Flash FX 5900 --> FX 5950 Ultra!!

AJ²06 · *Last edited by AJ²06; 05-08-2004 at 10:15.*

Hey guys,
I found this on the net. It says u can possibly flash ur FX 5900 cards to FX 5950 Ultra cards!! It even works for some of the FX 5900 XT cards.....

Quote:

Although NV35 cards are available in both 128MB and 256MB versions while the NV38 cards are only 256MB, the amount memory available on the card shouldn't be a problem with this method. The article notes that Nvidia-based cards don't store their buffer memory into the card BIOS, but instead determine the amount of buffer memory automatically each time the computer is booted. Thus, flashing a 128MB GeForce FX 5900 to become a 128MB GeForce FX 5950 Ultra is quite possible since the new BIOS won't know any better. Cards that feature VIVO capabilities will also retain their functions after the flashing.

AS FAR AS I KNOW ONLY THE 5900 FAMILY CAN FLASH. NOT the 5200's, 5600's, or 5700!!!!!

Check this site out: Click here

Heres a site on how to flash ur card with the BIOS and flash utility Click Here!

And HERE by Chouji

IF YOU HAVE A 5900XT, then go HERE!

AS ALWAYS, FLASH AT UR OWN RISK....

WarheadMM · 01-09-2004, 05:59 | posts: 263 | Location: Washington State US

yeah that story has been on basically EVERY video card forum. Alot of people have already dont it

AJ²06 · 01-09-2004, 06:36 | posts: 4,890 | Location: USA

y? it messes things up?

WarheadMM · 01-09-2004, 09:26 | posts: 263 | Location: Washington State US

no....just informing you that alot of people are doing it.....and there has been alot of successful mods

lost_soul9k · 01-09-2004, 09:49 | posts: 147

Wow that's nice. I've got a Gainward Geforce Fx5900, I guess I would have to ask my friend to mod it cause I'm not a expert at modding !
What are the risks involved ?

WarheadMM · 01-09-2004, 10:06 | posts: 263 | Location: Washington State US

all the mod does is flash your video card bios to another cards bios. The worts thing that could happen is your flashing goes bad and you will have a dead card. But there is a way to recover so you wont lose it. BTW if your freind is good at modding then i highly recomend that he does it casue he will know what to do

BlackAce · 01-09-2004, 14:27 | posts: 274 | Location: The Netherlands, Amsterdam

so...does this mean u can flash the fx5600 bios to a fx5600ultra with stock cooling??

Shuffl@ · 01-09-2004, 16:57 | posts: 639 | Location: UK / Northamptonshire

waste of time the download links dont work anyway!!! if anyone was succesful to get the leadtek 5950 bios could u send me it plz! ill try and tell u the results!

armhunter · 01-09-2004, 17:34 | posts: 262 | Location: Bakersfield CA

I am looking for the Gainward fx5900 to 5950u bios as well...
if anyone has them, please help....

The Gainward tool for downloading bios will only let you download bios for your existing card, not another card...

thanks

Blissed · 01-09-2004, 17:43 | posts: 800 | Location: England

I'd be very interested to hear how others have gotten on with the Leadtek patch, especially with the LX model like mine.

TimmyP · 01-09-2004, 18:37 | posts: 81

Think it would be worth selling my 9700 pro and picking up one of these 5900nu's (to mod it of course)? Im really tempted to, but I want to here other people's opinions first.

xXMrMeathooksXx · 01-09-2004, 18:39 | posts: 939 | Location: Chico,California

Uh...why go through the trouble of flashing the bios?Just o/c the 5900!Anyway...a 475/950 o/c isent really worth the trouble,now is it?YOUR 5900 WILL AUTO DETECT A HIGHER CLOCK AN BE STABLE!!!!Besides that it is only tested to work on two cards so far.....Bragging rights would be the only logical explaination for trying this,its not like its going to transform your hardware into a super Geforce or something. lol...

reborn · 01-09-2004, 18:40 | posts: 431

i did it
and now its working perfectly well......

xXMrMeathooksXx · 01-09-2004, 19:03 | posts: 939 | Location: Chico,California

But it still doesent change the hardware,just the bios.Will never be as stable.Again,bragging rights.

armhunter · 01-09-2004, 19:18 | posts: 262 | Location: Bakersfield CA

Erics

it raises the voltage as well... which does make it more stable...

here is a link I think you should read.

http://www.madshrimps.be/forums/show...&threadid=3766

Why overclock the thing when it can be set to those specs,, where it probably should be set too... THink about it...
they tune the card down on purpose for marketing... lower the memory and they have another device to sell.... same chipset, different bios....
stop crying about it.

Blissed · 01-09-2004, 19:21 | posts: 800 | Location: England

The only thing that concerns me with my card (aqnd it is one of the ones that it is supposed to work for) is that the memory on mine is only 2.8ns and not designed to run that fast. Is this an issue and if I went and did the bios flash should I be down rating the memory speed?

uffjohn · 01-09-2004, 19:22 | posts: 51

Would one need any special cooling for this? And would it work with my Gainward GeForce FX5900 128MB DDR 2.8ns
AGP, "Ultra/1100TV-DVI", Retail?

armhunter · 01-09-2004, 19:25 | posts: 262 | Location: Bakersfield CA

Read the link I sent in my earlier post....
I have the same Gainward fx 5900 card... it works fine..
did not need any extra cooling. as long as your computer has decent cooling/circulation...

Blissed · 01-09-2004, 19:32 | posts: 800 | Location: England

Uffjohn, just out of interest what is the default memory clock speed of your card. I have a Leadtek FX5900LX and by default the memory is clocked at 700Mhz as opposed to 850Mhz because the memory is 2.8ns rather than 2.2ns. Now I had read that 2.8ns memory is rated at around 700-800Mhz speed and 2.2ns was faster. However, I am sure that I have seen advertised standard fx5900nu running at 400/850 with 2.8ns RAM.

fivefeet8 · 01-09-2004, 19:37 | posts: 1,955

Considering the 5950u is just a higher voltaged, higher clocked 5900, why not bios flash it? You get the benefits of higher overclockable stability just like a real 5950 does with it's higher voltages.

I've been able to overclock my BFG fx5900u(450/850 stock) to 540/1000 with the 5950u bios. Before the flash, I maxed out at 500/950.

90 mhz more from the gpu
150 mhz more from the Ram

All this on stock cooling.

TOKbt6 · 01-09-2004, 19:45 | posts: 172 | Location: Belfast , Northern Ireland

"I am looking for the Gainward fx5900 to 5950u bios as well...
if anyone has them, please help....

The Gainward tool for downloading bios will only let you download bios for your existing card, not another card..."

You can get the bios files from the Gainward site (Germany in the location selection)

armhunter · 01-09-2004, 19:51 | posts: 262 | Location: Bakersfield CA

http://www.madshrimps.be/forums/show...&threadid=3766

I will post the link again...
they tell you how to flash your Gainward card....
with links to files.

xXMrMeathooksXx · 01-09-2004, 19:58 | posts: 939 | Location: Chico,California

[QUOTE]Originally posted by armhunter
[B]Erics

it raises the voltage as well... which does make it more stable...

here is a link I think you should read.
Well dude I wasent saying it wasent possible.And voltage,it has nothing to do with stability?What do you think happens when you add more voltage?Heat,thats what happens,and what affects hardware stability more then anything?heat does.Why do you think they slapped a better cooling solution on the 5950?Certainly not to win a beauty contest,but mearly to make it more stable and reliable for the higher clock speed..period.And onother thing,the 5950 is a newer card,thus the technology is newer memory,etc..which inturn allows that card to run more stable then the older 5900u when at the identicle clock freq. Only exception to a stability issue is watercooling-And by the way...I can change the agp voltage and reset the clock frequencies on the card alot quicker and painlessly then flashing the bios and praying it works.No one is craying,just proving the facts.Never theless,you still have a flashed 5900...woopie

armhunter · 01-09-2004, 20:08 | posts: 262 | Location: Bakersfield CA

lol,

I dont like being spanked by a guy... only a girl....

fivefeet8 · 01-09-2004, 20:13 | posts: 1,955

[QUOTE]Originally posted by EricsP4xtrmeKLR
[B]

Quote:

Originally posted by armhunter
Erics

it raises the voltage as well... which does make it more stable...

here is a link I think you should read.
Well dude I wasent saying it wasent possible.And voltage,it has nothing to do with stability?What do you think happens when you add more voltage?Heat,thats what happens,and what affects hardware stability more then anything?heat does.Why do you think they slapped a better cooling solution on the 5950?Certainly not to win a beauty contest,but mearly to make it more stable and reliable for the higher clock speed..period.And onother thing,the 5950 is a newer card,thus the technology is newer memory,etc..which inturn allows that card to run more stable then the older 5900u when at the identicle clock freq. Only exception to a stability issue is watercooling-And by the way...I can change the agp voltage and reset the clock frequencies on the card alot quicker and painlessly then flashing the bios and praying it works.No one is craying,just proving the facts.Never theless,you still have a flashed 5900...woopie

Then I guess all those overclockers are wrong for running their CPU's at 1.8vcore's. Because something else must be making their CPU STABLE at higher Overclocks.

Every Overclocker knows that having higher Voltages will allow for a higher stable overclock. Why do you think all these people with Overclocked AMD cpu's raise their Vcore voltages? For fun? And yes, more heat is also associated with more voltages, but for most with good cooling in their system, that small extra amount of heat is not a problem.

Another thing is, most fx5900's have very good stock cooling. So a little more heat doesn't hurt it much.

5950 new technology? Different Ram chips maybe, but not much else. That doesn't really mean much though. How do you explain all the people who have Overclocked beyond what they could before the flash? BTW, I don't think raising your AGP voltage does anything to the voltage supplied to the GPU and RAM. It just increased voltage on the AGP bus.

Maybe you didn't see my post. I've overclocked beyond my previous overclock with the 5950u bios with STOCK air cooling. No water cooling. I've run games for hours and looped 3dmark and Aquamark. It's stable as it ever was now with higher clock speeds equal to normal overclocks achieved on 5950u's.

Your right, it is a flashed fx5900, but it's a faster fx5900 than your non flashed one.