out, then gaming potential will be almost limitless like most Intel /Nvidia gpu laptops. And everyone here will be most grateful to you.

 

That is the exact same option in dv6z, which can both enabled simultaneously.
Fixed is needed if you do wide range of stuff on the laptop. It is more about comparability then performance. Atm, I have 1 software (madvr) that just wont behave with dual graphic on using dgpu. Recently got a game, (Dynasty Warrior 6 or 7 from KOEI, a console port with worst coding ever, run off single core only orz) which just crash itself in dynamic mode.(xfire off ofc )

 

Here is the mod bios. It is has c6 cpb and fixed mode graphics changes. You must first update to the official 212 bios before flashing. Use the /nodate argument after winflash.exe to bypass date check. Once flashing is complete new options will appear in CCC. There is no need to make any changes in bios or drivers to get the new options.

Download K43TA[c6 cpb fixed mode].212 from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way

 

thanks for the modded bios.

interesting that you disabled turbo core, as useless as turbo is.
can the option still be enabled in the bios though?

Is crossfire still an option ?


I can't update my bios for several more hours until i finish encoding this movie, so someone be the guinea pig
If you guys reformatted windows, you can get winflash on the asus download page.
http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=3&s=295&m=K53TA

 

why don't u guys use easyflash from bios its lot better and does allow downgrading just put somewhere lik E:\bios\k43212.212, reboot and press
f4 during post and navigate to same folder and flash.

 

Oh, I know. And everything else I have tried hasn't changed much. All my games still play about the same, maybe slightly more FPS, and the 3dMark11/Vantage scores didn't change. It was just weird that it would change the WEI and nothing else.

 

Decided to take the plunge.

Went ahead and reflashed the official 212 after the other modded bios did not do much of anything. Flashed the bios posted by there148 using asus' winflash utility. At first I did try the easy flash thing from the bios menu but that seemed to just hang upon trying to use the mod bios. Let it sit for 20 minutes to be sure; it just froze after it complained about there not being a name structure or something missing. Held power down to force it off, rebooted and luckily it did not brick the machine.

Booted to win7, ran winflash with there148's mod bios, flashed fine, rebooted, and the switching method is unlocked. Attached is a picture of what it looked like. I did not reinstall any drivers, left it with the official 12.2 mobility ones. HWiNFO64 shows the discrete on fulltime after having made the switch. I also reran WEI just as a quick test and it reported the same 6.7 graphics performance that there148 also posted previously. add: my WEI before hand was 3.6 graphics.

This is pretty amazing! I was wrong about that hp dv6 thread not being useful; we now share a similar method of manual switching.

Thank you there148 for sharing this mod.

 

Thanks eyeguy616 for being the second successful person on the forum to get this working! I was wondering if your laptop is running hotter? If so is it very easy to go back to dynamic switching in catalyst drivers? That was one of the things people noted happening in the hp dv6 Unlock Fixed dgpu thread...they stated "if you run on fixed mode, it does run hotter when idle, but shouldn't vary much compare to dynamic in graphic intense situation." Normally without this modded bios I get idle temps between 37 and 53 C (but if this is causing it to be 70 or 80C on idle, it may not be worth keeping this modded bios implemented; but judging by your jpeg pics, I see you only have 45-50C max..so looks good ).

And please chime back in with your tested game improvements especially OpenGL games (if successful, then we can all play openGL games "better" like Rage, AliceMcGee, Minecraft, Starcraft2, etc and future unreleased titles like Doom4 and Prey2).
I'm assuming that configuring our laptop with games using this new bios mod should act just like Intel laptops with a Radeon GPU; so a video demonstration of game configuring should look like videos below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJ6M13_XNI --minecraft using "manual" switchable graphics method
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVDiN06fiOU --discussion at 6:29 on openGL testing using "manual" switchable graphics

Also I was wondering if this Bios Fix would work on older AMD drivers eg. 11.12 (which I'm currently using), or do we have to use newer drivers (eg.12.1, 12.2, or 12.3)? Thanks again for the feedback and big thanks to there148 for sharing your actual bios file!

 

hi everyone!, first post on this forum
i've been reading all this trhead because i got this laptop, the only difference is that mine has the a4-3300m cpu, and the 6550m radeon graphics, i would like to know if this moded bios that there148 posted will work on mine, thx in advance

edit:

i did the same as you, i updated the bios first to the 212, after that i tried the modded bios with the winflash utility, but it says its an older version, so i can't flash it, how did you flashed yours? D:

edit:

nvm i used the /nodate argument for the winflash, it worked xD

 

I usually use easyflash, but this mod requires winflash.
I saw this method first mentioned in the mydigitlife forums.

if you use easyflash to flash 212modded, it will overwrite and probably not work.



well, it looks like this mod turns our laptop into an intel laptop, since crossfire is disabled. However, our igp is still more powerful than intel's.

 

on official 212 whats your smbios version use system information
is it still 207

 

So using this mod disables dual graphics? I suppose that isn't too bad as most games don't really use it very well, or at all, right now anyway.

Edit - Also does it have any effect on temps or CPU overclocking?

 

Unfortunately, I don't have any opengl games to try right now, so I won't be able to test something right this moment. Is there a commonly used pure opengl benchmark around? I could try that in the meantime.

The CCC does give the option to go back to dynamic switching, which is what we had to begin with. A good option to use for benchmarking and seeing results of the manual switching I think. As I said before, and like what there148 posted previously, WEI did jump from 3.6 to 6.7 when on manual.

On a fresh boot, my cpu idle is at ~42C and the 6650M is at ~47C. Ambient air is ~27C. I don't remember what it used to idle at before, but it was surely a little less than now. Laptop hasn't been on too long, so these may change later.

add: used the WEI to warm up the laptop a little. Attached is what I got for temps during it. Probably on the low side since it's not near as intensive as a game or computation benchmark, but it was quick.

 

That is about what I got yesterday when running the WEI benchmark so probably no difference in temps. What is it you said about Turbo Core being disabled, link? Does that mean it will never go into B0 in k10stat?

 

If I read correctly, the bios have both option enabled so you can switch in CCC.

In my Dv6z case, idle temp change from 40s to almost reaching 50, which is a deal breaker as the dv6z fan went higher speed when reach 50C(not changeable).

If the bios is unlocked, maybe you guys can find some interesting options other than fixed graphic mode.

For benching OpenGL try cinebench.

 

there148 disabled turbocore. You can see it in AMIBCP, where CPB is disabled.
that means you'll have to set P0 in k10stat if you want higher mhz.
This should have minimal effect though, because when we OC to 2ghz+, we are already above the thermal limits, so turbocore would never kick in anyway.

Still, i would prefer that turbocore not be turned off from the bios, since it would allow me to control it via k10stat by setting P0 the same as B0
When I learn how to edit and save the bios, I will set CPB back to default.

Dynamic switching is still there. But Crossfire mode is not.

Also, the AMI bios is a little crappier than Insyde bios because the main menu options are not visible.... yet. So we can't turn fixed mode on and off to enable crossfire on the fly like you guys can.

 

eh, really? I thought by todays standard, bios should have plenty of options (@ least after unlock). Do they have update in bios-mod?

 

i think i may be mistaken.

Dual graphics mode is still an option. I will test and report back.

 

Hi guys,lately a weird problem appears,my screen brightness is down without to change it by myself.Pressing fn+f6 doesnt do anything,i need to restart the computer to change it,i mean after the reboot,the fn+f6 works.....

 

Hi xenon47.
I had a similar issue, the workaround was plug in the power adapter that changed the power profile and the screen was back to normal.
I think the culprit was Asus Power 4 Gear Hybrid because I uninstalled it and I did not experience the problem anymore.
Now I'm switching power profiles with Windows Mobility Center (pressing Win key + X).

 

enabling fixed mode makes CCC very buggy.

I was able to force opengl use on the 6650m, testing with cinebench 11.5.
Results were expected.
21fps for 6520g, and 31.3fps for 6650m.


That's when it all bugs out.
To force the dgpu, you have to select "graphics proc manually or based on power source". Dual graphics mode option disappears from CCC.

After I was done testing out openGL, I selected power saving mode to lower the temps. All was fine, but if I wanted to go back to high performance mode, it would not let me, because the 6650m disappeared from the device manager; windows could not see it anymore, most likely because I selected power-saving mode, so it disabled the dgpu. "Scan hardware" from device mgr detected nothing.

so i rebooted, and after the 2nd attempt, windows recovered without loading the ati drivers. Device manager showed both gfx cards now, so I had to reboot again to reload the drivers.
all back to normal.


Now, leaving CCC on "select gpu based on application needs" method, Crossfire option is back again.
to test xfire, I have tried to run 3dmark11, unsuccessfully. it would crash and autoreboot my pc.
I will try 3dmark vantage and Just Cause 2 demo to see if crossfire works.


Based on this initial test, openGL now sees a big perf boost, but you need to do a special dance to recover from fixed mode.

I will continue to play with this.


edit: Just Cause 2 crossfire confirmed working. However, when I try to select manual fixed mode, I now get an error in Event Viewer:
ATI EEU PX dGPU Power On failed

CCC turns off the dgpu, and can't get it back on.

 

this is normal as the driver is not mature. Switching anyside have chance to fail (dynamic<-->fixed, fixed d<-->fixed i) . If the thing doesn't switch, just restart, but sometimes mine hang in shutdown and I had to force shutdown with power button. Sometimes after a fail switch(fixed to dynamic iirc) and reboot , you will have no display driver, go into device manager , enable 6600/6700m , restart, will be fine again.

I usually stay with dynamic unless I need fixed mode for certain game/program.

 

^^^ yeah. That's what I have been doing. The reboot device manager dance.

Right now though, I think I totally broke fixed mode, because I can't turn the dgpu on anymore in fixed mode.

I tried to turn off crossfire first before selecting manual mode, but my fixed mode is now permanently stuck in powersaving mode.

I was worried this would happen. I had a feeling CCC would go bonkers.


-----
ok. I found a way to get unstuck from powersaving mode.
select High performance gpu, let it error out.
Boot into safe mode, enable 6650m.
reboot normally, and high performance fixed mode will be selected.

damn, amd software sucks. what a hassle.

 

12.1 probably is the safe bet. Just don't try to switch too much in one window session lol.

 

I sure hope you can get your system back to normal...I guess this is what there148 meant by the mod being for inquiry purpose and to keep expectations low. So atleast you discovered OpenGL isn't impossible to run well on our system now. You found a +10FPS improvement so that's good to know and maybe worthwhile if we want to play a certain game really badly.

Maybe to get your system back to normal and not stuck in powersaving mode, you can flash the Bios back to 212 official version without the fixed mode capability. And then reflash with the 212 modded bios again to get the fixed mode capability back. But do you think flashing too much could be too risky?
update: thank God you got it back to normal.
Do you think you will stick with this bios or flash it back to normal again to avoid dealing with the hassle?

 

no reflash required.

I figured out the dance moves.

If you're stuck in powersaving mode, open CCC and select high perf mode and apply. It will look like nothing happened, but after you boot safe mode and re-enable the 6650m, then reboot again, you will be back in high perf mode.

to go from powersaving mode back to dual gfx/crossfire mode, pick "by application" switching mode, then do the same safemode boot and reboot dance, and dual graphics will be enabled again.

As long as you keep it in dual graphics mode, you shouldn't have any problems on a day to day basis.

It's only when you want to play openGL stuff that you have to do the safemode reboot dance.


I think this mod is worth keeping, even with the bugs. As long as you keep it in dual graphics mode, everything will be like it was from day 1.

The only extra thing I would like right now is C6 and CPB enable, like factory bios. Sometimes single-thread apps can get a split second of boost.

I hope there148 can upload a C6/CPB enabled bios too.

 

Thanks for all the information. I may take your advice and give it a shot. About the 'C6/CPB enabled bios,' I was tinkering with AMIBCP v4.53 and saw if you double click on the C6, then disabled can be switched to enabled and CPB can be switched from disabled to auto. Can't we just make those changes & save the bios and reflash it? or do you think the bios will become corrupt if we make changes with AMIBCP?
If it works, then we could get turbocore B0 working again like factory and use K10stat to control it.

 

going from power saving back to other 2 is more buggy(50%fail compare to 20% something like that lol), but dynamic is essentially power saving if you don't have any program running with high performance.
What i experienced do not need me to go in safe mode though. When the ccc say no ati driver detected and my screen show up 800x600, I just go in device manager and enable the dGPU, it ask me to reboot then become fine.

cinebench is video encoding bench iirc, the 10fps increase cut the encoding time in 1/3.
I remember dv6t owner complain when their minecraft is 20fps with intel iGPU back when they don't have official fixed mode xD.

Turbo Boost is pretty pointless as you can run high clock unganged and achieve controlled "boost".