NP8954 GTX 1070 MAX-Q --> GTX 1070 UNLOCK

Here I am, back at it again! So, I returned my Acer Predator as I was just not happy with it. I ended up buying the Sager NP8954 with it's i7-8750h/GTX 1070 MAX-Q, I put 16gb of DDR4 3000 in it, along with a 960gb SanDisk SSD, and a LiteOn 512gb NVME.

Now, they have finally updated nvflash to flash Pascal, although we can't flash modified bioses in windows for Pascal yet, I found something quite interesting. So, our vbios are approx 166 KB, which are very different from 9/10ths of all GTX 1070 bioses. I believe all MAX-Q bioses are 166 KB, but most GTX 1070 bioses are 255 KB. But, after doing quite the bit of research I have found a couple computers that have full GTX 1070 bioses, in 166 KB form.

The best part, is that I found one from an Alienware r15, and this one is modified from Dell from the factory. The GTX 1070 has a TDP limit of 115 watts from most manufacturers, but from Alienware, it has a TDP limit of 125 watts I found in the mobile Pascal vbios editor. Fantastic, that is more than enough for the cooling systems of our laptops.

The computer still thinks it is a MAX-Q chip, but if you take a look at my GPU-Z screenshots, that will show otherwise. My now default clocks are 1480 default and 1695 boost. Factory on the MAX-Q is 1215 default and 1379 boost. Superposition benchmarks now show full 1070 performance. On top of this, our vbios have the lighter 80 watt TDP version. I have found the 90 watt TDP version as well, flashed and works too.

I have no problems keeping it cool running the Alienware bios at 125 watt TDP. I also run my i7 undervolted by -150mv and run hyperthreading off. I picked up a couple fps from that too.

If you choose to do what I did, you may only do so at your own risk as I am not responsible for any problems or damage that your computer may have.

Flashing was super easy, you have to use the modified version of nvflash you can get from here with board ID mismatch disabled, as it does think you are flashing the wrong bios. https://www.techpowerup.com/download/bios-modding/

And I used this bios https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/205682/205682 to flash my card to a full GTX 1070 with the 125 watt TDP.

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/206356/206356 GTX 1070 MAX-Q 90 watt TDP (stock clocks 10 watt upgrade)

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/205176/205176 GTX 1070 115 watt TDP (real GTX 1070 clocks)

Now once again, I have not tested any others besides the Alienware and the 90 watt TDP Max-Q bios on my computer, and if you choose to do anything with your computer I am not responsible if anything goes wrong.

I am still kind of a noob on this forum, being off and on. If the links aren't allowed, just let me know! This should be big, and not only for just us. In theory any max-q card can be flashed to a real GTX 1070 now.

 

Warning for people,
doing the same as OP will likely kill your notebook over time. The VRM's cannot hanndle 125W TDP over longer periods of time and will likely burn, much like the Gecube cards.

 

Yes, that's part I'd the reason a prema boos was scrapped IIRC. Some work to the VRM cooling at least is worth looking at.

 

I have taken a look at cooling measures, and all VRM's are under the factory cooler. I have done a couple modifications, along with fresh paste and fresh pads. I am currently looking into how to undervolt along with flash modded bioses so we can undervolt.

 

The GPU is designed to work with the power budget. Undervolting would result in higher performance but still at the new power target.

 

That is true. I have now found my max undervolt using MSI afterburner, so I will see how things roll over the next few weeks. I also turned hyperthreading back on, as now with the 125w bios it is restricting the CPU from the max system wattage. Gained another 150 points in Superposition.

 

Just keep a close eye on it.

 

Not just VRM's, due to bigger load your capacitors can blow up like on the gecube card. As I said, you boosted the TDP well beyond the specs and breaking your notebook is very likely going to happen in a couple of months, same with all the gecube cards.

 

I want to flash a modified Vbios of my 1070 which is set to 150watt tdp from 125 as its power limiting almost all the time
is there anyway to bypass the system in Nvflash?? tried a couple didn't work

 

The files can be modified yes, but they can't be flashed yet without a hardware programmer until a certificate check bypass version of nvflash is released for Pascal.

 

An update as well, ended up getting a nice stable 1550 MHz @ .8 volts using msi afterburner. This gave me the best of both worlds with heat and CPU power limit throttling. With the 125 tdp bios, I do not hit the power limit under any circumstance at that speed and voltage, so I am now drawing less than the 125 tdp, and the clock rates don't jump sround. Should be safer on the long run.

 

its much safer to simply revert the setting, but at least you will test for us how long it will last. You should probably put a disclamer that warranty is also void on damage. In case people think they can set TDP on 125W, kill their notebook and expect warranty service to kick in.

 

Where those clock drops were happening is where it is now exceeding the old power limit. Just be careful.

 

I have an Gigabyte Aero 15x V8, it has the same 1070MAX-Q.
I wonder if I can flash that 115W TDP BIOS ON IT?

 

It might explode....

 

It should work (though whether it's a good idea is another thing). I successfully flashed the 115W on my GS65 1070MAX-Q which has a similar card. As Meaker said, it gets hot real quick. I ended up reverting the BIOS to avoid frying my vrms. You luck might improve if you apply LM first, but I woudn't count on it.

 

The cooling on the thinner machines will have less margin on it.

 

Do flashing either of the BIOSes OP posted also unlock the TDP slider in MSI afterburner?

The stock maxQ BIOSes have that slider locked. I would like to flash the BIOS if it means I can lower the operating TDP a bit.

 

Underclocking would achieve a similar result.

 

That's just shifting the frequency/voltage curve down. GPU boost is still going to choose the highest states it can for the workload while remaining in the TDP, except now for each voltage state there would be less performance. Underclocking is not a good solution for my case. I'm not talking about undervolting either.

I'm talking specifically about setting a new TDP limit

 

Lower performance = less heat basically. Again, same result.

I dont believe any maxq has the slider unlocked.

 

My GPU has a 150/400 OC at the moment (1070 Max Q - P950HR) and barely hits 70C under load in games. Power draw seems to max out around 85W - does this mean I have the 90W BIOS already? I think there is so much inaccessible potential in this chip, but if I try to OC much more over 150 on core then I start getting game crashes, due to power limit I guess?

So at these temperatures do you think trying the 115W BIOS would still be risky?

 

Crashes are normally due to instability, so the voltage is not enough for the clock being asked.

Again it's not core temps but the VRM that's dictating things. It's tuned for efficiency and space at the stock TDP.

 

Out of curiosity I tried all the VBIOSes that OP linked. There doesn't seem to be a difference between the 125W and 115W versions...both seem to push the card to 125, and the performance boost is actually quite insane but as stated, temperatures and other power issues are a huge concern. For some reason the 90W VBIOS from the OP doesn't seem to work... the GPU just doesn't seem to come back on after flashing it until I go back to my original one or the 115/125. Any idea why? Would love to try that one as it should offer a decent little performance boost with minimal risk (as I already get peak momentary boosts to 85W with the stock VBIOS).

 

No idea, it will be down to the coding in the vbios.

 

dj, did you notice in any of the BIOSes you flashed if you have control over the TDP slider in afterburner?

 

Didn't check all but on the 115W one it was still disabled. I found a thread explaining that you can effectively limit the power by using the curve editor in AB. Have a read through this post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...cussions-lounge.815216/page-365#post-10885646

I tried this as well but I didn't quite like the results personally. It would stay too low but still have bursts to over 100W. I didn't spend too much time messing with it though.

Also realised the 90W VBIOS actually does work, but just kills the displayports and therefore external monitors. Would be nice if we can find a 90W VBIOS that supports the displayports like the 115/125 ones do.

 

Short pulses are much less likely to kill the vrm than sustained loads at that level at least.

 

I still wouldn't risk using those... but the 90W nets a nice 1000 point boost in 3DMark Firestrike graphics score (15700 -> 16700) which is quite nice, and temperatures around 65 C. This would be ideal, if only the minidp ports worked. If only someone could find (I have tried and failed) this or provide a dump of the Razer Blade 1070 MQ VBIOS and see if the ports work with that one.

 

That's about 6% so directly in games that will take you from 60 fps to 64 fps.

 

It could potentially be a lot more because 15700 is with a 160/400 OC whereas 16700 is on stock.

 

Due to the turbo algorithm you cant look at set clocks but real clocks and then make a judgement.

 

Sorry I have not been on, but an update for y'all. I am able to unlock the sliders, but unable to flash modified files just yet still waiting on a modified version of nvflash.

No issues over the past few months, I am stable at 1625 @ .750 volts. no overheating issues.

I did upgrade my 150w power supply to a 230w for a massive boost in performance though as I was definitely topping out the 150w.

 

did the ac adpater change right away the score?

 

I'm already using a 200W adapter, can I ask how you unlocked the voltage slider? And are you using the 125W or the 115W?

 

I am using the 125w, and I didn't unlock the slider. I am using the curve part in msi afterburner to raise my clocks in a flat line from .750 volts onward at 1625.

 

It didn't so much change the score but made system stability much better plus my cpu now doesn't underclock itself as the power supply struggles.

 

Ah I see, what kind of max GPU temp do you get with this configuration under max load (i.e. gaming/benchmarking)?

 

I see max 75-80c while its on its laptop cooler.

 

What sort of ambient temp?

 

Ok I tried doing what you did with the 125W BIOS and voltage curves. GPU temps remain below 72C, power consumption doesn't really go above 90W much and here are some benches:





The graphics scores are a massive bump over stock without any increase in temps and only a slight increase in power draw... Voltage is also max 0.7625V.

Seems like a win to me?

 

75 degrees or so in my room.

 

Not bad at all with that room temp.

 

So a couple more updates. Some weird stuff, at .7 volts, I just randomly lose 30 fps. If I put the voltage up to .75, I gain that fps back. I also am getting 4-5 more fps at 1550 MHz over 1625. Trying to find the best combo.

 

Either it's hitting a weird power state/table condition or it's just not quite stable at the lower voltage.

 

Here is my Time spy score at 1675.

 

You got me beat on the 8750H vs 7700HQ

 

I don't own the NP8954 but since this thread is the most relevant: how do you guys manage to score over 17k in firestrike? Flashed a full 125w (though not the one in the first post as size is different) 1070 bios onto my max q HP Omen and I only get ~ 15.2k (original bios is 90w, scored 13.9k). Also only manages a [email protected], anything lower than that the benchmark wouldn't run. Power consumption is ok averaging around 90w, and the improvement is noticeable but I still want to know if it could get even better..

 

You may be hitting system power limits.

 

That's weird, I got over 15.2 even on the stock 80W VBIOS. You're referring to the graphics score right, not overall?