NiBiTor — Fermi graphic card voltage parameter editing
Lets try to make things clearer by editing, for example, EVGA GTX 470 BIOS.
This NVIDIA BIOS editor was created quite a long time ago but with the release of new Fermi base graphic cards people began to face difficulties while trying to edit BIOS of new generation graphic cards. Lets try to make some thing clearer by editing, for example, EVGA GTX 470 BIOS.
Fermi videocards are supported by NiBiTor beginning from version 5.6 so it is recommended always to have the fully compatible with your hardware version. The latest version of NiBiTor can be download from here.
Launch the editor and firs of all open BIOS file:
Main window does not display clock and voltage values.As we open a BIOS file in editor we can’t see values for clocks and voltages in the main window. This is due to numerous changes in Fermi BIOS structure. The editing tools are now located in separate modules that can be accessed from Tool menu:
Stars the Fermi Voltage module:
The top line sets the maximum possible GPU voltage when a card is controlled using software.
- Maximum: 1.213 V — the editor displays the maximum possible value
- -0.125 V — voltage value stepping
- Limit: 1.1505 V — select an appropriate maximum possible voltage value form the drop-down list.
Next, move to the main parameters. There are four groups of voltages — Settings 0-3. Fermi GPU use individual voltage values depending on operation mode. GPU provides VID value while BIOS determines possible voltage limits, therefore, each operation mode has two voltage values. The first one is the least allowable value, the second — maximum possible. Now, lets visualize the meaning of each parameter:
| Performance level | Function | Corresponds to voltage group |
|---|---|---|
| P3 | GPU voltage value in Idle mode (idle) | Setting 0 |
| P7 | GPU voltage value when decoding a video (PureVideo) | Setting 1 |
| P12 | GPU voltage value when under a slight load (3D Low) | Setting 2 |
| P15 | GPU voltage value when under significant load (3D) | Setting 3 |
In this example Setting 2 groups is responsible for the original GPU voltage values.
Updated
The above is subject to change for next generation of NVIDIA graphics cards. Below is an example of EVGA GeForce GTX 570 BIOS.
Despite data specified in voltage table, the card uses P7 setting for P12 mode. The clock rate table does not include P12 mode :
A short examples of how useful this can turn to:
- Fermi cards can operated in IDLE and PureVideo mode at even lower voltages compared to default values. You can read more about lowering voltage values for these modes in our review over Point Of View GTX 465
- Extreme hardware enthusiasts can extend the upper limit using additional card management software. In this case, don’t forget about extra cooling for card VRM — high voltage values can cause power MOSFET failure
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