MSI GX740 with 5870 1gb ddr5

Anyone had luck with doing any volt-mods to the GX740?

I can't overclock more than 1.75Ghz on my CPU. I can hit 1.85Ghz and it passes tests but every now and then bluescreens while doing nothing. I'm sure a voltmod will fix it but can't find how to bump the voltage on this laptop.

Same goes for the GPU. I can overclock 790/1100 but above, it doesn't like me.

Anyone had any success with custom BIOSs? I tried one for the GPU from a GX660 was it that also has a 5870 to bump the voltage to 1.15V but it failed due to not being for a GX740 lol.'


EDIT: I created a modified BIOS for the video card on the GX740. The new BIOS has more voltage when in full 3D. Currently testing how much I can push it thanks to this. I will post different versions for people who want to overclock later.

 

Here are the newest (based on the January 2011 update) video card BIOS files for the GX740. The default voltage on the BIOS from January is 1.05V. The modified BIOSs I have linked below set that at 1.10V or 1.15V respectively. I have tested them and they work fine on my GX740. Happy overclocking and take note of temperatures when you overclock.

Steps to flash:
1. Create a bootable USB drive (use the SAME procedure as told when you flash an official MSI video card BIOS)
2. Download the latest MSI GX740 video card BIOS and put all the files from that zip into the bootable USB drive you made.
3. Download the desired BIOS from my post, unzip it, and put it on the bootable USB drive along with all files from step 2.
4. Rename the BIOS file you chose to something easy...like Broadway.bin (this is so you flash it easy from DOS).
5. Restart the laptop and boot from the USB drive.
6. Type "atiflash.exe -p 0 Broadway.bin" or replace Broadway with whatever you named it.
7. Wait till done, then turn off the laptop.
8. Remove the battery and unplug the charger. Wait 1-2 minutes. Then plug everything in and power it on the normal way.
9. Done. You can now go and see how far you can overclock it.

 

I just tried this. The BIOS system makes the file name to be GX740_~1.bin because it's too long. So use GX740_~1.bin instead of GX740_1_10_volts.bin

BTW, I used the 1.1V edition and RBE confirms it to be 1.1V but in GPU-Z under FurMark it shows 1.05V VDDC. Is that the same as the voltage?

Actually disregard that... I've been able to up my overclocks to 875/1110 from 835/1090... so it must be working.

 

Only different voltage?
If you have overdrive enabled, press the default settings button to reset the old profile values. The button at the overdrive panel.

 

I was just being curious about what updates newer BIOS would have, according to CPU-Z my BIOS date is 06/07/2010 and the version would be E1727IMS.10A3

I saw someone telling to check BIOS from screens resolution and it says "BIOS Information - BR35757.023

So what updates do the newer versions bring?

(I've got the GX740, i5-450m version)

 

Yes. The only difference is more voltage. Please rename the file to whatever you want if you have trouble flashing it from DOS. I named it the way I did so you know what you are flashing.
I added steps to the directions to clarify.

Also, note that the voltage is only upped on the 3D performance clocks. The card will consume and perform IDENTICAL to the stock BIOS when it clocks down. It will only use the new voltage when it is clocked at its highest values.

From personal experience, I was able to go to 845 @ 1.15V but the gfx card started shutting down...it doesnt crash, what it did was clock itself down because it was too hot. It was reaching 97-105C, obviously not good for long term use. Hence, lesson to learn from this, use a program such as Afterburner to pay attention to temperatures and clocks. If it clocks down and its really hot (95+C), back off the overclocking.

For reference, I was able to hit 800 on the stock 1.05V, 820 on 1.10V and 835 on 1.15V. Unfortunately I have decided that the temperatures are too high to justify the 2% or so extra I get and hence I have returned to the stock 1.05V BIOS. I don't have additional cooling yet and that's a problem.

 

Hmm I think you may need to repaste the GPU if your temps are that high.
My max was 83 with 875/1110, and it doesn't get there often. It's usually below 80C.

 

Well, i dont know much about your version of gx740, but in my GX740 when i go over 820mhz on GPU clock, then it automaticly goes up to 1.15v, didn't tested much but with clocks 850/1000 i was getting 93'C with zalman nc3000. I used standard Msi drivers, and standard catalyst control panel to OC the card. When i first bought GX740, the 5870m was deffective (artifacts) so i returned it to MSI and asked for new GPU and bios upgrade to the newest one, then, i was suprised to see 1.15v after i went >820MHZ without any bios mods. But i feel mine CPU -430m i5 is a bottleneck. when running 820/1000 i got P8200 in 3dmark Vantage, here you can see it:
Result.
Card is stable at 1.15v at 850/1000, didn't try much more becouse i dont't want to brick my GPU. (still 1yr warranty left so propably msi would give me a new one if this would happen).

 

Try flashing the vBIOS with the latest one on the MSI website with 1.1V.

I'm able to game at 883/1090, played 3 hours of MoH last night with no issues and temps under 80C. (this is with a i5-430M OC'ed at 3.1GHz)

I don't remember doing any CPU tests but at that frequency the i5-430m is rarely a bottleneck. Most games run at 99% GPU usage.

Also, at those clocks with latest AMD drivers, I got 9890 GPU score in Vantage (can probably go higher if I go 910/1090 for benchmarking purposes)

 

@Bearclaw

How about a step by step guide how you over clocked your i5-430 as I'd love
to give it a try and I'm sure many others would also.

 

Okay here's an overview:
1. I downloaded and installed SetFSB, then used the webpage to find the correct Clock generator. You should select ICS9LPRS113AKLF.

2. Next you click on GetFSB and then increase it at intervals of 10 (too much might freeze the system) until you find the desired frequency. you can check the frequency using CPU-Z.

3. After finding the desired frequency, download Throttlestop. There's a tab near the bottom for TDP/TCP. I would increase that to 30/30 at least. If you don't increase this, the TDP limit will kick in and your processor will downclock automatically. I don't think it's really necessary to actually turn on ThrottleStop but I think the TDP setting is erased each time after restarting or shutting off so I would use Task Scheduler to make Throttlestop run on Windows Startup.

4. By now, the processor should go to the desired frequency and stay there regardless of load. But you will find the game will run fast so you have to enable Windows's High Precision Event Timer (HPET). So use this link:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/7091776-post794.html

Now your core is effectively 3.1GHz or however high you want it to be.

 

Every time we want to OC laptop's CPU, we must use 30 programs, find 10 secret codes, and still, it will not work as we want. We have to repeat the procedure every time we start our Notebook.
Flustrating it is.

I was wondering about i7 640M (upgrade) or i5 580M, they have really high freq's 3.46 and 3.33 resp. and, 35w TDP witch is no different than our 430M. Would suit perfectly with OC'd GPU.

Anyway MXM upgrade website, have no news about 6970m in GX660 (update shortly)- not so shortly as we wait about 2-3 month now. I am really courious is it possible. We would at least quit to overclock everything and stop to wonder about 5870m will work with 1.3v 1000/1500 + water cooling.

Maybe it's time to go back to desktop PC ?

How do you guyz think huh ?

 

I don't have to do anything on start-up to OC, just a simple setFSB and increase that. Takes less than a few seconds. HPET is permanent until you manually change it again and Throttlestop can be started automatically via task scheduler
This is a one-time thing if you set everything up correctly.

 

how far can you go ? and do i need better than standard Ram memory to avoid damaging it ?
i set it to 3030Mhz and cpu went to 88'C
And please could you explain me what is HPET, i still dunno for what it is hehe

 

Don't worry about that.

You can verify performance by running wPrime (32 test) and then seeing if you get increased performance.
I still suggest using HPET though, it's only one line in cmd (admin mode):
bcdedit /set {current} useplatformclock yes

 

Yes my friend, but what does it do ??

 

Increasing the FSB will cause games to speed up and cause irregular performance.

Use HPET to eliminate that problem.

 

AHA !! will do. chEERs !!!

 

Here is the latest Realtek mod by Alexa. These installed easily on my GX 740 and the sound improvement is substantial. Just remember to uninstall the older drivers completely before installing these. After installing, remember to auto-update the creative software from the start menu.
Realtek/Soundmax Modds + SB X-fi MB 1.2

Realtek HD Audio drivers is based on 2.59

Advantages:
Creative Software 1.2
-Console Launcher
-Audio Control Panel
-Volume Panel
-Alchemy
-Sound Blaster Plugin for Media Center
-Software Update/Bonus Software
Bonus Software
-Creative Media player
-Karaoke Player
-Wave Studio

Fixes/Improvements
-All creative effects(EQ,Cristalyzer,CMSS3D...)
-Console launcher Delay on Winodws 7 Sp1
-CMSS3D will turn off when playing 5.1/7.1 sources(Games,DVD movies)

 

Here is the exact description.
HPET = HighPerformanceTimer

 

Hello, i would like to know from where you got such a nice radiators ? I mean the big ones placed on the GFX ram, and how much did it help ? For example -10"C ???
And you mentioned something about 920xm- was running too hot ?

THX

 

HUSTON - WE HAVE A PROBLEM !!!
I really was looking forward to upgrade my gx740 to 6970m or at least add some more radiators onto the gfx heatsink.
Sadly i find my self unlucky, becouse everytime i buy something, it turns out that i have something unusual/not to standard. Today, is a sad day for me.

I just bought a kit of 2x4gb hyperx 1600MHz memory (8gb total) to spped up a little bit. For more intrested users manufacture code is KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G.
I bought them for 71GBP total with delivery -NEW ONES, and since i bought my laptop, it was opened just ONCE, - IN MSI HQ to fix my 5870m -deffective from new. I didn't open it myself till tooday - SAD DAY FOR ME.

YEYE, i'm so ExCited !!, 1st screw, 2nd, 3rd one, 4th one, UH! its hard to remove back cover, kind of jammed, but NO, it went out nicely. And then i said LOL !!! LOL !!! WHY MEEEEE ????

Nerds from MSI gave me a new GPU heatsink, THANK YOU, IT DOES NOT COVER THE RAM AND IT IS NOT MADE FROM COPPER - THX- MSI.... TOODAY friday the 13th U MADE ME HAPPY ONCE AGAIN.

Now question to you GUYZ, can i take it as an adventage ? or NO ?
First, i thought about removing excess heatsink panel to reveal whole RAM and add a nice COPPER Radiator on it, i could also add some radiators onto NOT MADE FROM COPPER GPU heatsink. DDR5 mem modules are generating lots of heat ? - NOT, if my card is doing fine without any radiators on them i could take an advantage of it as gpu and ram could be cooled separately.... hope i am right.

HOW DO YOU ALL THINK, I SHOULD BE UNHAPPY OR NOT ?
(IDLE 100/[email protected] -43C,normal gaming 700/[email protected] -HI 70's-mid 80's 'C and OC 820/[email protected] 91'C)

SEE IT FOR YOURSELF

NEW THREAD
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/578659-unusual-msi-gx740-gpu-heatsink-lol.html

 

WTH!
You should make a new thread about this. Ridiculous.
Temps for GPU are OK. But your VRAM may burning like hell.
This 'thing' looks like a engineering sample of heatsink. You should call MSI.

 

New vBIOS out!
Anyone know how to incorporate it into the 1.15 vBIOS?

 

Nice find.
What do you mean with incorporate? Change the voltage?
BTW, I see no differences at the moment.
Anybody knows anything more than
just
0.27
ATOMBIOSBK-ATI VER012.020.000.042.035757
0.31
ATOMBIOSBK-ATI VER012.020.000.055.035757

 

Yep that's what I mean.

 

Here it is.
MSI vBIOS 031 700/1000 1.15V

I've only changed the first clock setting to 1.15V. You want to overclock?
Use 'flash115.bat'.
At your own risk! You can change your own vBIOS with RBE (1.28) or just preview my changes.

 

Thanks for that.

What do you mean by use flash115.bat? I always use atiflash -p 0 [vBIOS name].

Also, could you make a 1.125V version as well? Thanks.

 

Here are the newest (based on the May 2011 update) video card BIOS files for the GX740. The default voltage on the BIOS is 1.05V. The modified BIOSs I have linked below set that at 1.10V, 1.15V, or 1.20V respectively. Note that the 1.20V is a HIGH voltage BIOS and hence you should exercise EXTREME caution with the temperatures it can induce. Happy overclocking and I am not responsible for any blown laptops.

Steps to flash:
1. Create a bootable USB drive (use the SAME procedure as told when you flash an official MSI video card BIOS)
2. Download the latest MSI GX740 video card BIOS and put all the files from that zip into the bootable USB drive you made.
3. Download the desired BIOS from my post, unzip it, and put it on the bootable USB drive along with all files from step 2.
4. Restart the laptop and boot from the USB drive.
5. Type "atiflash.exe -p 0 [BIOS name].bin"
6. Wait till done, then turn off the laptop.
7. Remove the battery and unplug the charger. Wait 1-2 minutes. Then plug everything in and power it on the normal way.
8. Done. You can now go and see how far you can overclock it.

 

TYVM! Appreciated.

 

This vBIOS is definitely worse.

I can't even get as good OC as the 1.1V vBIOS before(using 1.125 currently). there's corruption and artifacts even at 850/1090. before I was gaming for extended periods at 885/1090.

Going to reinstall drivers and see if that helps.

 

I'm getting the same results haha. I'm even artifacting a little on stock speeds at 1.125. Gonna try the 1.15. If that doesn't work as well, I may roll back.

 

lol that's a relief... I thought something went wrong with the card.

 

Reinstalled drivers and I got no artifacts even at 910/1070. I think they changed something with the memory and it's less overclockable with this vBIOS.

 

Wait...video card drivers?

So, reinstalling the video card drivers fixed the artifacts for you?

 

No it did not. The OC is still lower.

Testing 1.15V now.

It still had artifacts.

I'm going back to the previous 1.15V.

Which reminds me, could you make a 1.125V mod for previous vBIOS?

 

Certainly.

Here you go.

 

Thanks.
I'm going to try 910/1090 @ 1.125V. I was doing 920/1090 @ 1.15 but since MSI Afterburner's max (even with unofficial overclocking unlocked) is 910 I found it pointless. (I only get 920 unlocked with an occasional bug)

 

I am jealous of your card lol. I'm BARELY making 815 stable. 830 crashes after 5 min of artifact testing.


What temperatures are you running? Try this tool. It is DEAD accurate at detecting artifacts (its its whole point) and stresses your card like Furmark would do.
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

Tell me what temperature you max at using that on Scan for Artifacts.

 

What's your memory at? The voltage in the vBIOS is VDDC, which is for the core only. VRAM apparently operates separately and therefore is independent of the voltage. I find that most of my crashes are due to memory... I think 1090 is my limit because I was just playing Singularity and there were places with 100+ FPS and I crashed once.

With high FPS like that and an intensive engine like UE3 the possiblity of a crash becomes higher.

On the new vBIOS I Found that the artifacts are due to memory. I upped core to 910 and memory stayed lower at 1070 and there wasn't any artifacts at all.

 

I was getting about 82C after 3 minutes and seem to plateau there. There wasn't any artifacts detected... although I'm not even sure it's working properly. Fraps displays 800 FPS, GPU-Z displays 99% load so it must be working on something but the image itself doesn't move at all.

And it tried to install some driver for some reason...

Edit: it seems like each fresh instance of the program it beeps right away and there's yellow lines at the top of the image but it says no errors detected. After I click abort it'll be normal.

 

its mostly the RAM...many of the GX740´s didn´t get above 1030MHz RAM.

with 1070 you can be lucky

personally mine never got over 1040 without arifacts...the RAM is Qimonda!

 

Yeah, I know. My memory is tier still. I can barely hold 1025Mhz haha. On the new BIOS, it was artifacting at the stock 1000Mhz. Pretty pathetic.

AscheWandler, where did you get your 940XM? And how much? I cant find one under $600. . .
Also, how are you clocking it that high? BIOS doesn't support voltage mods or if it does, can you help me do it?

 

Yellow anything is an artifact. And it doesn't dysplay an image. It renders that furry cube but it renders it stationary so it can compare to a pic it knows and figure out when it's ing up the rendering.
Basically, if you see a yellow something on that test, the card will be unstable. It's the best thing I know of in order to quickly figure out the top for a card.

 

Try sapphire TriXX for OC.

Why does it happen when I want it to happen then?
If it's a fresh start of the program, it happens. It happens immediately, like in the very first frame. If I abort and restart, it never happens.
There's no artifacting in any games either.

 

Lol have in mind the video card program is an iteration of Furmark. It represents absolute max stress. Hence, if it artifacts and games dont, you simply arent stressing the GPU enough with the game lol. I trust the program completely about the yellow stuff. Have learned that over the past 3 or so years. So long as the yellow things show up consistently (aka if you restart it and it doesn't show, then ignore the first time it did)


PS: I looked at Trixx but that's for the GPU. I have NO problem with overclocking and overvolting the GPU as you know lol. My problem is overvolting the CPU. Any way to do it? Maybe detailed instructions on a pinmod?

 

Yeah that's the thing. I restart the program and it shows up. I stop the test and restart it and it won't show again. I don't think it should be so controlled like that.

As for FurMark, I've ran it for long periods of time before with no artifacts but games like Dirt 2, among others (which also use 99% of the GPU btw, same as FurMark) will crash the driver. My preliminary artifact/OC test is usually Dirt 2.

FurMark runs at too low an FPS to stress the card that much. I've ran games which use 90-99% of the GPU with 100+ FPS and it's temps are higher and crashes at times when Furmark would not.

 

New "VGA Firmware" available on the official site:
MSI Global ? Notebook - GX740

(dated 2011-05-16)

1) Is this basically BIOS?

2) Why do these new GPU BIOS/Firmware keep popping up? Is it important to keep this up-to-date?
I have read on this forum before relating to GPU BIOS "Don't fix it if it ain't broken".

3) Where can I find a changelog or what's different about the latest release?

4) Does MSI make these Firmware?

Thanks

 

You're late the party, see the last few posts.

It's a worse firmware, OC ability crippled.

 

Does anyone have a clue on how to do volt mods to the CPU?

I have a Core i7 720QM @ 1.6Ghz which I can only overclock to 1.75Ghz with SetFSB before it crashes (BSOD during switch). I need a volt bump is my guess. Anyone know how to do it? Or anyone know of a different way to OC it?