Graphics HD5970 'Fixed all problems with latest official BIOS' (Added latest vBIOS in post #1)

Look, I am not an expert but all the data you have given us and especially the fact that the card used to work fine until you installed latest drivers, simply leads me to the conclusion of a driver mess-up in your system.

Driver sweeper is good but i do not know how deep it cleans in case of problematic installations.

Now, regarding the PSU, just make sure that you have distributed the power supply correctly. I do not know the exact model of your PSU so I do not know the amount of Amp each 12V rail can handle. Check your PSU manual and distribute the Amperes of your PSUs 12v Rail equally.

Still, I am more concerned about your software/driver setup and not that much about your hardware config.

 

I really do appreciate your help mate although I am using my laptop for these forums I keep trying everything I can.... I had a 20 pin to 24 pin 'EXTENSION' cable from my PSU to my Motherboard just to to stop the PSU connector from stretching too much so I used that to give it some slack, I have removed it about 20 mins ago and put the 24 Pin cable from the PSU directly into it and I have to say after 20 MINS everything is stable I have even ran FURMARK !!

I suspect now that this 'EXTENSION' cable was causing possibly a short circuit and I only just realised that it was only getting 20 of the 24 pins !! I'm going to keep it on for an hour before bed and hopefully no problems !!

I'll keep you updated !

I have also noticed that the 2D clock is going from 157/300 to 550/1000 so it is varying without problems !

Also I changed back to the XFX 1.2 BIOS !!

Cheers again

JAMMUR

 

Nice to hear that its working better now!

Just a question... the observation of occasional clocks of 550/1000 when in 2d mode is something you noticed with the Sapphire bios or also with the original XFX5970BE bios. Because I observed this fluctuation ONLY when installed the sapphire bios mentioned in page#1 of this thread.

Also, by referring to 1.2 XFX bios you mean the one available in their download section as v1.1. correct?

Thanks!

Note: Be careful with furmark... I have seen some nasty damaged GTX cards by this program, so I prefer to use a "hardcore" benchmark utility like unigine heaven 2.1 to check the stability of my card+GPU overclocks

 

YES IT'S STILL GOING STRONG !

Yes It's the 1.1 BIOS from their website I have on my card now and I can see the fluctuating clearly with manual fan control. That is my system on all default clocks so tomorrow I will overclock when I get in from work and download unigine heaven and see what happens ! Strange I can now see it working.

One thing though I installed Nvidia drivers for the 8500GT so maybe thats why ? Who knows as long as it keeps up !

BTW I don't know why but I had the bottle to run Xtreme burn mode on FURMARK because to be honest I was fed up of the card not working so Couldn't really care what happened lol !
With 70% fan I ran a 3 minute test and it only got to 65 degrees which isn't to bad!

Thanks again

JAMMUR

 

Just be careful here... The problem will NOT be with your core temps but with your VRMs! If you search the net you will be able to find pictures of some nasty burnt Nvidias with this Furmark tool.

Just keep that in mind.


Good Job

 

So after all this, it was down to an extension cable. You are lucky nothing got fried!!

Anyhow, glad you got it all working

Cheers,

Simon.

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking ! Anyway had the computer on for 4 hours now and running like a charm !! Time to get back to gaming with the 5970

Thanks to El Greco and True_Gamer for their time and help, very much appreciated !
Hope this also may help other people out there aswell!

Thanks again !

JAMMUR

 

@true_gamer: I'm not sure you got my email so i decided to post here as well. If you got my email and already responded to it, please disregard this post.

I desperately need your advice regarding my liquid cooled XFX 5970. I just finished assembling my rig and it is running perfectly fine except when I'm NOT using highly intensive 3D applications like surfing the web, my pc occasionally crashes. I get an error saying 'Display Drivers have failed' or something to that effect. When i'm playing games or using 3D applications, however, it runs perfectly fine. I've tested out SC2 and COD MW2 for hours and no problems at all. Im using Catalyst 10.8 on Windows 7 x64. I've never done VBIOS trouble shooting before and I would just like to ask before i try this if this actually solves this problem. Also, I notice this VBIOS is from Sapphire, will this work on my XFX 5970? I've already gone to the XFX website and emailed them regarding a VBIOS update and they told me they had none.

My Specs:
CPU: Intel i7 920 D0 (stock setting for now)
MOBO: Gigabyte ga-x58a-ud7 (rev.1 / f7 bios)
GPU: XFX 5970 (stock setting for now)
RAM: Kingston HyperX KHX2000C9D3T1K3 (6x2gb) 2000Mhz C9 (not optimized yet -->stock)
PSU: Corsair 1000hx
HDD 1: WD 150gb Velociraptor
HDD 2: Samsung 1TB Spinpoint F3

LIQUIDCOOLING:
PUMP: Laing DDC 3.25 18w + XSPC ResTop
CPU BLOCK: Swiftech Apogee XT
VGA BLOCK: DangerDen DD-5970
RAD: Swiftech MCR 320 QP-Res on Push/Pull (6 fans total @ 1300rpm)
TUBING: PrimoFlex Pro LRT UV Blue Tubing - 3/8in. ID x 5/8in. OD
NOTE: i'm cooling my cpu + chipset + graphics card

please help T_T

 

Hi, yes I just got your email. You can use the vbios update, which will solve your current problems. Please read through the thread, especially the ones where other people have successfully added the Sapphire vbios to other cards.
When you come to flash your card, please take your time and read everything in post 1.

Cheers,

Simon.

 

^^ Thanks for the response. I will be working on this as soon.

 

Just got around to working on the vbios flash. As far as i can tell, this has fixed my problems with it. Much thanks bro! You're a legend in my book

 

Thanks

I'm glad you got it fixed with the vbios. Now go and enjoy your card.

Cheers,

Simon.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
XFX Black Edition - 950/1200 @1.200v/1.15v +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bios/date/time : 07/13/10 23:35++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bios Version : 113-HD5970-104 +
Hardware Spec String : HEMLOCK MASTER XT BIOS UCODEV:126 +
Atom Bios Version : ATOMBIOSBK-ATI VER012.020.000.028.037492+
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

:Notes* : Manual Fan Control Enabled.. / Optimized Fan Profile for heavy clock.!
:Notes2*: Due to the clock speeds, bios fan profile has been tweaked to keep VRM`s Cool.!

--------------- WARNING ------------ WARNING ---------- WARNING -------------

Do not Run OCCT or FURMARK * i have tested this bios extensivly in the following benchmarks and all work perfectly.
FURMARK and OCCT will roast your VRM`s and cause the card to FREEZE or BLACK SCREEN. these problems never happen in realworld games.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Benchmarks tested. : I7 @4.2
Vantage : 30k
Heavenly Benchmark = 5 run thoughs : no crashes.

Few games that have been tested : Starcraft II @4xaa all maxed. : perfectly smooth 2+ hours gamplay.
Resident Evil 5 Benchmark loop 8xaa all maxed, 10 loops vsync disabled = Passed.
Alien Vs Preditor 2xaa 1 hour 20 minutes : Passed.
Mafia II @in game settings all maxed / Phys Disabled / benchmark 3 loops 93fps

Those are just some benchmarks and games tested with this modified bios.

-------------- all games and benchmarks passed/tested.-----------------------

Just remember the fan profile has been tweaked and optimized to keep those VRMs cool so if your after quiet then stay away from this bios as its very loud when in 3d.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CARD INFORMATION : +
XFX Black Edition 950/1200 +
Temps : Idle : 36c GPU1/35c GPU2 = Fan Sound Very Quiet+
Load : 62c GPU1/64c GPU2 = Fan Sound Loud +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Enjoy.

Tested by : ViRuS2k
Optimized by : PluG2k

09/20/2010

Download : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6323069/XFX-5970-BE-950-1200.rar

 

NEW XFX5970BE BIOS

Virus2k and Plug2k thanks!

It has been a few days now I am trying to persuade XFX to make this NEW XFX5970BE BIOS public.

Bios/date/time : 07/13/10 23:35
Bios Version : 113-HD5970-104 Master
Bios Version : 113-HD5970-105 Slave

I discovered it accidentally in this thread from Plug2k who had this bios pre-installed in his card.

A friend of mine who works for ATI examined the bios and compared it to the sapphire oc one. He said that this new XFX bios in opposition to the old one (found in xfx site) has many similarities with the sapphire oc bios, has more tight memory timings than the sapphire bios, but still believes that the sapphire oc bios is more complete.

If you read through the above mentioned thread you will see that also this new XFX bios SOLVES the COLD BUG issues.

Lets see when/if XFX will decide to make it available public.

------------------------------------------------------

XFX BLACK EDITION BIOS (default clocks/voltage):

Download : http://db.tt/Jft95fO

Bios/date/time : 07/13/10 23:35
Bios Version : 113-HD5970-104
Hardware Spec String : HEMLOCK MASTER XT BIOS UCODEV:126
Atom Bios Version : ATOMBIOSBK-ATI VER012.020.000.028.037492

 

++ run into a issue though still doesnt effect the testing and performance of the modded bios

when in the bios and tested by looking at GPUz the memory voltage even though its set to 1.15v in the bios doesnt jump up to 1.15v in GPUz ?

alos Elgreco Plug2k is me AKA @virus2k lol

 

Looking at the string and the v1.26, it is the Sapphire vbios they have used.

Simon.

 

It seems like they based the new xfx vbios on the sapphire bios, BUT for example the memory timings are not the same... the XFX new vbios has a little bit more tight timings than the Sapphire one.

Of course the "good" thing is that xfx overvolt tool works again since the card is registered as XFX and not sapphire.

 

El Greco I know you have the XFX BE card. Have you tried this new bios ? If so how are you finding it ?

Cheers

JAMMUR

 

To be honest, no, not yet... I am happy with the sapphireOC bios, but soon I will find some time, check this new bios of xfx and will let you know. Also I will run some benchmarks to see if there is an essential difference (due to the memory timings)

Just for the record... in another thread some users have used it succesfully and have as well solved their cold bug issues!

One reason I am waiting, is also because I hope that XFX sends me a copy of the new bios, so I do not like to install uninstall bioses all the time .

 

Ok guys i have done some extensive tests on this new bios that was released with my XFX BE 5970 and this fully functional Sapphire 5970 OC bios and my factual information, read on.

For a start and this is a fact, with the new XFX bios power saving functions dont work that well as most of the time the 2nd gpu will stay in a high power state after you come out of a 3d game.
and also from reading and testing one guy was right in saying it takes less voltage for the same clock on the OC sapphire bios than it does on the XFX new bios.

and here is the real kicker. VDDCI clocks set to 1.15v in the new XFX bios doesnt stick where by on the sapphire OC bios they do stick.

look at this screenshot :



as you can see everything just works with this sapphire OC bios
3d clocks turn into 2d power saver clocks when exiting games aswell as when booting up into windows 2d clocks will stick at there defaults. for low power state...

and more testing has turned out that this sapphire OC bios takes less voltage for the same clocks

for instance on the XFX bios i needed 1.200v for 950/1200
on this sapphire bios i needed just 1.1875v for 950/1200

*my recommendation would be to stick to the SapphireOC bios untill a newer version than the xfx can be tested.*