How to Guide: Flash 570m to .90 volts with NVFLASH tool

I decided to create this guide for those who are interested in pushing their Geforce GTX 570m a bit further. The 570m on my two week old GT683DXR was capping out at 755 core with stock .85 volts and once I've performed the BIOS flash, the 570m has been running it at 850/1700/1900 without any issues.

If you are not comfortable with performing such mod, please do not attempt it. You can possibly brick your video card by performing a BIOS flash. The chances of it happening are pretty rare but it does happen.

But for those of you who want to get that extra power out of the 570m and believe that the reward is greater than the risk, please read on.

And of course, I will take no responsibility if your do decide to go forward with flashing your video card and something does go wrong.
Now that I got that out of the way, let’s begin…

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Tools you will need:

- Basic understanding of using the command prompt (cmd) window. (I will try my best to explain on how to use the cmd prompt window for those who are not familiar with it)

- NVFLASH: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2108l/nvflash_windows_5.105.zip

- 570m .90 volt ROM: https://rapidshare.com/files/124475741/MSI_GTX570M_v90.ROM
This rom file was modified by a member over at NiBiTor forums so I take no credit for creating it. I’ve used it on my 570m and it works.

Download both files and save it somewhere where it’s convenient for you.

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The Guide.

Prefix – Please read the entire guide prior to attempting this BIOS flash (even the additional notes!).

Step 1 – Create a folder directly in C: Drive and name it nvflash. Unzip the nvflash_windows_5.105.zip contents directly to the newly created nvflash folder.

Step 2 – Place the downloaded modified MSI_GTX570M_v90.ROM BIOS directly in the nvflash folder. Rename it to just “ v90.rom” without quotations.

Step 3 – Open the command prompt (you can type “ cmd” in the search bar found in the Start Menu). You should see C:\Users\(your user name)> as soon as the command prompt is opened.

Step 4 – type “ cd c:\” without the quotations and hit enter. Afterwards, you should see the command prompt change to c:\>

Step 5 – Type “ cd nvflash” without quotations and hit enter and the command prompt will now display “ c:\nvflash>”. This means you are now within the nvflash folder.

Step 6 – This is the step where you actually flash the BIOS. Type “ nvflash v90.rom -5 -6” without quotations and hit enter. The NVFlash tool will check the rom and then ask you if you want to update the display adapter firmware. Press “Y” to confirm. After a minute it will tell you if the BIOS flashing has been successful (or not).

WARNING: Do not unplug, disrupt, or even breath on the notebook while flashing is taking place. You may end up with a 7 lb paper weight.

Step 7. Reboot.

Step 8. Use NVIDIA Inspector to overclock Nvidia Inspector 1.96.3 - TechSpot Downloads

Step 9. Profit.

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What this mod will and will not do:
1. There are four P (power? Performance?) states that the 570m is capable of: P12, P8, P1, P0. This BIOS mod changes the P0 voltage from .85 to .90
2. By performing this mod, you will lose P1 state. This means that the “Turbo” button will no longer work on the GT683DXR.
3. The 570m will still cycle through P12, P8, and P0 clocks and voltages, just not P1.
4. Turbo fan is not affected by this mod.

Additional notes
- NVIDIA Inspector is a great tool with many functions. You can also set shortcuts for different overclock/underclock settings. Use them to your advantage.
- Prior to flashing, it is a good idea to create a backup of your stock 570m BIOS and saving it on a flash thumb drive. You can also download the DOS version of the NVFLASH tool and use it as an emergency backup in case you happen to brick your 570m during flashing under Windows. Obviously, you will need to create a DOS bootable thumb drive or floppy disk with both the DOS NVFlash tool and the stock 570m rom placed in the media.
- Use the BIOS modded 570m in conjunction with Throttlestop program for best performance out of your GT683DXR. Its beastly performance will leave you in awe and in tears… of joy.

Additional links:
- A guide for extracting stock BIOS from nvidia cards and BIOS flashing: Creating a Modified BIOS for a GTX 400 Series GPU | Overclockers
- Throttlestop: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html
- DOS NVFlash: Download NVFlash 5.117.0.1 | techPowerUp
- Great guide on how to create a Bootable DOS thumb drive: Guide FW Flashing Tips - Windows 7

Let me know if there are any issues with my guide and I will update as needed.

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Benchmarks:

755/1510/1800 v.85



850/1700/1900 v.90 BIOS Modded


3DMark Vantage and 3DMark11 were both run at stock settings with PhysX off.
850/1700/1900 v.90 BIOS Modded


850/1700/1900 v.90 BIOS Modded

 

Is there any way to make the 570m graphics card function well on battery?

 

Underclocking the P0 state of the 570m would be the best option here. You can set the card to run at much lower clocks, which should help out with battery life somewhat.

 

Added benchmark screenshots.

 

Thanks for the reply. I don't mean having it retain minimum battery life. The GT683DXR's 570m doesn't work with battery at all, for some reason. You'd find out that if you remove the AC adapter while playing a game the performance goes down very significantly and it becomes so slow you can't play any game on it. Apparently the 570m can't run on the power of the battery or something. It kind of defeats the idea of having a 'portable' gaming PC. I was wondering if there is a way to fix that please.

 

You can increase the P7 state, however please be aware clocks are limited to reduce strain on the battery, if you tried to run it at full clocks it could at best cut out and at worst melt the battery.

You could likely get away with doubling the clocks though.

This limit applies to all mobile cards.

I would recommend having thottlestop running at the same time and keeping the processor at 1.5-1.6ghz max to help reduce strain on the battery.

 

Oh btw:

P4149
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor,Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-16F2 score: P4149 3DMarks

and

P16592
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2720QM Processor,Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-16F2 score: P16592 3DMarks

 

Nice scores, Meaker. Which drivers are you using?

 

I saw your post before you edited it...

I run my 570m at 850/1500/1900 and those aren't my benchmarking clocks, but actual gaming overclocks that I use and I haven't seen it go above 75c. No laptop cooler under it and the room has no AC but it's at comfortable 75f.

Do you have the Turbo Fan on? Because your temps should never get that high playing TF2.

 

Hmz, hot water test and repaste methinks!

 

I was curious and downloaded that benchmark. I OCed the GPU using Afterburner and came close to your scores and heat on this never gets near 70 degrees running BOINC 24/7.