Flashing HD3870 bios

[redzoneos]

hello,
I have an MSI RX3870 OC edition (T2D512E) video card... The fan is loud as hell and is constantly running at 80%... supposedly a bios flash fixes this issue, but I've never had to flash a vid card bios before and want to make sure I do it right...

Can someone tell me the proper procedure, I'm having a hard time finding a good how-to guide for flashing GPU bios.

Thanks

 

[evongugg]

Refer to the MSI website for flashing procedures.
If it goes wrong for some reason, put a PCI video card in the computer and hook up the monitor to that. Then you can reflash the card.

 

[rabidbunny]

I would be careful flashing your gpu's bios. I did that with my x800gto a few years ago and it ended up killing my card. But that was because I was using a modified bios to unlock the extra 4 pipelines. I do not recommend doing this solely for more performance.

If you want the fan speed to go down, simply use Atitool to control your fan settings.
When i flashed my bios, I had to have a floppy disk that allowed me to boot into DOS and insert the modified bios that way. I don't remember how I did it exactly and I assume that flashing your 3870 might be different. I had help from someone who did the same thing on their card, but I doubt that he's still on Tom's anymore.

I will post with an update later.

 

[rabidbunny]

Ok, found a guide from a quick search on yahoo. If this one doesn't work, there are other ones out there.

http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=34

This one specifically mentions Ati, so it should help.

I don't know if that guide mentions it, but you MUST create a copy of your gpu's original bios in case it is f'd up. I think I remember that you can use Atitool to save the bios.

 

[redzoneos]

sweet thx for the info guys... Rabidbunny, I used that link and it was exactly what I was looking for... kinda funny because I went to that website, but I guess I got an older link and it was describing ATI cards from back in the day, so I thought it was useless.

Anyway I flashed my card and it's whisper quiet now, at least when i'm not gaming ... in fact my entire case is, just imagine how loud it was before the update!!!

 

[rabidbunny]

Sweet! congrats. At least you know that you did it right...
Yeah, as long as that bios only changed the fan speed and NOT the shaders, core, or memory clock speeds, your card should be good to go!