7600gt SLI bios difference

[tyle6]

alright i was just looking in my nvidia control panel and realized my 7600gt's are using different bios's anyone know how to flash the older one to the newer bios?

[Bio-Hazard]

Sure nuf do.......;).........It's just like flashing your MoBo's bios from DOS. Go here to find matching Bios for your make and model along with the flash utility. Boot into DOS with a floppy, CD or USB flash drive and flash away..............:)

http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,34/

http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,26/func,selectcat/cat,2/

[werty316]

alright i was just looking in my nvidia control panel and realized my 7600gt's are using different bios's anyone know how to flash the older one to the newer bios?
If you have never updated a BIOS before I suggest you don't try; if you screw something up you are SOL.

[tyle6]

flashed a 1000 bios but never a vidcards bios. screwed a router once lol that sucked. anyways much diff. then a reg mobo bios? and how crucial is the same bios?
ALRIGHT WENT ON OVER AND THEY ONLY HAVE THE OLDER BIOS AVAILABLE!!! darn lol anywhere else to grab the newest bios?

[Bio-Hazard]

You can always download the bios from your newest card and use it to flash the older one, then they would both be the same.

I haven't a clue if it matters if the bios are different when running SLI, I always thought that as long as they were both the same GPU is all that matters.

[Xero (1)ne]

I've recovered from a bad video flash by blind flashing. It was only bad because I was moddifying my bios.

With mobo's, a bad flash can damage your hardware hardcore, but there is a way to recover if its just a bad flash.

I recomend booting from a floppy, I've always had problems booting from a flashdrive.

Main thing to remember though...

BACKUP YOUR ORIGINAL BIOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:explode:

[tyle6]

so how do i download my bios from the vidcard?

[Bio-Hazard]

Read the instructions that come with the flash program. It's either a simple switch when you type in the command, or the program will ask you if you wanr to save the original, so it depends on the app that you're using.

[Bio-Hazard]

These are the instructions for nvflash.

NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility Quick Help File
Please see nvflash.doc for more detailed information.
Please type "nvflash --help" for an up to date list of supported EEPROM parts.
-- Primary Commands --
Update firmware: nvflash [options] <filename>
Save firmware to file: nvflash [options] --save <filename>
Compare adapter firmware: nvflash [options] --compare <filename>
Update TV data: nvflash [options] --tv <filename>
Display version: nvflash [options] --version [<filename>]
Display firmware bytes: nvflash [options] --display [bytes]
Check for supported EEPROM: nvflash [options] --check
Write protect EEPROM: nvflash [options] --protecton
Remove write protect: nvflash [options] --protectoff
Change soft straps: nvflash [options] --straps=<straps>
Set IEEE 1394 GUID: nvflash [options] --guid=<guid>
Set IEEE 1394 GUID source: nvflash [options] --guidsource=<location>
List adapters: nvflash [options] --list
-- Commands and Options --
help ? Display this screen.
save b <filename> Read EEPROM and save to <filename>.
compare k <filename> Read EEPROM and compare with <filename>.
tv x <filename> Transfer TV data from file to EEPROM.
version v <filename> Display file version and ~CRC32
(if no filename, acts on display adapter).
display d [bytes] Display 256 the first bytes of the EEPROM
(default is 256 bytes)
check c Check for supported EEPROM.
protecton w Write protect EEPROM (only on some EEPROM's).
protectoff r Remove EEPROM write protect (only on some EEPROM's).
straps m <straps> Change soft straps.
format is: AND Mask 0, OR Mask 0, AND Mask 1, OR Mask 1
guid q <guid> Set the IEEE 1394 GUID in the firmware image
(GUID is in the form of 16 hex digits).
guidsource 1 <location> Set the source of the IEEE 1394 GUID.
main - main EEPROM image
dedicated - separate serial EEPROM part
list a List all NVIDIA display adapters found in the system.
nolight l Do not light keyboard LEDs.
overridetype 5 Allow firmware and adapter PCI device ID mismatch.
overridesub 6 Allow firmware and adapter PCI subsystem ID mismatch.
reboot y Reboot the PC after other tasks completed.
keepstraps g Keep the soft straps already present in the EEPROM
after flashing the new image.
romstrap j Override the ROM strap setting to allow flashing an
image when grounding the STRAP_SUB_VENDOR pin.
This allows flashing a corrupted or erased EEPROM.
Note: Make sure there is a physical EEPROM present
when using this option
index i <index> Force a specific device index.
fwindex F <fw index> Index of which firmware image to use from a firmware
bundle.
auto A When possible, run without user intervention.
silence s <level> Silence level:
default All beeps.
#=4 (or 2) No progress beeps.
#=5 (or 1) No beeps.
override o <level> Override safety check level:
default unknown EEPROM | NV adapter aborts application.
level=1 unknown EEPROM acceptable for read operations.
level=2 unknown NV adapter acceptable for read operations.
level=3 Combined effect of 1,2 (cannot write to unknown EEPROM or adapter).
Use a single dash ("-") to use the single letter version of a command.
Use a double dash ("--") to use the longer descriptive version of a command.
Use equals ("=") to specify parameters, with separating commas (",").

[werty316]

*Warning* no one at BJ3D will be responsible if you screw something up so do it at your own risk.

[Bio-Hazard]

*Warning* no one at BJ3D will be responsible if you screw something up so do it at your own risk.
Thanks for posting the warning..................:icon_tiphat:

Video card bios flashing is nothing to be taken lightly, but I'm secure in my abilities and I've been flashing and cross flashing video and MoBo bios for more than a few years now, but there's always a risk that the bios flash will not take and that you'll kill the card.

[sushrukh]

I think you won't get any kinda warranty replacement if you try to update the VGA bios & it gets corrupted.So, if you don't have any performance related problem with the diff Bios versions,you shouldn't flash coz it will void the warranty of your card.

[Bio-Hazard]

Ya think.............LOL. There are times when different vendors do release bios updates for their video cards, XFX has released several of them just recently for the 8800 series and 7900 serise cards, so if something happens during this process I would think the vendor would warranty the card still.
Where you'll run into problems is trying to flash a bios (cross flash) to a different model, ie: standard 7900 to say a XXX version. This is very easy for the vendors to check if and when you ever have to RMA the card for any reason. This is the very reason that you keep a copy of the original bios and flash it back in case of problems. Even modding your current Bios (speed or voltage) will void all warranties. .........;) Now who would go and do a thing like that..............:)

There has been times in the past were even with factory reff cards the bios from on vendor performed much better than the bios from another vendor, even at the same GPU and Ram speeds. Some vendors spend much more time on their bios making sure that the memory timings are adjusted for their maximum performance where others just take the factory bios, add their companies info to the bios and ship it out. Back in the day of the 9XXX series ATI cards this happened a lot, some vendors even tried to stop folks from OC'ing their cards through the Bios, it didn't take all that long before there was a way around that little problem.

[tyle6]

LOLOL of course

[Xero (1)ne]

Yah, be sure there's only one card in your system at a time when flashing.

If you have any questions still on flashing, see this guide:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1633&page=3

It's where I started out when learning how to flash my good ol' FX 5200.;-)

Wewt 500 posts!

[Bio-Hazard]

I think I started flashing video Bios back in the day of the 9500Pro (flashed to 9700Pro) when Rage3d was the thing for ATi users, that was a day or 2 ago now. but the site is still up and running. Best guide I've seen lately for nVidia cards in up on the site I linked to with all the Bios files and utilities.

[tyle6]

alright just took a look at the cards themselves and noticed the older card is using a dif. capacitator set on one corner god only knows what these are doing. but asus seem to have replaced three gel filleds with one solid state on the newer card with the newer bios. same card, same model, same everything lol just bought a couple months apart. would this have any affect on the flashing I.E does the new bios contain an updated schematic layout rerouting powerflow from the 3 old gelfilleds to the one solid state on the new card. or is that completly dependent on the boards wiring

[PP Mguire]

The bios controls voltages to ram, cpu, ram timings, cpu/mem clock ect. If your not having any trouble SLIing then i suggest leaving them alone.