[Mod] Asus N55SF - voltage increase for Nvidia GT 555m

[svl7]

The Asus N55SF comes with a Nvidia GT 555m, which has already been proven to be highly overclockable by Alienware M14x users. M14x owners have already the possibility to slightly increase the voltage of their GPU by using a slightly -voltage-increase-nvidia-gt-555m-7.html#post12003"]modified VBIOS.

Here's a similar mod for N55SF users. The modified VBIOS will increase the voltage of the GPU by about 0.1V which will allow you further overclock your GPU core. (Note: The graphics memory isn't affected by this mod, you won't be able to clock it higher than before)

Instructions:

Since the VBIOS is part of the system BIOS you need to flash the whole BIOS in order to make use of the mod.

Flash the file with your preferred BIOS flashing utility, e.g. with the one provided by Asus (click here).

- Only flash with the battery and AC adapter plugged in to your system

After flashing I highly recommend to go to the BIOS menu and load the default settings. Then reboot and if you want reset your custom settings.

Verify the increased GPU voltage by using GPU-Z or a similar GPU monitoring tool. Note: Only the voltage of the 3d performance profile gets increased, in order to see it your GPU needs to clock up to 3d clocks.

Also make sure your system is free of dust and check your temps when you first use this BIOS, the voltage increase will also slightly increase the GPU load temps, but it should be well in the thermal envelope of the system.

Credits:

Thank goes to the following people:

@Saltius for modding the VBIOS

@Angelsky for testing the modded BIOS and providing pics

@svl7 for locating the VBIOS file and extracting & repacking the BIOS

Let me know if you have any questions or encounter some issues.

Have fun overclocking your system!

If you have questions, let me know! Also if you encounter any issues, please report back.

As always with such mods, you are responsible for your system and changes you make.

Asus N55SF BIOS [555m volt mod].zip

[StamatisX]

That's awesome! good job man! +rep

[Angelsky]

Thx svl7!ur awesome!^^

Today i played a little more and got this:

Clocks maxed and lowered by ~5mhz for security purpose, temps maxed 79ºc!only memory clocks were changed from the previous score.

3d Mark default configs used

If any one is thinking on trying this be careful about the temps i run a cooler and live in relatively cold country.

Current clocks:

GPU:803

Memory:1070

Shader: 1606

Edited November 17, 2011 by Angelsky

[turban_elite]

cheers, my 555m is at 780 stable with stock bios, so should be able to break 800 with this voltmod! I will post the results later

[turban_elite]

Interesting results for me, with the nvidia 168 drivers I can run clocks of 800/1100 stable. But with all newer driver versions such as 170, 175, 180, 185 and the latest 190 beta drivers from nvidia I can only run clocks of 725/1000, any higher gets me a blue screen in many games. The end result is that its actually faster for me to use the latest drivers with the lower clocks. The problem is I don't need the volt mod for these lower clocks at the moment, but I can't revert back to the original bios because winflash says it is an older version than the current modified bios (they are the same bios revision except the voltmod bios has been modified at a later date) and doesn't let me flash back! Does any one have ideas to fix this, or a different program that will let me flash an older file? cheers.

[svl7]

Winflash? Did you try the tool that gets provided by Dell (Insydeflash)?

[turban_elite]

winflash says the original is bios is older and does't let me flash back, and insydeflash doesn't seem to work with asus. After research I have found the problem, the new nvidia drivers do not allow the graphic card to go over 80c, so with this volt mod, it has effectively reduced my max oc from 780 to 725 due to the extra heat from voltage, during games after a various amount of time I get a blue screen when my gpu hits 80c, this does not happen with the old nvidia 168 drivers as there is a higher heat limit allowed, but the drivers aren't as optimised so they aren't worth keeping even though I can overclock higher with them. Also before the voltmod my temps would never reach 80, so I could reach the gpu's max of 780 withoout blue screen, pretty annoying, is it possible you can "modify" the original bios file for me and upload it so I can revert back to it as it would allow me to keep my overclock at 780 with the new drivers, instead of the current 725 due to overheat reaching 80 = blue screen :S

[svl7]

There's an 80°C temp limit in the Nvidia drivers? Do you have a source for this, I can't really believe this... Makes no sense, tons of Nvidia GPUs work fine at such temps, even with the latest drivers.BIOS is attached.

N55SFAS.207.zip

[turban_elite]

There's an 80°C temp limit in the Nvidia drivers? Do you have a source for this, I can't really believe this... Makes no sense, tons of Nvidia GPUs work fine at such temps, even with the latest drivers.BIOS is attached.

The 80c temp limit isn't an official feature of the drivers, more like a driver quirk which may only affect certain gpu models even (not sure). All I know with my testing is that the older drivers allow me to OC the card to its max, and let the temps go 80+, but the newer ones give me a BSOD when I reach 80c, and I've actually read about this happening to several others as well (some with gt 555m, some with older gen cards too) :S I know the blue screen I get isn't from an unstable gpu, because the older drivers allow me to run the high clocks 24/7, but the newer drivers will still let me run the high clocks, problem being when I reach 80c say 40min into playing a game I get the BSOD, pretty weird stuff, hope nvidia fix it. thanks for the bios.

[turban_elite]

well, the bios still won't flash, the one you uploaded recently has the same modified date as the volt mod bios, so winflash still says that its an older version and doesn't let me flash back any ideas on how to "modify" the bios to change its date so I can flash it? can you possible change some strings in it then change them back to normal so I can flash it? In the mean time I have been trying a whole bunch of different flash tools and none of them have worked.

[svl7]

Weird... Hmm, I don't really know where the BIOS version is exactly stored, and I'm not that familiar with such mods, so I don't want to mess up anything.

There must be a way to force the flash, I recommend trying the AFLASH2 utility which you can find on the driver download page from Asus. You'll need to use a DOS bootable USB stick to use it, put the AFLASH2 utility to the root, as well as the bios file and then boot from the stick and start aflash.

Here's a tutorial if you don't know how to create a DOS bootable USB flash drive.

[zukelliot]

It doesn't seem to work. I get the same problem as the last guy. Can't be flashed cause the bios file is too old. Should I try changing it to an .208 file? Or will it brick my notebook.

[zukelliot]

It doesn't seem to work. I get the same problem as the last guy. Can't be flashed cause the bios file is too old. Should I try changing it to an .208 file? Or will it brick my notebook.

Apparently it doesn't work. CHanging the extension has rendered to be useless. Damn it. Is there a way to update your file?

[zukelliot]

Well, I kinda did the BIOS Flash from DOS Drive thing. I put in AFU236U /iN55SFAS.ROM /pbnc /n. All it did was it showed my AMI Update Utility and copyright stuff. So I'm guessing my BIOS was flashed in less than a second. Cause these are my results after.

While I'm playing TF2 and BF3 : http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/11/12/28/5hz.png.

Notice the volts.

[mw86]

Well, I kinda did the BIOS Flash from DOS Drive thing. I put in AFU236U /iN55SFAS.ROM /pbnc /n. All it did was it showed my AMI Update Utility and copyright stuff. So I'm guessing my BIOS was flashed in less than a second. Cause these are my results after.

While I'm playing TF2 and BF3 : http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/11/12/28/5hz.png.

Notice the volts.

does it still say that if you hit continuously this screen? if so you did a wonderful job !

[zukelliot]

does it still say that if you hit continuously this screen? if so you did a wonderful job !

Yea it does(: thanks mate.

[alek123ish]

hi

I have asus n55sf with i7 2670qm and nvidia gt555m my 3dmark06 score is about 14360 with stock vbios and overclock 748/1080 (beta driver 290.53). I wanna ask how much this vbios increse the voltage is it save to run how much does it increse the temps and whats your overclock with this vbios and your 3dmark06 score (i know i'm asking alot but i just want to clear is it worth it for extra risk and everythink...)

[alek123ish]

any one ?

[mw86]

hi

I have asus n55sf with i7 2670qm and nvidia gt555m my 3dmark06 score is about 14360 with stock vbios and overclock 748/1080 (beta driver 290.53). I wanna ask how much this vbios increse the voltage is it save to run how much does it increse the temps and whats your overclock with this vbios and your 3dmark06 score (i know i'm asking alot but i just want to clear is it worth it for extra risk and everythink...)

you are running nice there if you want a nice cool overclock. If you can handle higher temps the overvolt could help but some cards wont clock higher even with extra voltage. nothing is without its risks. also you cant be sure your clocks will be higher without trying it. it would be good for a gt555m owner to chime in with some experience on doing this already.

[alek123ish]

hi my max temp after running furmark for 20 minutes is 81 celsius. how much the extra voltage will increse my temps?

[Atlas]

Are there any plans to do a volt mod on the N75 Bios? If so, I am able to test it.

[svl7]

Are there any plans to do a volt mod on the N75 Bios? If so, I am able to test it.

Let me take a look at it. I'm not at home at the moment, so I might not have all the necessary tools here, but I see what I can do. In the worst case you'll have to wait about 1-2 weeks until I can check it out, in the best case I have a test version ready in the next couple of hours.

Edit: N75SF or N75SL?

Edit 2: There doesn't seem to be a BIOS available at the Asus site for the N75SL, so in case you have the SL you have to dump me your BIOS, I'm not sure whether there are some differences...

Edited February 6, 2012 by svl7

[Atlas]

Let me take a look at it. I'm not at home at the moment, so I might not have all the necessary tools here, but I see what I can do. In the worst case you'll have to wait about 1-2 weeks until I can check it out, in the best case I have a test version ready in the next couple of hours.

Edit: N75SF or N75SL?

Edit 2: There doesn't seem to be a BIOS available at the Asus site for the N75SL, so in case you have the SL you have to dump me your BIOS, I'm not sure whether there are some differences...

It's the SF, you can download the BIOS from here ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Notebooks- ASUS N75SF. Take all the time time you need, I'm allready glad you will look into this

[svl7]

There are several entries in the voltage table, don't know whether they'll work though... can you quickly tell me what GPU-Z reports (voltage) when running at 3d clocks?

[Atlas]

There are several entries in the voltage table, don't know whether they'll work though... can you quickly tell me what GPU-Z reports (voltage) when running at 3d clocks?

GPU-Z reports 0.9250 when running at 3D clocks.