Ultra Low Power & Noise GTX 480 BIOS (Really)

[555BUK]

I have been playing with Nibitor BIOS editing software for some time, to see how much more efficient I could make my reference ASUS GTX 480. The reason I have modded the BIOS is because tools such as Afterburner do not allow the lowering of 2d clocks and voltages sufficiently. I have achieved the following results.

System Specs
Sugo SGO8 ITX Case with 600W PSU
Intel 2500K @ Stock Settings
ASUS P8H61-I ITX Motherboard
2x4GB Kingston DDR3 1333MHz @ Stock
Intel X25-M 80GB SSD
Samsung F3 2TB HDD
WD 500GB Blue 2.5" HDD
Sony DVD-RW

BIOS Modifications
Minimun Fan Spped reduced from 40% to 30%
2D low clocks reduced from 51MHz/135MHz to 33MHz/135MHz
2D Low volts reduced from 0.963v to 0.7v
2D High clocks reduced from 405MHz/324MHz to 200MHz/324MHz
2D High volts reduced from 0.963v to 0.7v
Blu-Ray clocks reduced from 405MHz/1848MHz to 200MHz/1600MHz
Blu-Ray volts reduced from 1.050v to 0.875v
3D clocks remain unchanged
3D volts reduced from 1.050V to 0.95v

System draw at idle without graphics card installed (using 2500K graphics) = 53W

GTX 480 on reference BIOS/Settings Results (Entire system draw)
IDLE wattage - 81W (yes only 81W for the full system on stock GTX 480 BIOS).
IDLE temp - 44deg @ 40% fan
1080P H'264 Playback wattage - 91W
1080P H'264 Playback temp - 46deg @ 40% fan
Furmark wattage - 293W
Furmark temp after 10mins - 85deg @ 70% fan

GTX 480 Ultra Cool & Quiet BIOS, using custom Afterburner fan profile
IDLE wattage - 74W
IDLE temp - 42deg @ 30% fan
1080P H'264 Playback wattage - 83W
1080P H'264 Playback temp - 46deg @ 30% fan
Furmark wattage - 250W
Furmark temp after 10mins - 74 degrees @ 55% fan

Results
*Given that system draw without discrete graphics = 53W
My stock GTX 480 pulls 28W when idle vs just 21W for the modded BIOS (saving 25%)
During 1080P video playback the difference is 38w versus 30W (saving (saving 22%)
During intense 3D wattage reduces from 240W to just 197W (saving 18%)
System temperature and noise are much lower

Summary
For me, the modded BIOS reduces the idle and load power requirements to a level equivelent to the GTX 560TI and HD 6950, whilst providing superior performance. It also allows me to use my card within a very compact case, whilst keeping it cool and quiet.

I attach a linky to my modded BIOS here.

I strongly suggest that you do not attempt flashing unless you own a reference GTX 480 and know exactly what you are doing. I also suggest you check the BIOS setting with Nibitor to confirm that you are happy with them before flashing.

Perhaps some of the senior modders on this forum can comment before anyone attempts flashing.

edit: Added Nibitor BIOS Settings

Stock vs Modded Clocks

Stock vs Modded Volts

Afterburner Fan Profile (notice fan speed can be set as low as 30% vs minimun 40% on stock BIOS)

..and here is a picky of my system and idle running temps. You can see that the 480 just about fits into the ITX case, but temps are nice cool.

 

[555BUK]

With the GTX 480 fan running at 30% it is a very quiet card. I can here it, but the sound is nowhere near as annoying as the default 44% BIOS setting. The lower voltages and 2D clock settings also help to keep the card cooler than stock settings, even with the large reduction in fan speed. Halving the 2D clocks has made zero difference to windows performance, surfing, playing videos etc.. I think NVidia could easily have released a much more efficient BIOS if they had wanted to.

Another other point to mention is that MSI Afterburner retains full functionality with the modded BIOS. You can set high overclock and voltage profiles for gaming/benchmarks, but still retain cool&quiet running during 2D and general use. 3D noise is also greatly reduced due to the lower GPU volts used.

This BIOS allows my GTX480 to provide full performance, whilst at the same time using similar power to a slower 6950/GTX560. It is no longer power devouring thermal monstrosity.

edit: There are some good tutorials available via Google explaining how to modify Fermi BIOS with Nibitor, and how to flash the BIOS. I don't think that I can link them directly in this thread because some of the sites carry adverts for possible OcUK competitors.

 

[555BUK]

I dont understand how a few simple BIOS tweaks can make it so much more efficient and quieter ???

Think of it the other way around. Overclocking or increasing voltage on a CPU/GPU will disproportionately increase power consumption. The trick is to find the sweet spot which provides the best balance for performance and efficiency. It is also like jogging vs sprinting. I can sprint ~20% faster than I jog, but it consumes much more energy and is much less efficient.

Some cards may not be able to run the reduced voltages above with complete stability, whilst others will run even lower without issue. NVidia simply picked a point at which all GPU's (even the really poor one's) would work fine. The result is that the reference BIOS was not particularly efficient.

I have tried other modded BIOS's including one where 3D clocks run at 576MHz rather than 700MHz. At 576MHz with reduced voltage the card runs exceptionally coolly and draws around 150W during Furmark. At this setting the 480 can still play any game but only needs the power consumption of a "mid range" graphics card to do so. All of my voltage measurements are taken using a plugin monitor for accuracy that is supposedly +/- 3%..

 

[555BUK]

This modded bios works fine with my Asus GTX480 however neither GPU-Z or MSI Afterburner report the 3D voltage to be 0.950v.

MSI Afterburner reports the standard 1.064v and GPU-Z reports 1.02v. I am guesssing the programmes or sensors are not very accurate or something but the temperatures have dropped so I am happy with that.

Afterburner 2.10 reports correctly for me. Are you sure that you are not running an Afterburner profile with increased volts? If so, disable the profile or decrease the volts. Also check that your 2d clocks are lower and that you can set the fan to 30% in order to confirm you flashed the BIOS correctly.

 

[555BUK]

edit 2: Perfectly fine, Bad company 2 was playing as normal 78-79C instead of the usual 80-81C and the fan was always 59% instead of 66-70% that it was before so it is a lot quieter now

Good to hear. ~10% less fan and lower temps justifies the flash.

To the OP: I like your case I even thought about putting a GTX480 into a smaller one, though worried about the power. Your BIOS should help with it

The SG08 is a great SFF case and the 600W PSU makes it great for a gaming system. Apparently 6990's and GTX590's will also squeeze in.

 

[555BUK]

555BUK any chance you can re-up the modded bios and other links, they be dead now. Just picked up an Asus 480 and the idle fan speed is 44% which is loud for idle. Can adjust it with AB but would rather have it idle at 30% by default.

I will check if I still have them stored somewhere when I get home. I gave up my web domain when Hostmonster tried to bump the price up, so that's why the links have died.

 

[555BUK]

Unfortunately I no longer have my old 480 BIOS's. I can probably make one up, but I have nothing to test it on and I would to want to risk anyone elses card.

 

[555BUK]

THREAD NECRO ENGAAAAAGE!

Yes, I'm resurrecting a 10 year old thread. My dude this is awesome, I've recently constructed a retro gaming PC for the 2010 era, which includes a 3 way SLI of reference EVGA GTX 480's. Is there ANY chance you still have access to your bios rom file, or can recreate it?

I'd love to be able to squeeze all 3 GPUs onto my 1000w 80+ gold PSU since 1200+ watt PSU's are currently going for about $900 Canadian due to crypto mining demand. Right now I've janked together the 1000w PSU + a 500w PSU with a bridge but I'd love to be able to fully close up my case haha.

Sorry, I no longer have the BIOS. You can still find Nibitor and nvflash online if you really want to create a low-power BIOS from your stock ROM.