Why and how to make your 9800M GS into a GTS

These procedures should work with any NVidia 7000, 8000, or 9000 series gpu on both laptops and desktops. They also might work for the 200, 300, 400 series, but I have not done that myself. I have an Asus G50VT with the 9800M GS. (I also flashed the VBIOS on a Dell Inspiron 1520 with the 8600M GT.)

I originally used Vista Ultimate x64, but it also works with 7 Pro/Home Premium x64, and presumably with 32-bit operating systems as well.

The Question:

I was asked this question by a member who noticed that I had flashed my VBIOS, and I thought that there might be some in the forums who still had an interest in this.

Well, overclocking the cpu is pretty easy using setfsb of course, but let me know if you need help with that.

As for flashing the gpu, the reason I did it was to make the card run at a higher voltage. A higher voltage allows for faster clock speeds, but can also cause overheating and premature gpu "death". The 9800M GS is actually a GTS chip that didn't quite pass the NVidia inspection; so it was originally manufactured to run at a higher voltage than when Asus (or whoever) shipped it to you. You might be unlucky and have a card that really won't allow any over-volting, but most owners will find that their system can handle the increased power just fine. I take no responsibility for any damage to the systems of anyone who follows this guide.

I decided to up my default voltage and clock speeds to GTS levels. So, from 530core-1325shader-800memory to 600-1500-800. (Increasing the memory clock doesn't provide much of a boost to performance.) The big change was bumping the voltage from 1.05 to 1.11 volts (this latter is the default for the GTS).
You can always overclock more with NVidia System Tools if you want, but flashing is the only way to increase the voltage on most notebooks.

After flashing, I have gotten temps in the high 80's in most modern games (COD4, Mass Effect 2, etc.) Only Bad Company 2 pushed the card over 90--I hit 94 playing that. Generally your card is fine as long as it doesn't spend much time over 90. If you hit 100, that's bad. (I check temps with HWMonitor, which you can leave running during games.)
(Also, overclocking your cpu will raise temperatures for your whole system, so a cpu overclock can affect gpu performance...)

Any graphics driver for your card will work. I am currently using 197.44. The driver and device manager will still recognize your card as a 9800M GS, but your clocks and voltages will be higher.

So you need
1. a flash drive

2.a boot section from a Windows 98 installation, also something to make the flash drive bootable (e.g. HP's bootable usb program)

3. a copy of your bios--you will extract this as the first step in the process

4. a program called Nibitor to modify the bios

5. a program called nvflash to add to the bootable flash drive which will actually write the new videocard bios information.

Note: You are not replacing the whole bios (this is a lot harder, though it can be done), you are just rewriting the GPU part of it. Consequently, you can't just mod the bios and then apply it with whatever bios updater your notebook manufacturer provides.

Now down to business

I. Getting your original VBIOS

1. Make your bootable flash drive (it will need to be some sort of FAT format--not NTFS), and then copy the Nvflash files onto it.

2. Restart your system, enter the bios (usually by pressing f2 or f10) and tell it to boot from usb first instead of from the hard drive.

3. Once you have booted from the flash drive, type nvflash -b OLDBIOS.ROM
That is "nvflash[space]-b[space]OLDBIOS.ROM"
Then press enter. Your original VBIOS is now on the usb drive under the name OLDBIOS.ROM

4. Now shut down (press ctrl, alt, and delete at the same time) and boot up your regular Windows. (You will need to remove the flash drive to do this.)

II. Editing the original VBIOS

1. copy the oldbios.rom onto the desktop or somewhere handy

2. open nibitor and from the file menu select open, and open the oldbios.rom file. You want to change the "extra" settings, since that is what the card will be running when you are gaming or doing video-decode, etc. First change the "clockrates", then the "voltage" under "exact mode".
(Note: I do not recommend raising the voltage as high as the program will let you. You are asking for a burnt-out gpu if you do that.)

3. Then from the file menu choose "save BIOS", and save it under the name "NEWBIOS.ROM" (though actually any name will do).

III. Flashing the new VBIOS

1. Copy the newbios.rom onto the usb drive. (I recommend that you leave the old one there as well in case something goes catastrophically wrong, and you need to restore everything back to normal without rebooting.)

2. Shut down and boot up from the usb drive again.

3. After the boot, type nvflash NEWBIOS.ROM
That's "nvflash[space]NEWBIOS.ROM"
and hit enter

4. When it asks if you want to flash the BIOS, press y or enter.

5. Shut down, and reboot into Windows again. (You might want to go back into the BIOS and tell the computer not to boot from flash drives any more, otherwise it will always check for them first.)

You're Done!

IV. Checking your results.

I recommend using the latest version of cpu-z to check the speeds. Go to the graphics tab and choose the "perf level" for 3d applications.
To check voltage I now use Gpu-z. Go to the sensors tab and check VDDC. (You may have to leave the program monitoring while you start a game in order to get the card to step up to the maximum voltage.)

If something goes wrong, you can always re-install the original vbios by repeating the bios-flashing step (step III.), but substituting OLDBIOS.ROM for NEWBIOS.ROM (remember you kept that on your usb drive).

Here is a link to a mediafire .zip file with everything you need! For you lucky Asus G50vt owners, I have included in the NiBiTor folder files called OLDBIOS.ROM, NEWBIOS.ROM, and NEWESTBIOS.ROM. The first is the original vbios, the second only has the voltage raised, and the last has the voltage and clock speeds raised to 9800M GTS levels. Only use these .roms if you have a G50 with the 9800M GS!!!
If that link goes dead, let me know and I will re-upload.

Many thanks to Bigspin and his guide which I found here. I used it to do my own flash, but I thought it could all be presented a little more clearly, and without bright colors.

God bless!

 

thank you very much for this helpful guide.

 

Can I flash a 9800m GT to GTS?

 

I thought it was GS, GTS, GT, GTX last time i checked? so you would be downgrading your card.

 

GTX > GT > GTS > GS.
The GT, GTX and GTS/GS all have different shader counts, so you can't make your GS into a GTX or GT with just a VBIOS flash. However, the GS and the GTS have the same shader count, just with the GTS having higher stock voltage and clock speed.

 

Ok thanks.

 

Yeah, unfortunately NVidia hasn't been all that consistent in its branding.

 

is there a way to find out how much of your GPU hardware is untapped?

 

One thing I would check is what is written on the vram, sometimes the vram is designed to handle a higher frequency than what is stock.

 

i didn't even do all that.. i just ran my 9600M GT at 9700M GT clocks using NVDIA system tools.. also undervolted using REB's tweak... so really speaking u don't have to do this if ur card runs stable at lower voltages.. mine does

 

Yeah, if you have a good card, you don't need to overvolt. Mine, however, was unstable at 9800M GTS speeds at 1.05 volts, so I benefited from the bios flash. (It's been running at or above GTS speeds ever since--about 18 months now.)

 

The links are dead for the G50V modded bioses.

Thanks, Abel

 

The rapidshare link should work now. If not, send me a pm. Good luck!

 

Again, the links are dead for rapidshare, can you re-upload them please?

I wouldn't need the rapidshare link, but I have followed your steps exactly (and im on a G50vt) and nvflash always says that it does not detect a nvidia adapter on my system, so I have given up.

Thanks

 

The link should be back up and working now.

Where do you run into trouble? When you are trying to extract the original vbios onto your usb drive, or when you are trying to write the new one?

I presume that you have successfully booted via the flash drive and are not trying to run nvflash in windows.

 

I run into trouble on step I.3
"3. Once you have booted from the flash drive, type nvflash -b OLDBIOS.ROM
That is "nvflash[space]-b[space]OLDBIOS.ROM"
Then press enter. Your original VBIOS is now on the usb drive under the name OLDBIOS.ROM"

I would boot the windows 98 portion from my usb and type in the command, but I would get an error like this: (not my picture, but the error is the same)
: http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f255/xjosh814x/IMG00099.jpg

Thanks for the re-upload by the way.

EDIT: I can't even flash the new bios that you provided because of the above problem.
Really wierd I thought maybe the latest drivers didn't work, so I downloaded the drivers you had when you flashed your 9800m GS, still no luck.

 

Are you using the latest version of nvflash?

 

Yes, you were right. The links on the OP are a little out of date, I fixed my problem. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the observation, tetn1s. I changed the links, and the new ones ought to stay up to date.

 

Sorry for the super bump, but if you happen to still have the files for g50 a re-upload would be greatly appreciated. I saw your posts for setFSB and I already get better FPS in games, now I just need control of my graphics. No problem if you don't have them but just thought you should know the link is down. <3

 

Haha, I had to do a little thinking before I could remember where I put the folder on my computer...

It should be available now via multiupload. I am not sure how long the link will remain active, but rapidshare now requires me to register to upload something, and I don't feel like going through that hassle, or making people wait for their downloads...

Good luck with your overclocking!

 

I am SO sorry, I got bored and tried it anyways, worked so thank you for the guide and at least they will be there for the next guy hopefully. Sorry about that. <3
Also... +Rep son.

 

Hi i was wondering if you could upload the .roms that you used for your asus 50v. I know that it has been a long time but it would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

I updated the link. It's near the bottom of the post and included here as well. Let me know if mediafire does not work for you. Best of luck!

G50 Flash NVidia gpu for NBR.zip