7850 > 7870 BIOS Flashed!!

gareth170 · 7 Jun 2012 at 09:42

it's not 100% guaranteed but 99% of the time u can reflash "bricked' card even more easy if you have 2 graphic cards or a on-board graphics

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 09:42

Surveyor said:
Being able to re-flash a bricked card isn't 100% guaranteed either.

Fair enough that glen8 had a go but I reckon the odds of him bricking the card were higher than him discovering that the HD 7850 would have anything to unlock.

absolutely, the risk was very high and almost certain to not actually unlock to a 7870. Still, you gotta try these things.

If it had died, well........I could have been treating myself to a new card today

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 09:43

gareth170 said:
it's easy to reflash "bricked' card even more so if you have 2 graphic cards or a on-board graphics

Yes, would never have tried this without the iGPU being able to work and enable an ATI re-flash

Marine-RX179 · 7 Jun 2012 at 09:52

glen8 said:
If it had died, well........I could have been treating myself to a new card today

If money isn't an issue for you, then I suppose normal logic don't really apply then

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 09:54

Marine-RX179 said:
If money isn't an issue for you, then I suppose normal people logic don't really apply then

It's always an issue....just means I'd have had to do a days overtime. Still, a dead graphics card would have forced my hand and I would have had a 670 coming ready for the weekend lol

555BUK · 7 Jun 2012 at 10:48

The benefits of flashing a 7850 to 7870 are as foolows.

i). Higher default and Overdrive clocks without the need for 3rd part software.
ii). Potenially higher voltage limits (greater than 1.225v max of most 7850's).

Risks
i). Risk of bricking. I "half-bricked" my Powercolor 7850 after flashing to the ASUS BIOS.
ii). Card may not run at 7870 speeds, and additional voltage applied to 7870's may cause heat issues for some cards.

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 10:53

My recommendation for anyone thinking about doing this, is to just use the ASUS DCII 7850 Bios.

Higher default clocks and volts

Surveyor · 7 Jun 2012 at 11:13

My recommendation for anyone considering doing this is to sit back, have a cup of tea, think long and hard about it, and then don't bother.

psychodil · 7 Jun 2012 at 11:32

Surveyor said:
My recommendation for anyone considering doing this is to sit back, have a cup of tea, think long and hard about it, and then don't bother.

It's a good job not everyone thinks like this.

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 11:48

psychodil said:
It's a good job not everyone thinks like this.

I'm sure those with 6950 and unlocked shaders appreciate it

shawsy109 · 7 Jun 2012 at 11:48

I dont understand why people get their keks in a twist over someone flashing their cards. If they want to do it then crack on, they know the risk as glen8 stated. No one forces anyone to do it. You do it at your own risk, if you brick a card then tough luck.

When i throw 1.3v through my 6950s i know its risky, i overclock them within an inch of their lives when im going for big heaven scores. But I dont expect people to come down on me with the arrogance and condescension I see in this thread. Get off your high horses people and let people get on with risking their own cards

Marine-RX179 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:05

glen8 said:
I'm sure those with 6950 and unlocked shaders appreciate it

But 6950 is different though. Unlike the 6950, there isn't a single report of 7850 can unlock to 7870 shader.

Surveyor · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:13

psychodil said:
It's a good job not everyone thinks like this.

It's not like flashing the BIOS achieved anything worthwhile.

Nothing unlocked.

The HD 7850 achieves a good overclock as it is.

It's a risk not worth taking.

Flashing the BIOS didn't go so well for 555BUK.

glen8 said:
I'm sure those with 6950 and unlocked shaders appreciate it

Completely different.

If we weren't 100% certain before that the HD 7850 has nothing to unlock we are now.

Flashing the HD 7850 BIOS involves taking a risk for no reward.

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:32

so the very first person who flashed their 6950 knew it would be ok?

How? did they have some insider knowledge from AMD or was their some kind of technical trick so see if the traces had been cut :confused:

Surveyor · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:42

glen8 said:
so the very first person who flashed their 6950 knew it would be ok?

How? did they have some insider knowledge from AMD or was their some kind of technical trick so see if the traces had been cut

I've no idea what led them to try it but I don't see what that's got to do with what's being discussed now.

My point is that there's really no reason to flash the HD 7850 BIOS knowing with 100% certainty that it's not going to unlock anything.

Marine-RX179 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:44

glen8 said:
so the very first person who flashed their 6950 knew it would be ok?

How? did they have some insider knowledge from AMD or was their some kind of technical trick so see if the traces had been cut

Doing it during the first couple of days or first week of launch is different from doing it MONTHS after the release...

If the shaders was unlockable, then someone would have done it long before your attempt...

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:44

Surveyor said:
I've no idea what led them to try it but I don't see what that's got to do with what's being discussed now.

We're now discussing flashing the HD 7850 BIOS knowing with 100% certainty that it's not going to unlock anything.

That's all I needed to hear

glenimp617 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:45

Marine-RX179 said:
Doing it during the first couple of days or first week of launch is different from doing it MONTHS after release...

I searched the net for ages but never found anyone who had tried it :confused:

Marine-RX179 · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:49

glen8 said:
I searched the net for ages but never found anyone who had tried it

That's because there's not much point telling the world about it if it is not a success story. Cards are supposed to be not unlockable, unless proven otherwise...which was the case for 6950.

I applause you for doing the flash, but it still doesn't change the fact the risk involve outweight the reward that are most likely not going to be there by far.

Surveyor · 7 Jun 2012 at 12:52

glen8 said:
That's all I needed to hear

All you needed to hear was that it's got nothing to do with what's being discussed?

Whatever makes you happy.

The main result of this thread is that we can all go away knowing that flashing the HD 7850 BIOS with a HD 7870 BIOS is basically a waste of time and the risks far outweigh the rewards.

Not that there are really any rewards.