NVIDIA Kepler VBIOS mods - Overclocking Editions, modified clocks, voltage tweaks

[svl7]

****

Since this seems a popular request I have added some overvolted Dell 680m vbios to the second post. Clevo and MSI will follow.

A voltage increase will always result in higher temps. Keep that in mind. Use at your own risk.

If you're reading this thread you certainly haven't missed all the latest overclocking results of @Brian @johnksss and [MENTION=119]Mr. Fox[/MENTION], to name the top scorers. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that it just takes a nicely tuned vbios and moving the slider all the way up to get a top score, users have even complained that they can't reach those levels as they get limited by the voltage.

Now let me clarify some things when it comes to benching: There's much more behind getting a record than just upping the sliders. While you can get a fantastic score by just overclocking it on hit or miss by using one of my vbios versions in the second thread, you definitely can't expect to beat those records by doing so. Tweaking the system and optimizing performance isn't just as simple as grabbing a software tool for overclocking and a special vbios, it needs a lot of tinkering, experimenting, patience and experience. Also benching is always a kind of competition, all in fun of course, but there's no point denying that once you start to like it, you will want to get the best score possible, or beat a certain other user. If you ask me, that's what makes it highly interesting and entertaining. However, since it is kind of a competition, and it needs a lot of work to come up on the top, you can't expect people to just share all their secrets with you. At least you can't expect that from me (the vbios should already be more than enough help )

@mw86, Johnksss, Mr. Fox as well as other users here have shared and posted highly valuable information regarding overclocking, I recommend to read it. You have to bench / optimize your system yourself, just copying the numbers and settings of someone else won't work, I can guarantee you that. To be on top you'll need to do some work.

If you just want a very decent score in order to boast in front of people with the stock vbios - well then you can just up the sliders a bit and have fun, true. Real benching however is a different story.

And in case you run into throttling issues I can already answer a question in advance - as long as you're using a vbios from the second post of this thread it definitely isn't caused by the vbios. It won't throttle (unless maybe at insanely high temps).

[postalpainmaker]

Thanks for all your hard work SVL7. You really know your stuff. John and Fox are great bencher and a hard act to follow. It defiantly takes hours of tweaking just to sometimes get just a few extra points on a benchmark.... But it sure is fun trying.

[Guest]

Thanks, @svl7... appreciate the words of wisdom for the Community. All very true statements... many, many hours of testing. None of it would be possible without the tweaking wizardry of you and @johnksss. I have also learned a ton from @Brian and @mw86. It is rare to find such talent in one spot, and when you do, leveraging the power of teamwork and collaboration is a formidable force to be reconciled with. I am still a newb at this compared to the other folks I have called out in my comments.

I am posting some new screen shots in the benchmark thread. These 680M cards are real beasts. [LINK]

[Guest]

So, what I am seeing here, is that by svl7 tweaking the VBIOS and removing the overclocking limit, Mr.Fox is practically doubling my SLi 680m's performance that is already pretty damn solid!?! That is seriously mental!

I'd hate to jump in all noob like, but have you come to a safe limit yet Mr.Fox or do you think these can go much further?

I'm new to having a nuclear powered laptop and trying to catch up with reading info, but looking at these results looks like this is going to be fun trying

They are on the edge of the "safe limit" right now. By safe, I mean stability more than being on the verge of destruction, because they seem to have more headroom. The "safe limit" is the amount of power your AC adapter is able to provide to the motherboard and everything else attached to it. I can cause my system to shut down immediately by letting my CPU and both GPUs run wide open simultaneously because the capacity of the 330W AC adapter is not enough to handle that. With my CPU clocked in excess of 4.6GHz at roughly 120W, each GPU at 100W+, factor in the LCD display, 2 SSD in RAID0, 2 HDD in RAID0, Bluetooth, WiFi, AlienFX lighting, any connected USB devices, etc., it does not take a math wiz to realize that you have to scale something back when you are pushing the envelope.

As svl7 mentioned, increasing power increases heat, and heat can either kill parts or seriously degrade performance. You need to spend time figuring out how to go about managing your system as a whole, and that goes beyond watching temps. Figuring out how to effectively rob Peter to pay Paul without getting arrested for it requires some creativity. We need a 500W to 600W PSU to let all the processors run at full speed all the time without having to burn calories managing power utilization. If we can figure that out, then the temps will rise as a natural result and we will need to focus even more on managing heat.

[Clevorr]

Yeah i seem to remember that Clevo had some option for joining two 300w power bricks in paralell for there old design desktop + dual GPU systems. Some of them had issues shutting down and some didn't so they offered this solution for those who had problems. i might look into something like this for the M18x.. :S

[Moz]

There will not be opportunities to modify itself frequencies bios?

[Keith1341]

****

Since this seems a popular request I have added some overvolted Dell 680m vbios to the second post. Clevo and MSI will follow.

A voltage increase will always result in higher temps. Keep that in mind. Use at your own risk.

If you're reading this thread you certainly haven't missed all the latest overclocking results of @Brian @johnksss and @Mr. Fox, to name the top scorers. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that it just takes a nicely tuned vbios and moving the slider all the way up to get a top score, users have even complained that they can't reach those levels as they get limited by the voltage.

Now let me clarify some things when it comes to benching: There's much more behind getting a record than just upping the sliders. While you can get a fantastic score by just overclocking it on hit or miss by using one of my vbios versions in the second thread, you definitely can't expect to beat those records by doing so. Tweaking the system and optimizing performance isn't just as simple as grabbing a software tool for overclocking and a special vbios, it needs a lot of tinkering, experimenting, patience and experience. Also benching is always a kind of competition, all in fun of course, but there's no point denying that once you start to like it, you will want to get the best score possible, or beat a certain other user. If you ask me, that's what makes it highly interesting and entertaining. However, since it is kind of a competition, and it needs a lot of work to come up on the top, you can't expect people to just share all their secrets with you. At least you can't expect that from me (the vbios should already be more than enough help )

@mw86, Johnksss, Mr. Fox as well as other users here have shared and posted highly valuable information regarding overclocking, I recommend to read it. You have to bench / optimize your system yourself, just copying the numbers and settings of someone else won't work, I can guarantee you that. To be on top you'll need to do some work.

If you just want a very decent score in order to boast in front of people with the stock vbios - well then you can just up the sliders a bit and have fun, true. Real benching however is a different story.

And in case you run into throttling issues I can already answer a question in advance - as long as you're using a vbios from the second post of this thread it definitely isn't caused by the vbios. It won't throttle (unless maybe at insanely high temps).

Bought you a few beers, sir. Last week actually.

Nonetheless, I've said it before and I will say it again, thank you very much for everything that you have done and will continue to do (hopefully) in the modding community. Without your efforts, none of us would be able to push these systems to the performance levels that are being seen.

[lonesyndal]

I just went ahead and flashed the .67 Clevo vbios on my Clevo x7200! It works flawlessly - although it seems not as good as the .33 did for me.

Direct Comparison: (Note, in the .67 Vbios runs I turned HyperThreading on, it pushed my Physics Score a bit)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P6971 3DMarks --> .67 Vbios, 915/2200

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P7176 3DMarks --> .33 Vbios, 915/2200

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P7479 3DMarks --> .67 Vbios, 1006/2250

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P7680 3DMarks --> .33 Vbios, 1006/2250

It seems, I lost ~400 GPU points at all clocks. I will revert to the .33 revised one

Update:

I don't know what's wrong, but even after reverting to the first "revised" .33 Vbios I get the same low scores again. I tried both the revised & revised 01 for correct clocks, but same thing. I even turned off HyperThreading again to see if the higher CPU score trades off GPU score, but nope :/

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-980 Processor,CLEVO CO. X7200 score: P6908 3DMarks --> my good old .33 Vbios, 915/2200 that previously got 500 GPU points more... it should not be the Texture Filtering thing, as I have set it to high performance already.

Did you try rebooting your laptop after each flash? It shouldn't work right after a flash on a Clevo. I had to do it when testing the different vBIOS

EDIT: Also, be careful of going above 980/2450 on the .67. I had plenty of problems past that point.

[Guest]

New Vantage results posted in the M18x benching thread... These 680M cards are really shredding it.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M18xR2 score: P42731 3DMarks

GPU: 49465

CPU: 30339

[lonesyndal]

So I tried the new Clevo .33 build.

I was able to get a stable run at 990/2325.

Re-tested against the .67 and was unable to run that build on 990/2325 (so no score for it).

Here's the results:

990/2325 (.33): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3840QM,CLEVO P15xEMx score: P7893 3DMarks

980/2300 (.33): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3840QM,CLEVO P15xEMx score: P7826 3DMarks

vs.

980/2300 (.67): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3840QM,CLEVO P15xEMx score: P7883 3DMarks

990/2325 (.67): http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5283487

(I will not use old scores as to keep an even playing field)

EDIT: Better overclock on MSI Afterburner than Inspector, but that's just me (after vigorous testing with it)

EDIT2@svl7: Maybe a more stable .67 at higher speeds would be a holy grail for me. Especially with same voltage. My goal is the 8K minimum on single mobile GPU.

EDIT3: I decided a third try with the .67 at the 990/2325...and it broke 7900. Added link.

[johnksss]

So if you try to go higher, you get unstable? And what is the voltage set at?

[lonesyndal]

Stock max voltage. It's the only reason why it crashes on the test. Though I'm happy with my latest result so far...

[johnksss]

gotcha....

So i did a run at your clocks with cpu running at 2.7 ghz. It would appear that your clocks are a bit low....

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2960XM Processor,Alienware M18xR2 score: P7804 3DMarks

[LeonoeL]

very nice score for 3DMark2011, I got only 6900 on M17x R4 with 680m from Dell

at + 70 MHz with out throttling in Bench 1 of 3DMark2011 any higher MHz let it throtteling

Wich One I should download for improof my one?

I read that there is only one, with undervolting wich dissbled the throttling.

Help would be fine

------

Here's an update. So far so good with the new Dell 680m vbios. No throttling. My 8000k GPU runs in the low 70's

@svl7 Sorry for the late donation, I have been busy studying for my finals. Don't get too drunk now

@krazeaznboy<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

• Did you have the M17x R4 with the original GTX 680m from Dell?
  Is the throttling realy destroyed? Please let me know
  At the moment I used the original VBIOS from DELL (80.04.33.00.32).
  Thanks alot.
  

[lonesyndal]

gotcha....

So i did a run at your clocks with cpu running at 2.7 ghz. It would appear that your clocks are a bit low....

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2960XM Processor,Alienware M18xR2 score: P7804 3DMarks

I assumed such. I knew that my CPU shouldn't be underperforming and have been looking at it for quite some time. Got any ideas on what would make it not run as it should? Or should I get some kind of software to force it at higher core speeds? I don't think the Clevo P150EM allows the usage of Intel XTU, so there may need to be some alternative to that.

EDIT: So I read through a bit of history on P150EM and Throttlestop. It seems that the Clevos tend to not have turboboost on and BIOS doesn't allow the edit... I'll try fiddling with this and come back with new results if I'm successful. I don't think this is root cause, but I'll keep looking into it.

EDIT2: After some looking around, it seems the CPU is running as intended. Might be something else that's giving me a problem? Take note that its an i7-3840QM (locked cores).

[darkhawk]

Hey svl7,

Just noticed now that you removed all the MSI Vbios's from the 2nd post. Was there any particular reason why you removed those?

[ComPost007]

svl7, I don't know how you did it, but before your vBIOS mod (Dell 680m 2 gig, no voltage mod, second post on page 1), the throttling was awful. Not only that, but my 3840QM wouldn't stay overclocked from the BIOS. After a few seconds into windows, it would always drop back down to default 2.8 Ghz, and nothing I did would bring it back.

NOW, after applying your vBIOS mod, the 680m STAYS at overclocked setting during usage (no crippling throttling), and as a bonus (and you can call me crazy for this), my 3840QM ALSO stays overclocked, rock solid at 4.2 Ghz, even at idle. And that's on the A08 locked BIOS of my Alienware M18x R2. I don't think you meant for that to happen, but it seems to be a happy side affect of the vBIOS, which I guess somehow indirectly affects or interacts with the main motherboard BIOS.

Dell dropped the ball on these issues (deliberately it seems to me), and you picked it up and ran with it, and scored big time. Very nicely done. Very impressive.

Thank you for a job very well done.

[MooNiSLe]

I've got a GTX 670MX for my ALIENWARE M15x and it's amazing cooler than the GTX 260M, full load under 40℃ when I set the fan maximum! But I don't know how to use WinHex to modify the voltage and the max frequency of the card so I upload the VBIOS here if you could kindly help me modify it, thx

The default voltage should be 0.9375V if I remembered correct and the max frequency can only be pulled 135MHz higher based on the default. Could you please modify it to 1.0V or 1.05V and unlock the max frequency to 1300MHz? If possible pls provide both 1.0V and 1.05V VBIOS because I really want to know what the GTX 670MX could achieve

Here's the VBIOS: 670MX.ZIP

[svl7]

• Is the throttling realy destroyed? Please let me know
  At the moment I used the original VBIOS from DELL (80.04.33.00.32).
  Thanks alot.
  

Hey svl7,

Just noticed now that you removed all the MSI Vbios's from the 2nd post. Was there any particular reason why you removed those?

Yeah, the OEM vbios works better, I'll upload a mod as soon as possible.

I've got a GTX 670MX for my ALIENWARE M15x and it's amazing cooler than the GTX 260M, full load under 40℃ when I set the fan maximum! But I don't know how to use WinHex to modify the voltage and the max frequency of the card so I upload the VBIOS here if you could kindly help me modify it, thx

The default voltage should be 0.9375V if I remembered correct and the max frequency can only be pulled 135MHz higher based on the default. Could you please modify it to 1.0V or 1.05V and unlock the max frequency to 1300MHz? If possible pls provide both 1.0V and 1.05V VBIOS because I really want to know what the GTX 670MX could achieve

I'll see what I can do. Nice to see this running in a M15x.

[marwan]

I wonder what the stock voltage of the MSI 680Ms is. I am facing lower scores with overclocking, so I'll see what the unlocked VBIOS and overvolted VBIOS act. Also, is 1.037 too dangerous for everyday usage?

Thanks!

Edit: Where did the MSI VBIOSes go in the main post?

[lonesyndal]

So I decided another re-test of the 33 vs 67

Results are vastly different with a small change. Instead of using the High-Performance power options to force the processing power to 100% at all times, I went to the balanced mode for the min-5% to max-100% to let it use all 8 logic cores.

Any setting above 980/2300 for the GTX 680M 4GB Clevo will have problems, so I kept it at 980/2300 for all tests, rebooting each time for a clean run.

(.67) 980/2300: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3840QM,CLEVO P15xEMx score: P7904 3DMarks

(.33) 980/2300: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3840QM,CLEVO P15xEMx score: P7978 3DMarks

Did a few re-tries and achieved very similar results consecutively on the .33 ranging from 7930~7960 with the one listed as my highest performing one with Balanced Settings Power Options. Very close to the 8K Mark.

Reason for this test: So I looked into how the CPU would enter Turboboost and how it shut down cores to achieve higher clock speeds. Forcing it at 100% at all times just isn't the way to go...

Once again, congratulations @svl7 for the update. Once I break that mark, a big round will be headed your way. (I already donated before~)

[Guest]

EDIT2: After some looking around, it seems the CPU is running as intended. Might be something else that's giving me a problem? Take note that its an i7-3840QM (locked cores).

Well, the 3720QM and 3820QM CPU cores are not locked, although they are limited unlike the XM processors. It's the Clevo BIOS that is locked down, otherwise you would be able to increase the multipliers to achieve about a 400MHz overclock over stock 3820QM core speeds. If your BIOS has BCLK unlocked, you may be able to crank that up a bit to effectively overclock the CPU and everything else running on the same bus. If that feature is also locked, XTU might let you change BCLK. It should run stable at 103.5MHz.

[LeonoeL]

Yeah, the OEM vbios works better, I'll upload a mod as soon as possible.

I'll see what I can do. Nice to see this running in a M15x.

@svl7 Did you forget to answer my question (quote attached from me)

[svl7]

So I decided another re-test of the 33 vs 67

Results are vastly different with a small change. Instead of using the High-Performance power options to force the processing power to 100% at all times, I went to the balanced mode for the min-5% to max-100% to let it use all 8 logic cores.

Any setting above 980/2300 for the GTX 680M 4GB Clevo will have problems, so I kept it at 980/2300 for all tests, rebooting each time for a clean run.

(.67) 980/2300: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3840QM,CLEVO P15xEMx score: P7904 3DMarks

(.33) 980/2300: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3840QM,CLEVO P15xEMx score: P7978 3DMarks

Did a few re-tries and achieved very similar results consecutively on the .33 ranging from 7930~7960 with the one listed as my highest performing one with Balanced Settings Power Options. Very close to the 8K Mark.

Reason for this test: So I looked into how the CPU would enter Turboboost and how it shut down cores to achieve higher clock speeds. Forcing it at 100% at all times just isn't the way to go...

Once again, congratulations @svl7 for the update. Once I break that mark, a big round will be headed your way. (I already donated before~)

Nice scores. I'll upload some overvolted versions for the Clevos, with that you should easily break the 1GHz barrier.

Where did the MSI VBIOSes go in the main post?

They will reappear, just in form of the OEM vbios, which works better.

@svl7 Did you forget to answer my question (quote attached from me)

Nope, just kinda short on time for modding.

Also it would have been a particular waste of time to create the mod if the world ended today...

However it's already the 22nd here now, so it should be safe to assume that it might be worth to go back to modding.

[johnksss]

I assumed such. I knew that my CPU shouldn't be underperforming and have been looking at it for quite some time. Got any ideas on what would make it not run as it should? Or should I get some kind of software to force it at higher core speeds? I don't think the Clevo P150EM allows the usage of Intel XTU, so there may need to be some alternative to that.

Not exactly sure what you have going on in your system. I have explain all this sort of thing before and the reasons why, but everyone choose to go a different path on this. Looks like your going in the right direction though.

EDIT: So I read through a bit of history on P150EM and Throttlestop. It seems that the Clevos tend to not have turboboost on and BIOS doesn't allow the edit... I'll try fiddling with this and come back with new results if I'm successful. I don't think this is root cause, but I'll keep looking into it.

EDIT2: After some looking around, it seems the CPU is running as intended. Might be something else that's giving me a problem? Take note that its an i7-3840QM (locked cores).

you should actually have better gpu scores with locked cores...technically.

Yeah, the OEM vbios works better, I'll upload a mod as soon as possible.

I'll see what I can do. Nice to see this running in a M15x.

and i actually understand this and the 670mx. Wow!!

@svl7 Did you forget to answer my question (quote attached from me)

Too funny. Nope, but it was kind of answered before though. Im sure he will re answer it.

Nice scores. I'll upload some overvolted versions for the Clevos, with that you should easily break the 1GHz barrier.

They will reappear, just in form of the OEM vbios, which works better.

Nope, just kinda short on time for modding.

Also it would have been a particular waste of time to create the mod if the world ended today...

However it's already the 22nd here now, so it should be safe to assume that it might be worth to go back to modding.

hahaha, I was just looking out side to see if anything was happening.