4870X2 Low Res Problem

[SwaleSmith]

Hi,

Have recently switched to a asus 4870x2 gfx card all is fine but have noticed upon boot/2d mode that the resolution seems to be dropped massivly and on some screensavers its the same

I have included a screensaver pic obviously I cannot get a pic of bios and boot but it is fuzzy like this this pic (pc spec in sig)

 

[Youngie1337]

Sounds like ATI PowerPlay to me, it's a way of switching between 2D and 3D mode.

Read this

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33913836

You can only disable by flashing/modified your cards BIOS.

You can use PUREDOS or ATIflash here:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/261/

Check cards website for BIOS.

You will most likely have problems playing games like Crysis with laggy spikes, without flashing BIOS.

 

[Pyr0]

????

Powerplay doesn't change the display resolution, only the cards clock speeds and voltages. I have ZERO probs/spikes plying Crysis or anything else

@ SwaleSmith is this a fresh install of Windows?

 

[Youngie1337]

Not 100% true, PowerPlay monitors what is loaded for example a 3D game, sometimes the application gets confused between 2D and 3D.

The clock speeds are lowered, therefore giving FPS LAG in games, sometimes even freezes. I had the same problem, this was all stated by AMD who produce the ATI cards.

You should see the problems with PowerPlay.

PowerPlay also has got something to do with display, although resolution changes is weird. Just a hunch, flashing the BIOS helped all my problems.

 

[Pyr0]

2D/3D clock speeds, and with the 4870X2/s it matters if the app is full screen or windowed...

but nothing to do with the display resolution

 

[Youngie1337]

Hi,

I have included a screensaver pic obviously I cannot get a pic of bios and boot but it is fuzzy like this this pic (pc spec in sig)

2D/3D clock speeds, and with the 4870X2/s it matters if the app is full screen or windowed...

but nothing to do with the display resolution

You're correct, but it has got to be a hardware/internal software problem if no OS loaded, seeing as he gets it during boot.

 

[SwaleSmith]

Ok, I have looked at a few option in the control panel and noticed that soem of the this such as AA and image quality etc were set to performance...ahve no idea why, so I changed them to application controled this has improved the screensaver..

Where can I find the appropriate file for my asus 4870x2 to update my BIOS cannot see one being offered by asus support...and would be suprised if they did!!!

Are there any guides on how to do this have never done it before.....can I flash it with a TOP BIOS

p.s I have latest motherboard BIOS and this is not a fresh install of vista I used nvidia cards before I have however removed them and runned driver sweeper.

 

[Youngie1337]

Ok, I have looked at a few option in the control panel and noticed that soem of the this such as AA and image quality etc were set to performance...ahve no idea why, so I changed them to application controled this has improved the screensaver..

Where can I find the appropriate file for my asus 4870x2 to update my BIOS cannot see one being offered by asus support...and would be suprised if they did!!!

Are there any guides on how to do this have never done it before.....can I flash it with a TOP BIOS

Indeed, just check this post in 2mins, on laptop atm, can't use the mousepad, will edit soon.

http://wccftech.com/forum/overclock...-bios-flash-top-asus-bios-flash-included.html

DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

BIOS:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Help:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/254050-15-using-atiflash-flash-4870-bios-help

 

[Pyr0]

as far as i know, there are no bios updates, but i did flash the TOP bios to a stock asus card

4870X2 TOP BIOS:

http://wright-pc.com/pyr0/4870X2AsusTOP.rar

i downloaded the unmodded TOP bios files and followed the instructions from this thread:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=200339

remember to backup your original master & slave bios's before starting

i made a bootable usb drive added atiflash and used the commands

"atiflash -f -p 0 asustop0.bin" for master

"atiflash -f -p 1 asustop1.bin" for slave

HP format tool and boot files here if needed:

http://wright-pc.com/pyr0/Bootable USB.rar

 

[Youngie1337]

Cool tool

 

[Bungral]

I had zero problems with that card at all with the BIOS it had... Would it suddenly then require a BIOS update as it's gone into another machine?

 

[Pyr0]

there are no bios updates for the X2 cards afaik

 

[SwaleSmith]

Ok so the low res problem seems to be nothing more than a few settings in windows, if i'm honest I may just have being a liittle too over the top regarding BIOS could be a mistake....

to be honest I have been researching and toying with the idea of a TOP Bios for a little while so I read soem posts on extremeforum and gave it a shot useing the same method you mention....but the thing is get to dos type the ati flash command in etc as below (without -f as is already asus) says some thing like 8xa800 checksum 8x8990 (example, not sure of exact words) repeat for the slave (useing slave bios of course) and i reboot, get no gain in overclocking limit it is the same no advantage or signs its done anything (gpu-z reads same mhz also)!!!!

Indeed, just check this post in 2mins, on laptop atm, can't use the mousepad, will edit soon.

http://wccftech.com/forum/overclock...-bios-flash-top-asus-bios-flash-included.html

DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

BIOS:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Help:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/254050-15-using-atiflash-flash-4870-bios-help

 

[Pyr0]

<snip> i reboot, get no gain in overclocking limit it is the same no advantage or signs its done anything (gpu-z reads same mhz also)!!!!

The flash hasn't worked then. i'd try it again with the -f switch

gpu-z should read the clocks as 790\915 and ccc should have oc limits of 900\1000

 

[Youngie1337]

The flash hasn't worked then. i'd try it again with the -f switch

gpu-z should read the clocks as 790\915 and ccc should have oc limits of 900\1000

Yeah try -f forcing it, try a PURE dos application also.

 

[SwaleSmith]

realised what I done i was saving the file useign the -s command line rather than -p LOL:crazy:

so flashed the TOP Bios.... and..... gonna do some more tweaking/benching great card these LOL

URL="http://www.overclock3d.net"]

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oh and (bios flash was not needed just settings where wrong)