BIOS modding for GPU OC fun and profit!!

Using the 'mild' overclock I got 8001.
Using the GPU tool at 733/1000 I got 8496.
Temps hit 64 degrees celsius.

 

mine was exactly the same.

Just thinking about removing the dust from the fan or maybe removing the filter..not sure which to do. or would keeping an ICE pack under the laptop help?
lol

 

How about dry ice? The GPU on my Dell is really hot (++100C) when playing games. I started to think this is good idea if it is cheap.

 

HAHAH!! lol..dry ice is reaallly slippery..your laptop will keep sliding off..
and umm..
Well I did something today.. its 2am and im extremely happy.
I removed the dust filter, and repasted the GPU and the CPU.
Did a fur mark bench, where earlier after 5mins, it would hit 84C and throttle.
now?
I ran it for 25mins, and it hit 75. YES, 75!! I managed to drop idle temps to 46 from 60.
Thats unbelievable! Totally not what i expected. But amazing.
my furmark score increased to 679 too from 686.
Im really happy

Thank you Seeker, for the thread, the over-clock and the advice

 

While it is not dry ice which I think might be difficult to deal with, the following could be an excellent and easier solution (if you don't mind running to the freezer every hour or so to swap them out) especially underneath a laptop stand or fan to keep it separated from the air intake. I have been thinking about trying one of these for years now...

Chill Pak Laptop Cooler Gone Wild - Video

X-Files Actor Invents Laptop Cooling System

Amazon.com: Chill Pak - Laptop Cooling System: Electronics

I have the following cooling pad and it feels like (literally put my hand in it) that the Chill Pak could fit...

http://www.amazon.com/Targus-Chill-AWE55US-Black-Gray/dp/B002NU5O9C/ref=zg_tr_2243862011_9

While it might defeat some of the effectiveness of the Chill Pak, it would extend the time between freezer trips and would keep the air intake open. However, I think a very thin metal stand (or at least one with a metal top and holes in it) without a fan but with a gap in it that the Chill Pak could fit into would probably work the best. Just found this and it could work perfectly with the Chill Pak...

http://www.amazon.com/Targus-Ergonomic-designed-Notebooks-AWE09US/dp/B000EZYJN0


Also, there are these...

http://www.amazon.com/ThermaPAK-Lap...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1299233721&sr=1-1 (this sounds pretty cool and is highly rated and I wonder how well it would work if you threw it in the freezer, too...probably wouldn't hurt unless there is condensation or it damages the material...)

laptop ice pad products, buy laptop ice pad products from alibaba.com (available in bulk here but I am sure you can find it elsewhere. not sure how it works but throwing it in the freezer might help as well unless...^)

 

72 are great temps. I hit 80C GPU max with both FurMark and Prime95 running, with both new thermal paste and removing the dust filters, but without any external cooling. 84C is really low for a throttle temp, as these chips are safe up to around 95C, so you have plenty of headroom. I think that for most of us, instability will be the limiting factor for the GPU before temps are a problem.

Flashing the BIOS won't void your warranty, just make sure that you're familiar with the crisis recovery procedures linked to on the first post. However, as of now, changing the fan temp threshold in the BIOS seems to have no effect. I'm working on fixing the DSDT and SSDT, and seeing if I can mod anything in there to make the settings work.

It's more likely that the GPU OC is too high. If it ever recovers from a partial crash, and says something like "recoverd from a video driver crash", then you know that the OC is a problem. Try testing out your OC with a software tool to determine safe OC clocks before flashing a BIOS.

 

The weird thing is that I ran all kinds of benchmarks with the 790/960 bios with no problem. AFTER i did the thermal paste then I ran those benches again to see if the thermal paste made a difference. Only after the tests were ran, I got the screen corruption.

So, now I am back to the Mild overclock but I am using the ATI Tool to test.
I was able to run all kinds of benchmarks at 733/1000 with no issues. Temps did reach 70 though. With the mild overclock they went up to 64.

 

I'm reposting this,
I think it was quite a significant difference from just a re-paste and filter removal.

I removed the dust filter, and repasted the GPU and the CPU.
Did a furmark bench, where earlier after 5mins, it would hit 84C and throttle.
now?
I ran it for 25mins, and it hit 75. YES, 75!! I managed to drop idle temps to 46 from 60.
Thats unbelievable! Totally not what i expected. But amazing.

Unfortunately, looks like the 790/960 clocks aren't stable.. Both crysis and batman just froze multiple times..so I flased the mild OC.
Better now..though the furmark score is 650 instead of 697, but ingame my frames dropped by alteast 5..not sure what else I can do :\
Maybe try Rivatuner and ask for different clocks..hmm

 

Hey Seeker,
Could you please make a OC, around 780 core and 950mem.
This is just 10 less than the previous oc, but its totally stable in games...I think it's the mem clock, and maybe for my card 950 is the cap..I'll experiment with different core speeds, and if they work out, i'll ask you for more bios configs..
hope you don't mind
for now, if you could, please make a 780/950
Thanks

 

at least now we know that it's not supported!

 

quick question for anyone, If flashed the custom bios and had my motherboard replaced would i have to flash the bios again?

 

Yes, you'll need to flash the modified BIOS again after you had the motherboard replaced.

 

well the dell tech got me, because my system still has the modded bios, now aint that a bi. he was suppose to replace my motherboard, fan and heat sink. What should i do about this situation??

 

How did he know? Its the same bios just different clocks unless he opened up ati tool. Owell you should have just flashed the stock bios before hand

 

what i mean is that the dell tech got over on me. he took my laptop apart and everything, but he could not have changed the motherboard because i still have the modded bios.

 

1645_A12_unlocked_5730_780_950.zip

 

I know this is slightly off-topic, but I was wondering if anyone tried the "advanced power saving" options in windows 7/vista? Specifically, I wanted to know if the Min/Max processor state options worked for anyone?
I tried this, and used OCCT to monitor the CPU clock speeds.
I didn't see any change even after reducing the max clock to 10% on battery.

Does that options even work with i7 CPUs ?

 

hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i asked first..................



hehehehe

whenever u have some time, i will take a 1645_A12_unlocked_5730_733_1000

Thx

 

Thought I'd update this. I've been running on Power Saver plan (Multi stays at 7 etc) and noticed the fan is starting when it hits 52 degrees instead of 55 when in High Performance plan?

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

So I'm thinking this new OC is causing some instability (while in game in Starcraft 2). I used to be able to run the game at high settings @ 750//1000. Now at 813/1067, even at medium settings, my FPS drops significantly... so much that gameplay is not really possible.

Max temp @ 813/1067 is ~90C.

Would upgrading thermal paste fix this problem? Thinking about going back to 750/1000 or even 800/1000. Anyway I can troubleshoot this issue or should I just go down to 800/1000?

 

Upgrading the thermal paste and removing the dust filters will reduce your temps, but I couldn't tell you if it will be by enough to fix your throttling problem. This is why I highly recommend that you test clocks out with software tools before just flashing a BIOS OC. Every system is different, and some will go higher than others. Flash to lower clocks, then upgrade the paste, then thoroughly test for max clocks using software tools, then tell me what new clocks you want.

 

My temps were similar to yours, though i never clocked that high.
After doing what Seeker suggested...( changing the paste, removing the dust filter) , my temps came down significantly..but again that probably just depends on the system.. I can't even clock as high as you, my laptop keeps turning off if i try clocks that high.

 

Noted. Can I get a lower OC? 750/1000 ran flawlessly for me.

 

Hey guys,

I just flashed the 1645 mild over clock for 4670 but now I cannot enter setup?

I hit F2 as usual and I get the 'ENTERING SETUP...' prompt then it just boots Windows as if I never hit F2...

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
dickenz.

 

Just a heads up that I am having trouble with eSata transfers now. Don't know if it's got to do with the BIOS settings I made to the Port Multipliers or not.

What happens is that my eSata transfers somehow get corrupted when accessed - that is I could be either copying/moving the files or directly accessing them from the drive (like a Windows backup or VMware machine). One example is copying a 2+ GB ISO file (the Windows 7 SP1 all-in-one ISO image) caused the image to fail when I tried to burn it to DVD; it cost me 2 DVDs before I did a checksum and found that it *looked* like the full 2.1GB but really turned out to be only ~1.3GB.

The same happened to a VMware virtual machine I have stored on my 2.5" external HDD. It now has a ton of corrupted storage files and cannot be accessed or booted. I had to basically "format" the virtual machine and re-install Windows XP on it and all the software I had installed.

This problem only happened when I changed the Port Multiplier settings in the BIOS, so I can only assume that these settings really are not meant for our Studio XPS computers.

 

Port Multiplier is not supported in 3400 Chipset. Why do you still want enabled it?

EDID: The accurate answer is PM55 & HM55 chipset doesn't support Port Multiplier.

 

No i've since disabled it after you explained, but this problem happened before you explained that PM is not supported by our chipset.

i just wrote what i found as a warning to other users that they shouldn't change those BIOS settings.

 

I see. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

Same thing applies with the unlocked menu stock clock BIOS.

Anyone know why I wouldn't be able to enter setup?


Cheers.

EDIT: Figured it out... Had to go to Boot Menu (F12) and then Enter Setup from there... Works fine.

Might wanna add that to the first post unless I am the first person who's experienced this behaviour.

 

Try load BIOS default settings, save & exit. Then try enter BIOS menu with F2.

 

cant u release that all bios' unclocked but with all additional bios options?

 

Sorry, I do not understand the question. The GPU overclocked BIOS build by seeker_moc already have additional BIOS options (unlocked).

 

I think he means that he wants "Stock Clocks" with an unlocked BIOS.. But didn't Seeker do that already?

EDIT- Seeker didn't post that, he only posted A09 BIOS for the 1640 with throttling issues... hmm.. maybe that's what Riccardo83 wants?

 

Yeah, that one has stock clocks and is unmodified except for the 4670 vBIOS. For a 5730 user like Riccardo, it is stock with unlocked options.

 

For those of you with pending requests, I haven't forgotten about you, I've just been busy the last few days. I'll get to you tonight.

 

I need some help..
Almost everytime I use a full-screen application..my Gpu throttles down to 300/300
I have no Idea why it's doing this.
I can lock it by using Riva tuner..but that's a pain.
this shouldn't be happening.. and only started like 2 days ago..not sure what I could have messed up :\
it's not the charger..because disconnecting/reconnecting makes no difference.
ati's catalyst may be causing this..but im not certain.
help please?

Thanks

 

Disconnect your ac adapter and try it just running off of the batter. Does it still do the same thing?

 

Yes, It still does the same thing..
And i realized that im still running catalyst 10.10, so i tried updating.. now catalyst's installation didn't go through..and it won't start .. something's messed up..it gives an error when i right click now... "cannot find CLI"
what crap :|

 

Strange, no one else has ever reported this before. Sometimes, it seems like there is a delay, ie I press F2 but it takes a minute before it registers, but I've never heard of it not working before. Try removing your power cord and battery. Press and hold the power button for about 30sec. Plug the power cord, but not the battery, back in. Hold down Fn and press the power button. That should reset everything. Then shut back off. Put in the battery, turn it back on like normal, then see if F2 works for you.

 

1645_A12_unlocked_5730_733_1000.zip

1645_A12_unlocked_5730_750_1000.zip

 

Puh, so this threat is still going eh?
Alright, I just checked Dell.com but I was quite let down after I saw that there still isnt anything that could render my Studio XPS 1640 obsolete.

The new videocard they are using isnt really much faster than the 4670. I wish they would use something like a 6970 - yeah right keep dreaming


I just overclocked my Videocard a little further, its been a while I was messing with it. 785 Core clock and 999 Memory clock are working fine in Armed Assault and Oblivion. 8301 Points in 3d Mark 06 say it all.

 

GPU wise, no not really. The 540M is only ever so slightly faster than the 5730, which is only slightly faster than the 4670. For something 2 generations newer, it's really not that much faster. However, the SB CPU is a significant amount better than the C2Ds. It all depends on what you're looking for in your lappy.

 

This usually happen sometime. What you can try right now is uninstall the ATI Catalyst (everything), delete manually if you have to. After you do that, install, uninstall & reinstall again the ATI Catalyst.

 

In addition to this, if after pressing F2 it doesn't enter BIOS, it's just stop there, try pressing the arrow buttons (left, right) repeatedly. This has happen on my Asus notebook while ago & pressing the arrow buttons make it resume.

 

Hey, yeah so I did try that..infact i forgot.. that i tried to update long back.. and ever since "catalyst has been uninstalled" but i remember using it till like 4 days back and I uninstalled it easily over a month ago...so that's really weird.
I anyway did manually delete everything i found.
But then my computer decides to "update" my graphics adapter's drivers..and now all my system colors and resolution change..and it thinks there's no card.
I tried to install catalyst..but it would keep crashing after I clicked install. It would crash without giving me an error, which is really annoying, it just disappears.
anyway... I had to roll back to an earlier state, like 2 days back.. everythings fine now, but catalyst fails to start, and I can't install the new catalyst.
but really..this is much better than my computer thinking there's no card.
oh and the throttling seems to have disappeared.

Thanks for trying though, appreciate it

 

hey Seeker, Whats up?

I had a ques, I havnt installed your OC'ed BIOS yet . I overclocked my GPU using ATI GPU tool to 800/1000 speed and it worked fine. i was wondering which is better, 750/1000 or 800/1000. I do understand more the better, if you recommend 800/1000 speed then pls create one for me, i dont really need the unlocked options in BIOS just an info but if you have a pre-prepared clocks like this do give me the link even if its with the unlocked option
just want its less hassle for you..

thanx alot frnd..

 

Well I am not updating then, it has to be at least a gap like it was between my old 8600 GT And my new 4670.

Also, I saw that their new notebooks dont all have backlight keyboards. Whats up with that? Thats like a step back.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/545768-xps-backlit-keyboard-price.html

 

@Seeker can you share the unlocked a12 813/1066 u r using for the 5730? and it is a 1645 thanks..!