Xfx Bios update for vardiable fan speed on 7900GT

[xfxsupport]

Hey everyone, Scott has been gracious enough to allow us to post our new BIOS for the variable fan speed on 7900GT's. Here is the link: http://www.bjorn3d.com/pafile/index.php?act=category&id=5

Please be sure to choose to correct BIOS for your card and follow the directions carefully.

Happy gaming!!

[Gremmie]

I was wondering if you could supply the UD* versions of the BIOS to this site with the ones you have already supplied. My card is the PV-T71G-UDE and I'd like to get the BIOS here. If you can't supply this site with the other BIOS's, could you check on my ticket? I filled out a ticket requesting the upgraded BIOS on Wednesday hoping to have it by Friday. However, nothing came Thursday, Friday, or Monday so I think I may have slipped through the cracks again. My first name is Michael and my email starts with gremmie. Thanks for any help obtaining the updated BIOS for my card.

[xfxsupport]

Dear Gremmie, Please use this BIOS PV-T71G-UCE.ZIP as this is the same clock speed as your card. When selecting the correct BIOS please verify that you choose the one wiht the same clock speeds as your current card.

[Chakka]

So if I understand this right, the UCE and UDE bios versions are interchangeable as long as we match up clock speeds. It would be less confusing if you had labeled the zip files specifically to match up each 7900gt video card that XFX has produced...imo.

[xfxsupport]

Good Idea, I will see about getting the others posted so that we can remove any confusion. Give us a few days to put this together for everyone and contact Scott about getting them hosted as soon as our engineers can package them.

[Chakka]

That would be helpful. Ill wait to flash until I get the exact matching bios.

[tomato]

Nice to see that XFX is really listening and making a proper effort with their customers! Kudos to everyone involved :)

[GIBSON]

Nice to see that XFX is really listening and making a proper effort with their customers! Kudos to everyone involved :)
Indeed, kudos to xfx. This is what I like about XFX, listening to the customers and good support. Thumbs up! ;-)

[arogan]

I`m a bit confused on which one to use. My ordering code on the box upc is: PV-T71G-UDF7
which I bought from here:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814150144

The closest match by filename is:
PV-T71G-UDF.zip

But I`m pretty sure my video card does NOT have VIVO.

Which one do I use or do I need to wait for mine to get posted?

[werty316]

Dear Gremmie, Please use this BIOS PV-T71G-UCE.ZIP as this is the same clock speed as your card. When selecting the correct BIOS please verify that you choose the one wiht the same clock speeds as your current card.
Based on this I think you would use PV-T71G-UCF.ZIP or PV-T71G-UDF.zip as both of these use the same clock speeds but maybe wait to see what XFXSupport says.

On another note I think the BIOS files are labelled wrong as the "UC" bios files are VIVO cards based on XFX website.

[Gremmie]

Based on this I think you would use PV-T71G-UCF.ZIP or PV-T71G-UDF.zip as both of these use the same clock speeds but maybe wait to see what XFXSupport says.

On another note I think the BIOS files are labelled wrong as the "UC" bios files are VIVO cards based on XFX website.

I'm really confused now about this. I finally got a chance to flash my BIOS and I used the PV-T71G-UCE as xfxsupport said this was correct. So I flashed, restarted, reinstalled drivers, restarted again, and nothing changed. The fan still motors along at a constant (loud) speed. I have Nvidia Ntune installed to change the fan speeds for 2D and 3D, and when I change the values, PC Wizard 2006 shows my GPU fan spinning at the percentage I set in Ntune, but the fan does not change speed. So I'm guessing this BIOS was not the correct one I needed, so I went to get the UDE versions that were posted. But the new UDE versions say VIVO edition, which I don't have. What BIOS am I supposed to use to get my fan working correctly? Thanks in advance.

[arogan]

Based on this I think you would use PV-T71G-UCF.ZIP or PV-T71G-UDF.zip as both of these use the same clock speeds but maybe wait to see what XFXSupport says.

On another note I think the BIOS files are labelled wrong as the "UC" bios files are VIVO cards based on XFX website.

Yup my gut feel is that all the VIVO labels seem to be on the wrong files. Just looking at the part numbers and comparing with the newegg discriptions it seems all the VIVO lables need to be moved to the bottom 4 cards. Can anybody confirm this?

[werty316]

I would just use the file that is the same as your model number.

IE you have the model PV-T71G-UDF7 so use PV-T71G-UDF.zip.

[xfxsupport]

Hey All,
When flashing the BIOS for your video card it is very important to not have any TV tuner or Video capture cards installed in the system as these devices may "confuse" the flash utility. Also included is a readme file which we highly recommend printing out so that you can follow the directions carefully. If you are having difficulties in gettting the flash to take effect please contact our support team at www.xfxforce.com ==>Support ==> Help Desk.

[arogan]

hey XFXsupport can you just quickly confirm that the VIVO labels are indeed on the wrong model numbers?

[Scott]

Just go by the model # we may of labled the files wrong, we did not touch the zips. Just typed in the wrong description.

[Bio-Hazard]

If you're really worried about using the wrong file, just open a support ticket with XFX after you reg your card and they will email you the correct Bios for the card that you reg...............;)

That's how I got my update.

[Gremmie]

What exactly is supposed to happen with these updates? Has anyone used these specific updates to control the fan? I'm assuming these updates just update something in the GPU to allow the user to change the fan speeds and not the actual ability for the card to turn the fan down. Before flashing the update, I could not change the fan speeds with Ntune because the options were greyed out. Now they are not greyed out, but my video card still will not change the fan speed. So it seems the firmware for the GPU was updated to allow the user to change speeds, but the video card will still not recognize the new fan settings because the BIOS for the videocard was not updated. I noticed before and after the update my BIOS version is still the 05.71.22.14.02 BIOS. Is this BIOS version supposed to be updated with these updates?

[werty316]

What model do you have and what bios do you use to update your card?

The new bios enables fan control so you should be able to adjust the fan accordingly. If are still unsure/having problems make a ticket on XFX's website.

Also try another app like speedfan and see if it can control the GPUs fan.

[Gremmie]

What model do you have and what bios do you use to update your card?

The new bios enables fan control so you should be able to adjust the fan accordingly. If are still unsure/having problems make a ticket on XFX's website.

Also try another app like speedfan and see if it can control the GPUs fan.

I have a PV-T71G-UDE7 card a I used the updates for the UDE and UCE from the link in the first post of this thread, neither slowing the fan down. Like I stated in my earlier post, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to get a BIOS .rom file or a .bin file to use for the BIOS because my BIOS was 05.71.22.14.02 before the I ran the update.exe file and it is the same after. The files in the zip I downloaded from this thread are the readme, update.exe, nvflsh32.sys, and nvflsh64.sys. Am I supposed to have something else as well to update my BIOS? Also, I have tried making tickets on their website and either the ticket system is slower than death or I just keep getting ignored. So I'm not to excited to use their helpdesk as it seems like it doesn't do anything.

[werty316]

All you need to do is follow the readme txt file. Make sure to post your ticket and problem here for faster response; you can do this or live with a loud fan ;)

[Gremmie]

All you need to do is follow the readme txt file. Make sure to post your ticket and problem here for faster response; you can do this or live with a loud fan ;)

I did follow the readme file, and it didn't work. Is there someone who has used these BIOS updates in this thread that have worked? I don't have a ticket number because I never received one, even though I filled out a couple of them weeks ago. I've never got a response back from XFX through the helpdesk. And I don't plan on living with a loud fan, one way or another.

[tomato]

Gremmie, are you sure you filled out the information correctly, as it sounds as though a step may have been missed...

You receive a Support Ticket Number once you have registered your video card and created a Support Ticket. You cannot create a Support Ticket until you have registered your card at xfxforce.com.

It may take a few days to receive a response, but someone will get to you.

[xfxsupport]

Badically all the BIOS flash does is allow the fan to operate at two speeds. A 2D application speed and a 3D application speed. The card will monitor the temperature of he GPU and when necessary will spool up from 50% to the 100% to keep the GPU operating at optimum efficiency.

[Hoserking]

I am having problems with my card locking up during game play only in first person shooters (counter strike source, fear, half life 2, unreal tournament 2004). I have already sent one card back and had it replaced through the XFX help desk. The card i received back is still having problems, does this bios update remedy any other problems than simply the fan noise? is there a bios update planned for the problem the 7900's have with locking up because they are overclocked beyond Nvidia's recommendations? Should i RMA the card again. nothing else changed in my system and it worked fine with these games prior to adding the card.

[werty316]

BIOS update only fixes the fan issue. Do you get artifacting in last benchmark in 3dmark06?

[Hoserking]

Sorry for the noob question, but define ghosting.
I cannot remember whether i ran 3dmark06 or 05, but the last test was the one with the air ship and the last part of it ran incredibly slow.

[werty316]

Ghosting:
Definition: Ghosting is the term used to describe an after image of a previously displayed screen image still on the screen after a new image is displayed. Ghosting commonly occurs with LCD monitors that have a slow response time (higher number).
http://peripherals.about.com/od/computertermglossary/g/defineghosting.htm

Depending of your computer specs 3dmark05 and 3dmark06 might run slow; especially the CPU benchmarks in 3dmark06.

[Hoserking]

based on that definition, no i havent seen any ghosting.
just freezing, to the point were i cant ctrl+alt+del back to windows and i am forcred to power down the system.

[werty316]

What drivers are you using?
Do you overclock your CPU and/or video card?

[Hoserking]

I am not sitting in front of my pc right at this moment but my guess is that i am using 91.31 and no,there is not overclocking on my cpu, just the factory overclock on my 7900gt which is 520/1500.

[Kougar]

Welcome, Hoserking!

I'd suggest you run http://www.drivercleaner.net/ (http://www.drivercleaner.net/) and reinstall the most current graphics drivers just to rule that out as the problem.

It would help if you can post your system specs as well including the power supply, although you might want to make your own thread as well too, if you do. :)

[Hoserking]

Thanks for the welcome,
I will try the drivercleaner today when i get home from work.
I figured i would continue to post in this thread simply because my original question stemed form the topic. if that is a problem i will certianly create a new one.

Pentium 4 520 CPU w/ Hyper-Threading Technology 2.8GHz
420W stock power supply
XFX Geforce 7900gt 520/1500
Abit AG8-V I915 motherboard
2x256 PC3200 Geil value memory
2x1gb PC3200 Patriot 2-3-2-5
1 80gb sata1.5 7200rpm drive
1 250gb sata1.5 7200rpm drive

[Kougar]

Well, having your own thread might help others finding it, but I don't really think it's a problem either way.

On paper those specs look okay... what is the specific model of that power supply?

[Hoserking]

The powersupply came along with a Turbo X-infinity case. It is the next peice of hardware i plan on replacing.

After installing the newest Nvidia driver everything was running smoothly, CS:source still crashed though. One of the tech's at XFX recommended turning off hyper threading. After that i was able to run with out a crash for about 35 minutes (which is pretty good) So i am hoping that, that solved the problem, although irritated that a function and feature of the processor has to be disable for a new peice of hardware to function correctly.

have you heard of HT interfering with a graphics card before?

[Kougar]

No, I have not and I use a HT enabled processor. But you gave me an idea... turning HT off can drop your CPU temps by a 5c-8c margin, how well is everything inside your case cooling? Speedfan and Everest are good at telling you system and CPU temps...

I should also add that turning HT off can sometimes make a unstable system stable, I've noticed this with lots of trial and error with my OCing. ;)

[GIBSON]

No, I have not and I use a HT enabled processor. But you gave me an idea... turning HT off can drop your CPU temps by a 5c-8c margin, how well is everything inside your case cooling? Speedfan and Everest are good at telling you system and CPU temps...

I should also add that turning HT off can sometimes make a unstable system stable, I've noticed this with lots of trial and error with my OCing. ;)
And it's not like HT makes that much of a difference IMHO, it's more marketing than anything else in my book.

[Hoserking]

huh... intersting, using the abit utilities that came with my mobo show that my temps are ok... on my gpu all the temps i have seen give me the impression that they are safe, nothing close to the nvidia threshold. if memory serves me right at full load im looking at like 60c on the gpu. i'll post accurate numbers later tonight...
now i just have to figure out how to permenantly disable HT then. i didnt realize how worthless it is. seems like my bios isnt remembering that i disabled it.

[werty316]

60c is normal for a 7900GT so your video card temperature is not the problem.

I think you disable HT in your motherboard's BIOS.

[Kougar]

60c sounds fine to me Werty, infact it sounds low if anything?? Or did you forget to put a "not" in there?

Hoserking, ya can open up your task manager and click the performance tab, and if you see a split two-pane view for your CPU Usage History then XP is still detecting two logical CPU cores. If you only see one single Usage graph then turning HT off in the BIOS did indeed disable it. You can also check if HT is on or off under your device manager.

Those Abit Utilities should also give you the voltage rail readings, if you can I'd suggest setting to to create a logfile. Then go play another round of CS until it crashes, then go check that logfile to see about your voltage rail levels. Another thing HT does is increase the power draw of the CPU, and that PSU hasn't been ruled out yet.

[werty316]

:lol: yeah I forgot the "not" in there :lol:

[Hoserking]

according to the nvidia control panel my card is running between 56 and 60.
My proc is running at between 40 - 52 (idle vs loaded).
This is driving me crazy. Today i turned off the HT and it froze. turned it back on and played games for an hour with no problems. who knows what tomorrow will hold. (usually crashes with in 20 minutes)
Thanks for all your help so far. I will keep playing and see what happens.

[Kougar]

Sounds odd considering it is a 915P chipset, but it sounds as if the mainboard has HT or processor support issues... Have you made sure yer using the most current BIOS for that board?

[Hoserking]

i will update my mobo bios, see if that helps.

XFX support is telling me that my power supply not having 20a on the +12v rail could be causing the problem... so i started looking at replacing my power supply. Reasonably priced powersupplys appear to have dual 12v rails at 18a, would this make a difference from 1 12v rail having 18a? any thoughts?

[darkorb]

which psu u have now?

[Hoserking]

420w with 18a on one 12v rail. it came with my x-infinity apevia case.

[werty316]

I think a 7900GT requires 20A on the 12V rail.

[xfxsupport]

Whenever considering a new PSU we recommend spending a little time at www.SLIzone.com . there are many PSU that have been tested and certified by NVIDIA to operate nearly all of the NVIDIA based chip sets on the market in single or SLI mode. However if you are trying to determine if the PSU if the root of your issues please try and test the card in a properly powered system before you spend any money. I would hate to hear you say that you spent good money on a new PSU if that is not the cause of the failure. Many computer service centers are generally happy to take your card and plug it into a system to see if it operates with minimal or no cost to you. I personally like to use PC Club her in California but, have had people tell me that Circuit City and CompUSA and others helped them out as well. Please let your technician know if this is a viable option for you

[Quintus]

Hi all,

I was wondering how you would go about updating two 7900GT's? Also, the model number for the cards is PV-T71G-UCE7 (well, one is PV-T71G-UCER, but that's only because it came with Tomb Raider,) so I take it that I download the PV-T71G-UCE zip? Also, what about overclocking? I overclocked both cards by 5MHz to get rid of an annoying SLI issue. Would I have to reset the overclocking for both cards before I flash the BIOS, or doesn't it matter?

Much thanks,

Quintus

[xfxsupport]

Dear Quintus, The new BIOS addresses the fanspeed and a few other minor details that will not affect your settings. We recommend removing one card and then flashing each individually to make sure they are both properly updated.

[Recon]

I have the PV-T71G-UDFR card. Should I use the bios from PV-T71G-UDF.zip?

Thanks ;-)

[werty316]

I have the PV-T71G-UDFR card. Should I use the bios from PV-T71G-UDF.zip?

Thanks ;-)
I think so but if you are unsure use the bios of a card that has the same clock speeds and also if your card is VIVO or not.

[Damn Dirty Ape]

The update on my T71G-UDE7 didn't result in any change in the 100% fan.. Reinstalled the drivers as Win xp wanted, got it set back up, no difference from POST to booting into Win, to Desktop to 3d games.

Posted on this board with my ticket #

[falcon0909]

Unfortunately I have the same situation with my PV-T71G-UDL7...I followed all the bios installation readme instructions, but the fan still runs at 100% all the time.

[werty316]

Try a fan controlling app like SpeedFan or RivaTuner.

[falcon0909]

Yep, thats what I tried...

There is one difference - Before the bios update; the fan speed sliders in RivaTuner weren't functional and wouldn't allow me to adjust the setting, but afterwards they worked correctly.

But no matter what setting I have for fan speed in 2D or 3D modes - it still constantly sits at 100% (even after reseting my pc).

[Damn Dirty Ape]

well, I just got a reply from tech that says basically that they don't know why it isn't responding right, and to check the card to make sure that the fan isn't causing extra noise by having some obstruction.

There's nothing causing the noise other than the card won't power down the fan in 2d.

I think since the card is not operating as it should with the proper bios update, it should be deemed defective and replaced with a card that DOES respond as it should. I've requested such from tech.


Is there not a contact #, or must we go through this 'ticket' routine where we have to wait and go back and forth over a period of days, for an issue that could be resolved over the phone in 5 minutes?

I'm within my 30 days and hope they see fit to offer a card that does work as they say it should, or I will simply return and go elsewhere. I'm so very tired of hearing the only thing in my (supposed) silent system whizzing away when I know it's not 'supposed to' according to the mfr.

[xfxsupport]

Dear Dirty Ape, Generally the support ticket is the best form of communication for resolving an issue however, in extreme cases you can reach us M-F 9am-5:30 PM PST at (800)880-3225. Please have your RMA or support ticket number handy as this will speed up the phone support as much as possible.

[Zyaxis]

I have Two XFX 7900Gts one Is a UCF7 and the other is a UDF7. I bought them for SLI. Can I do this? They are The same card except for the VIVO. And do I need two different Bios? Or can i use the VIVO one for both?

[werty316]

I have Two XFX 7900Gts one Is a UCF7 and the other is a UDF7. I bought them for SLI. Can I do this? They are The same card except for the VIVO. And do I need two different Bios? Or can i use the VIVO one for both?
Flash the correct BIOS for each card individually. I wouldn't use the same BIOS for both cards.

[xfxsupport]

Hey All, I have noticed that a few of you have had no success with the new BIOS in adjusting your fan speeds. I have spoken with an engineer about this and have been told to have you reflash the card with no PCI cards in the system so the utility does not have any difficulty in locating he video card. IF you still have no success please contact our support team at www.xfxforce.com => Support => Help Desk so we can look into why your card is not responding.

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Dear Dirty Ape, Generally the support ticket is the best form of communication for resolving an issue however, in extreme cases you can reach us M-F 9am-5:30 PM PST at (800)880-3225. Please have your RMA or support ticket number handy as this will speed up the phone support as much as possible.

Thanks for the note. I'll try the update again today (I'm building up a major revision to my system this afternoon) and will no longer be using the PCI Soundblaster card in the config. I'll try it and if it works great but otherwise I'll be in touch as the post suggests.

I have guarded optimism however since the flash program had no problem locating the card and finished with a success result.

thanks

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Hey All, I have noticed that a few of you have had no success with the new BIOS in adjusting your fan speeds. I have spoken with an engineer about this and have been told to have you reflash the card with no PCI cards in the system so the utility does not have any difficulty in locating he video card. IF you still have no success please contact our support team at www.xfxforce.com => Support => Help Desk so we can look into why your card is not responding.


No dice. New motherboard, new cpu, no soundblaster card. Still the same speed no matter what.

[xfxsupport]

Dear Ape,
Ok give our support line a message so we can have our engineers look into why your card is not responding. www.xfxforce.com => Support => Help Desk.

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Dear Ape,
Ok give our support line a message so we can have our engineers look into why your card is not responding. www.xfxforce.com => Support => Help Desk.

Just got back in touch, gave them all the system info, and was told someone would be calling back soon after review of the information.

If it can't be figured out I wouldn't mind exchanging the card for one that will power down the fan somewhat as it is really annoying.. Anyway, we'll see what comes of the contact. thanks

[miguel]

OK, i am not spam...

hello everybody, specially xfxsupport members,

i am a 7900gt UDER owner, i flash it with some bioses from mvktech and from xfxsupport 7900gt UCE and always fan speed is 100% (or constant).

i tried this bios:
XFX 7900GT (EE) PCIe 256MB - Rev 03 from mvktech
(is exactly equal to 7900gt uce bios, i think).

anyone could help me?. Yesterday i open a ticket in xfxforce support (my ticket number is 90573)

thanks in advance. Miguel

[miguel]

sorry for my double post.