8800gt bios to fix pci express compatability problems , mainly with via chipsets

[beardedbernard]

i have been reading on this forum that xfx are working on/ have completed a bios for the 8800gt alpha dog editions, i have the 256mb version
i have been in communication with xfx tech support about this and they say that a bios cannot be made
ticket number 127201
can anyone tell me why this is?
this will allow me either return my card or buy a compatable motherboard knowing that a fix cannot be made

[Miker]

You need to get a BIOS for your MoBo from your motherboard company. The graphics card BIOS is just a work around.

[werty316]

You are better off getting a new motherboard unless the manufacturer makes a BIOS fix for the 8800 PCIe 2.0 video cards.

[cleaner]

hello everyone

i'm also looking for solutions to this "8800gt cards not compatible with pci express 1.0a mainboards" problem and am also exchanging tickets with the xfx support.

miker, you said the graphics card bios would just be a workaround..in which way would it just be that and not fix the problem fully? are there any side effects to just updating the card bios? in our case we have an epox 9npa+ sli mainboard and it doesn't look like there ever will be a bios update for that again...

what is everyone's experience with 8800gt cards and epox mainboards? and which mainboards are working fine without the need to update the graphics card bios, resp. which manufacturers have a mobo update available that makes it all work so to speak?

[xfxsupport]

You need to get a BIOS for your MoBo from your motherboard company. The graphics card BIOS is just a work around.
Thank you Miker, right on the money. This is actually a motherboard issue, but we noticed that the motherboard manufactures were not getting a fix quick enough, so the video card manufactures, along with NVIDIA, developed a BIOS "work around" to allow the video cards to work in a VIA chipset mobo.
My understanding is that the BIOS puts the video card back to PCI-e Gen 1. I am not sure if this would affect performance, but would lean towards no it does not.

[Miker]

If your MoBo company doesn't have a BIOS update for your MoBo I would just get a new MoBo with an official chipset. There is a lot of hassle in a BIOS update for a GPU, you need to put it in a PCI-e PC that works with it, then glash the BIOS. Also, if you ever upgrade to a PCI-e 2 MoBo you will need to update the BIOS back to the regular BIOS.

[srpeters18]

New mobo's can be had fairly cheap, especially with all the new chipsets just released or about to be released.

[Miker]

Any MoBo is better then a VIA chipset one, you don't need a new top of the line $250 one, a $35 one will do long as it has a good chipset on it.