XFX Geforce 260 GTX not downclocking.

yensteel · Post by **yensteel** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:01 am

I bought a new graphics card as my first new computer part, and I installed it in my old computer to make sure it worked properly. It runs all the games fine, but I'm worried about the temperature.

The GPU clock stayed at 576 Mhz no matter what I do, and because of it, I'm idling at 63C with the case panel open.

I'm not sure what to do. Is it defective? Should I return it?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:26 am

have you tried different drivers or controlling fan with speed fan or similar utility?

yensteel · Post by **yensteel** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:06 am

Not yet. Does it matter? Is there a recommended driver?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:45 am

It always does good to check different drivers WHQL certified are good ones to start trying. Of course it might be that that particular feature wasn't never applied to the card by manufacturer to keep costs down.

fyleow · Post by **fyleow** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:52 am

Do you use dual monitors? Downclocking on all the Nvidia cards are broken when dual monitors are used.

yensteel · Post by **yensteel** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:09 am

Ok, I've tried two other WHQL drivers that are the next latest. It still has the same problem.

I only use a single monitor.

A little searching found this:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=3210131

The user had the same product as me, and he contacted XFX about the problem. They replied saying that the card doesn't support 2d mode. He said that flashing the bios with another one with the same board ID and device ID fixed the problem.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:38 am

Ok, flashing is always done as last resort. But that is bit what could be suspected: Manufacturer didn't include that feature due corner cutting or similar reason.

yensteel · Post by **yensteel** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:23 pm

Damnit. I couldn't return the card because it's not considered defective.

Since the temperature is very high at 62, I'm willing to risk flashing it, even though I've never done it before. I have a couple of questions concerning it.

How high is the risk of flashing?

Is it possible to backup the original bios?

How do you chose the right bios that works properly with my card?

Can you actually do it without a floppy disc?

SebRad · Post by **SebRad** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:41 pm

Hi, if the process is similar to my experiance of ATI cards then yes you back up the original BIOS, infact it's strongly recomended you do keep a secure copy.
There appears to be "NVflash for windows" so I guess you can use that from Windows, likely it will allow you to backup you existing BIOS as well as flash the new one.
There are several versions of the GTX260, 192 core, 216 core and 65nm and 55nm versions. I suggest GPU-Z to find out exactly which you have. Finally avoid BIOS with higher then stock clock speeds.
Worst case (I believe) the card won't work but the BIOS can be reflashed on a "dead" card by putting in a system with PCI card or in system with 2 PCIe slots and another working card.

I used BIOS editor on my HD4670 to set lower clocks for 2D mode. They worked too and the card lowered the clock speed, unfortunately there was also bad flickering on the 2nd screen but thats my (make/model of) card. NiBiTor seams to offer the same for Nvidia cards. I guess you download the flash off your card and then open in the editor. might be a good first try to modify your existing BIOS as know its for right card. (Make sure to keep back up of the original)
Maybe other tools but these first I came up with Google
NV Flash for Windows
NiBiTor BIOS editor

Good luck, Seb

yensteel · Post by **yensteel** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 7:59 am

Thanks.

I don't have the guts to try Nibitor out yet because motherboard that I use only has one PCI-E slot.

I'll look into NVflash for now.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 5:57 pm

yensteel wrote:I bought a new graphics card as my first new computer part, and I installed it in my old computer to make sure it worked properly. It runs all the games fine, but I'm worried about the temperature.

The GPU clock stayed at 576 Mhz no matter what I do, and because of it, I'm idling at 63C with the case panel open.

576 Mhz isn't the issue, my evga gtx260 superclocked idles at 626 Mhz.

i'm at 53 degrees/40% fan, tho... what is your fan running at?

what is the max temp/fan % under heavy load, like crysis?

XFX Geforce 260 GTX not downclocking.

XFX Geforce 260 GTX not downclocking.

Re: XFX Geforce 260 GTX not downclocking.