How-To Flash RTX Video Card BIOS: Introduction
For a few generations now, NVIDIA has been slowly changing how traditional overclocking has been achieved. It usedto be a simple process of increasing the video card's clock speed and that was it. With NVIDIA's Turing generation of GPUs, that has changed for the worse. Not only is the BIOS encrypted, but NVIDIA has also gone to great lengths to make sure the Founders Edition and OC (overclocked) editions are the top performers on the market. On top of releasing two variants of the same GPU (A and Non-A), the BIOS restricts the Power Target Limit and makes a difference how far a card can overclock.
As much as I resisted the urge to write this article, I felt people have to right to do what the want with hardware they purchase. This is very risky and can easily result in a bricked video card. Just keep that in mind. If you feel that this may be too much, the RTX Overclocking Guide is always a good start in the overclocking scene.
DISCLAIMER!
WARNING! Flash the BIOS at your own risk. Flashing a video card BIOS to a different model and/or series WILL void your warranty. This process can also cause other permanent issues like video artifacts and premature hardware failure! OverclockersClub cannot and will not be held responsible for the misuse of the information provided in this guide. Please, if you have any questions, jump onto the forums and ask away! We do not suggest you attempt this EVER! The BIOS linked in this tutorial may not work for your video card!
How-To Flash RTX Video Card BIOS: Reason For Flashing the BIOS
The main reason to flash the BIOS is that many of the cards are artificially limited by having a low Power Target. This means the card can never reach its true potential. Whether this is NVIDIA doing or not, it's hard to tell. Either way, NVIDIA has to sign off on every BIOS since it's encrypted to stop outside modification. That brings me to the main selling point of flashing the BIOS to a different series. Many series have a basic, OC, and an extreme model. In previous generations, most people in the overclocking scene knew most of the time the base model could achieve similar results. Many of the base models for the RTX 2080 have a power limit of 250 watts and 280-300 watts for the 2080 Ti. In comparison, the top RTX 2080 at the time of writing this tops out at 300 watts and 450* watts for the 2080 TI. That is a drastic difference simply because either these AIB partners or NVIDIA decided to artificially limit the cards.
*The Highest 2080 Ti Reference PCB is 380 Watt Power Target
How-To Flash RTX Video Card BIOS: Step One - Software
For flashing the BIOS it is suggested to do this process in DOS to avoid any complications. However, if you have the Founders Edition or flashing to a different brand you will most likely need to use the NVFlash ID Mismatch Modified version that allows you to flash regardless of what you have. It adds a layer of risk because you must do it in Windows and the program won't stop you for flashing a bad BIOS.
Software Used:
NVIDIA NVFlash 5.527 (ID Mismatch Disabled)
How-To Flash RTX Video Card BIOS: Step Two - Correct BIOS
This is the hard part of the guide since no one BIOS fits all. The first thing you should know is all these BIOS links listed below and in general, this guide is only for Reference PCB cards or cards the same VRM Controller as the Founders Edition. Second, if you have a Non-A variant of the GPU, you cannot flash it to the A variant. Example; TU104-400-A1, TU104-400A-A1. This is because NVIDIA has effectively classified it as a different GPU altogether, therefore the "A" video card BIOS will not work on a Non-A card. You will need to find out what card you have before flashing. Some have reported NVFlash will give a GPU Mismatch error, other times it will just blindly flash and brick the card. For those who do have an A variant, they can flash their cards by following this tutorial. Those who don't are out of luck. This mainly because of the "OC" models of non-A variant cards also have a low power limit. Therefore making it pointless to flash those cards at all.
BIOS For Reference PCB / Desktop Only!
RTX 2060 BIOS:
TechPowerUp EVGA XC Ultra (217 watts)
RTX 2070 BIOS:
TechPowerUp EVGA XC Ultra (240 watts)
RTX 2080 BIOS:
TechPowerUpEVGA XC Ultra (292 watts)
RTX 2080 Ti BIOS:
TechPowerup KFA2 Gaming OC (380 watts)
Leaked BIOSGalax / KFA2 Gaming OC (380 watts)
How-To Flash RTX Video Card BIOS: Quick Video
Before I ever considered writing this article, I made a quick and dirty how-to video tutorial which got some backlash because I didn't explain things in depth. To be fair I never intended to show people how to do it in detail. I fear someone will not listen to what I have to say and just blindly follow the guide and break their card. This might be a good visual aid, but it isn't the best video honestly. In the video, I suggested you could flash a Non-A variant to an A variant GPU, which is now known to be false.
How-To Flash RTX Video Card BIOS: Ready, Set, Go!
For this guide, I will be using NVIDIA NVFlash 5.527 (ID Mismatch Disabled) version because my Founders Edition does not cross flash otherwise. Therefore I will be doing this in Windows. If you are doing this in DOS, the only difference is where your files are located at and not needing to use "protectoff" command. Hint: If you put it in the Root of the flash drive it will be easy to find. Now since I am using Windows I put my folder in the Root of C:/. You can name it whatever you want, but for this tutorial, I called it nvflash64.
Next, you will want to disable the NVIDIA drivers because it can crash when you flash the card and forcing the computer to restart. To disable the drivers go into Windows Device Manager > Display Adapters. Then Right Click > Disable Device.
Now open Windows Command Prompt as Administrator. You can type "CMD" in the search bar.
After opening you want to find that folder at the Root of C:/ and launch the program. You can follow my commands if you named the folder the same.
- "cd/" - Hit Enter.
- "dir" - Hit Enter
- "cd/nvflash64" - Hit Enter (Now you are in the folder)
- type "nvflash64 - Hit Enter (this will run the program called nvflash64.exe in that folder. If you have the program named differently, you will need to type that name in instead.
Now that we have established how the program runs, you can quit it by pressing "Q." Next, we want to back up the current BIOS before doing anything else. Type "nvflash64 -b backup.rom" and hit Enter. Nvflash64 is the program, -b is the command to back up, and backup.rom is the name given to the backup BIOS. This can be any name, but I personally like to keep it simple. Once backed up, go check the folder to make sure it saved and make a copy on a flash drive in case you need to re-flash the card with a different computer. If you are doing this in DOS then you already have it on the flash drive.
Now the BIOS is backed up, it is time to flash the card. If you are using the modified version type "nvflash64 --protectoff" to disable the lockout (two dashes --). Otherwise, skip this step.
Now the actual flashing part. Type nvflash64 -6 (ROM NAME).rom and hit Enter. For this tutorial, my BIOS I wanted to flash was called EVGA.rom (EX: nvflash64 -6 EVGA.rom). It will ask you a few times if you really want to do this. Follow the prompts and wait for it to finish flashing.
Once you have flashed the card, before you restart the computer you can re-flash it back if you have any doubts. Once you restart the computer, if it didn't work, the only way to flash it back is blindly in DOS or use a different VGA adapter to boot into windows and re-flash the card. But if all went well, just re-enable the drivers and you now have a "theoretically" faster video card due to a higher Power Target Limit.
GPU-Z and EVGA Precision X1 think I am using an EVGA XC Ultra now!
