Success! XFX R9 290 flashed to Asus R9 290X!

[OntarioTL]

Ok, I'll probably get trolled by this thread as BS, but I read a few posts on other forums and someone posted they flashed their XFX R9 290 card to an Asus 290X bios and unlocked all their shaders. Well since I own two XFX 290 cards which I have posted results on a build thread I did on this forum

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/75201-gtx670-trisli-to-r9-290-xfire-watercooled/

 

and with the bios switch on reference card, I thought what the hell! I'll try it myself.

 

Here's what I got.

 

Screenshot of the 290 pre flash

 

 

 

Screenshot of the 290 post flash

 

 

Now I did have to flash the second card again as GPU-Z was showing an anomaly but after successful second flash it reported just like the first card. I have rebooted and restarted gpu-z many times and so far it has reported the same amount over and over again. I could be dreaming but this could very well be a reality that I now have a 290X in xfire!

 

So of course the next step is to do some testing.....here are my results so far. Both pre flash and post flash are clocked the same (1100Mhz/1300Mhz mem so far) What I have noticed though is under the Asus bios I had to up the voltage to 1.3 for it to run successfully at this speed under heaven benchmark, yet there was no voltage bump needed with the 290 bios.

 

Valley Benchmark

 

Xfx R9 290 bios

 

Asus R9 290X bios

 

 

Heaven Benchmark (again, had to up the voltage to 1.3v for the Asus flash)

 

Xfx R9 290 bios

 

Asus R9 290X flash

 

 

Looks like the 6950 to 6970 days could be back. However I take no responsibility for anyone screwing up their cards if they attempt this. I have also read that a few with Sapphire and other cards it didn't work, so who knows if all cards will be able to convert.

 

Back to more benchmarks....more to come....

[helping]

[flibberdipper]

So you risked ruining your cards just to do this?

[megadarkwood]

Wow, that is pretty sweet! You can flash a 7970 to a 280x I think also.

[qwertywarrior]

@M-ursu

you know what to do !!!!

[_ASSASSIN_]

dude that's freaking amazing

[OntarioTL]

So you risked ruining your cards just to do this?

 

Ummmmm......YUP! What was the harm? I have dual bios...if it didn't work or if I choose to go back all I have to do is flick the switch 

[_ASSASSIN_]

So you risked ruining your cards just to do this?

by default these cards have 2 bios's so you can go ahead and try it

[AndyCapets]

Already saw a post about this on VideoCardz.com, can't wait to get my none reference 290

[Guest GRRigger]

6 more fps

 

Ummmmm......YUP! What was the harm? I have dual bios...if it didn't work or if I choose to go back all I have to do is flick the switch  

 

Win : Win 

[Air tree]

So you risked ruining your cards just to do this?

[flibberdipper]

Ummmmm......YUP! What was the harm? I have dual bios...if it didn't work or if I choose to go back all I have to do is flick the switch 

 

by default these cards have 2 bios's so you can go ahead and try it

 

The dark ages known as AGP didn't have that feature, as I recall. Therefore, I didn't remember. Even though Linus probably talked about it a lot.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

This was pretty popular to do with the 7950's (to 7970) as well as far as I remember. You either brick your card or get more for less. Whether or not you're willing to risk it is all up to you. Good job though, happy it worked out for you.

[OntarioTL]

Already saw a post about this on VideoCardz.com, can't wait to get my none reference 290

 

This is what caught my attention last night while surfing on the net at work ( ) and I had to try this when I got home. I almost peed myself when I saw GPU-Z post the 290X. And with benchmarks starting to confirm something is working I'm more than tickled pink. 

 

I didn't realise the 7950 could flash to 7970. I thought the 6950 was the last gen to flash to a higher tier.

[Altecice]

Now that is quite cool. but i would much rather stick with my Asus 290X's with 3 year warranty than flash a 290 to a 290x and if it breaks your screwed.

 

But all the same very cool! 

 

let us know what clocks you get

 

(Currently have my Asus 290x's running at 1100 core, 5200 (1300) mem, 1.3v as well)

[OntarioTL]

Now that is quite cool. but i would much rather stick with my Asus 290X's with 3 year warranty than flash a 290 to a 290x and if it breaks your screwed.

 

But all the same very cool! 

 

let us know what clocks you get

 

(Currently have my Asus 290x's running at 1100 core, 5200 (1300) mem, 1.3v as well)

 

 

I always have the option of going back to the other bios if I feel uncomfortable, however being watercooled I don't think I run the risk of damage. I have the exact overclock as you do and testing any further just doesn't seem like I can get anymore out of it. I prefer to stick with the 1.3v range. They way I think of it right now, I may not have got more clocks out of the 290 for more performance, but I did gain more shaders and TMU's to compensate 

[Altecice]

I always have the option of going back to the other bios if I feel uncomfortable, however being watercooled I don't think I run the risk of damage. I have the exact overclock as you do and testing any further just doesn't seem like I can get anymore out of it. I prefer to stick with the 1.3v range. They way I think of it right now, I may not have got more clocks out of the 290 for more performance, but I did gain more shaders and TMU's to compensate 

 

Word of advice don't use Furmark. it has problems with the R9's atm... I can run it 3 times and get 3 different frame rates.

 

Tested it on boots as well one time I would get 150fps, 170fps, 133 fps. and not settings have changed.

[Nexus]

Pretty sweet dude. Interesting find. I may pick up a couple of 290's now.

[OntarioTL]

Word of advice don't use Furmark. it has problems with the R9's atm... I can run it 3 times and get 3 different frame rates.

 

Tested it on boots as well one time I would get 150fps, 170fps, 133 fps. and not settings have changed.

 

Nah, I'm not fond of Furmark anyway.

[Jack.EXE]

Awesome, Glad to know that this is possible!

 

Now I only have to save up $400...

[BCMods]

@M-ursu

you know what to do !!!!

Doesn't he have a 290X?

[rentaspoon]

I don't understand what this means, the cards aren't entirely the same so this is not as benifital? And I thought the R290x was currently worse off that the R290.

What am I missing?

[qwertywarrior]

I don't understand what this means, the cards aren't entirely the same so this is not as benifital? And I thought the R290x was currently worse off that the R290.

What am I missing?

worse ?

are u talking about the benchmarks LTT showed on youtube ?

if so its because  linus (infinite wisdom) thinks its a good idea to OC cards they review to its full extent

so ull see cards oc badly and amazingly which will cause confusion

[OntarioTL]

Update to some more benchmarking before I hit the sack. I guess the cool thing with dual bios is I can go back and forth to benchmark all I want, but for now I'll compare what I had with the numbers I had before with my watercooling build thread.

 

Tomb Raider Max settings incl. Tress FX hair (no AA) 5760x1200

 

Xfx R9 290 xfire (overclocked 1.1Ghz/5.4Ghz) Min.fps 3.0   Max.fps 80    Avg. fps 66.3

 

Asus 290X bios flash xfire (overclocked 1.1Ghz/5.4Ghz) Min.fps 4.9    Max.fps 84    Avg. fps 69.7

 

Battlefield 4 Ultra settings Single Player(no AA) 5760x1200

 

Xfx R9 290 xfire (overclocked 1.1Ghz/5.4Ghz) Min.fps 49       Max.fps 103    Avg. fps 71.15 

 

Asus 290X bios flash xfire (overclocked 1.1Ghz/5.4Ghz) Min.fps 44       Max.fps 117    Avg. fps 82.94

 

Sadly, it looks like even with a bump in gpu voltage, I can't get much else over 1.1Ghz. I tried 1.15 and still can't get to reach that magic goal (1.2  ). I don't think I want to push anything past 1.3v for now so even with the ceiling at 1.1Ghz, I'm still pretty happy.

[Jumper118]

So you risked ruining your cards just to do this?

they have a dual bios so yes defiantly!