New M6500 Discussion Thread

Sorry for double posting but here is the guide to vBIOS overclocking the FirePro M7820 for the Dell Precision M6500.

First Disclaimer:

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!!! VBIOS FLASHING AND MODIFICATION HAS CHANCES FOR SEVERE MALFUNCTIONS IF NOT DONE CORRECTLY AND MAY RESULT IN PERMANENTLY KILLING YOUR GPU!!! DELL MIGHT NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY UNDER WARRANTY TO GIVE YOU A NEW GPU IF DISCOVERED THE PROBLEM FOR BRICKING YOUR GPU WAS FROM A MODDED VBIOS!!! I DO NOT TAKE ANY LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS AS I AM ONLY PROVIDING THE INSTRUCTIONS TO DO SO FROM MY PERSONAL AND SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES. HOWEVER EVERYONE'S MILEAGE AND CONFIDENCE VARIES. IF YOU THINK THIS IS SCARY OR WORRYING DON'T ATTEMPT OR TRY IT! AS I SAID, I DON'T TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS IN EXECUTING THE FOLLOWING AND DELL CAN VOID YOUR WARRANTY!!!

OK, if you are still willing to do this, then here are the directions:

1. You need to download and open up GPU-Z to extract a copy of your vBIOS (GPU-Z Download!).

2. Click on the icon circled in red and then click on "Save to File". Then save the follow .bin file to the desktop in a new folder. That is your extracted vBIOS.



3. Then download and install Radeon BIOS Editor (RBE Download) and extract the contents into the same folder where you extracted your vBIOS to.

4. Fire up RBE and click on Load BIOS (circled in red) and then open up the extracted vBIOS (default called Broadway.bin) and then do the following:

A. Click on the top-down list next to Vendor (circled in blue) and click on "0x1028 - Dell".



B. Then click on the Clock settings and start adjusting the values listed in the screenshot below. The ones you are seeing from this screenshot is what I modified for my own system. The voltage is the important one to change however if you decide to use software overclocking tools for the clocks instead of vBIOS flashing. However I decided to change them all at once here. Also note, that I changed the 02 as well to 700/1000/1.15 in case for ANY reason the GPU fail safes its clock speed. It often defects to 02 speeds if it needs to. However so far (knock on wood), I have seen the clocks I used in 00 is still in perfect working order.

Also, note make sure you TYPE in your Voltage. There is nothing to select down for voltage. However, that doesn't mean the M7820 equipped has locked voltages, it is just not what Dell programed in via vBIOS for it to use. Therefore, you will need to type in the 1.15v if you are using that for your overvolt.



5. Click back to Information and click on Save BIOS (next to Load BIOS) and SAVE THE NEW VBIOS UNDER A NEW NAME! The reason I stress that is in case anything goes wrong with the new vBIOS in action, you have a saved copy of the original, untampered vBIOS in hand. Don't overwrite it and flash the existing vBIOS copy you extracted, or you will lose the Dell stock vBIOS.

6. Download ATI WinFlash (ATI Winflash Download) and extract the contents to the folder where RBE and the vBIOS'es are and then open it.

7. Click on "Load Inage" (marked in red) and then find your new vBIOS you modded, then click on "Program" (marked in blue). Make sure you close all background programs before you click on Program, which starts the flashing.

NOTE!!! There is a small chance that your screen will flicker and go all weird during this process. Whatever you do, DON'T POWER OFF THE SYSTEM UNTIL YOU SEE THE LOAD BAR FLICKER TO THE END!!! If you can't see the progress bar well, WAIT FOR TWO MINUTES, before turning it off. If you do it very abruptly, you can end up with a bad flash and a bricked card. I don't know why occasionally WinFlash kind of act up like that, but I can assure you it is still properly flashing your GPU so just let it do its thing for two minutes and hard shut down your laptop are restart it.



Otherwise in most cases, it will go successful and prompt you a restart. Do so.

8. If you see your Dell loading screen, the vBIOS went smoothly and use GPU-Z to check if the clocks sticked. It should be like the clocks (if you are using 850/1100/1.15) on the GPU-Z screenshot I posted.

Gaming performance has been stable for me (DoW 2: Last Stand, L4D2, Crysis Warhead) @ 850/1100 without any problems. Also I got P9756 3DMark Vantage and P2566 on 3DMark11. So it is a noticeable and good boost. However, everyone's results may vary.

Enclosed are my two vBIOS files via a zip file. The first one labelled "BroadwayUltra.bin" is the modified one. The other with "BroadwayM6500X.bin" is the Dell default and unmodified. If you don't want to test your own clock settings or sort, you can use my profile and proceed step 6 down. Use the latter if you ever hit problems and want to go back to stock.

Have fun, good luck and unlock potential on a great laptop!

Regards,

Star Forge

 

+1
Thanks.

Maybe we could also undervolt 04 (100/150) for lower temps.

 

The SLIM one is too big for me I would definitely get the slim one. I been using mine for a year and 3 months, no overheating problems, nothing.

FWIW

 

does anyone know the part number for the cable for the finger print reader?

 

I just ordered one from Dell as well and the code is CTNHC. $1.99 USD excluding shipping and taxes.

 

thank you for the part number Star Forge

 

It looks like it is on backorder though weirdly... I am currently waiting for it...

 

The absolute max power the M6500 is supposed to pull from a power adapter is 185 watts. This is from their Energy Star filings. Not sure if that goes up with overclocking.

 

Depends on the configuration. I know that anything with a Quadros 5000M or i7-9x0QM disqualifies it from the Energy Star ratings.

 

Hello Speedy

can you please explain what you've done to keep the things cool? No problems for repasting, but what's the "shim" on the chipset? Some copper?

Thank you!
marco