5870 Bios Flash
 

I have been experiencing the occasional system lockup with green vertical bars with my Sapphire 5870 VAPOUR-X OC card while playing BFBC2, Portal and Metro 2033. :angry2: I downclocked the memory to ATi reference and still would get a system lockup, only in gaming. Increased the card fan speed. Uninstalled drivers using driver sweeper. Tried various drivers, the latest being 10.5 My system is stock. See system specs. I've been reading a lot of forums trying to find a solution. I finally put in a ticket to Sapphire explaining what was going on and they suggested I flash the Bios on my card to a newer version which they sent me. Has anyone else tried a Bios flash? What have your results been? Did the problem get fixed? I haven't flashed a video card Bios before so I am a being a little cautious about jumping into this right away.

Not a biggie. I flashed my 5870 BIOS to solve an issue with Display Port blinking issue in Eyefinity (now works perfectly).

You want to put their new BIOS file on a USB flash drive and then reboot with the flash drive. To make a bootable flash drive use the HP utility called sp27213.exe You can find it with a quick google search. Then you want to use ATIFlash utility to flash the BIOS. Easy Peasy... :biggrin:

Haven't done it on my 5870, but other bios flashing is pretty easy, just make sure you don't lose power to the system or mash buttons while it's flashing the bios....

If in doubt, contact Sapphire and get them to provide you instructions. However as above, you need to get ATIFlash and make your USB bootable. Then you'll run something like atiflash -f -p 0 newbios.bin

But seeing as the BIOS is from them, it's highly unlikely to break your card. Granted it may not fix your issue either.

^^^ Yeah, if the BIOS flash doesn't work, just RMA it. I hope it works though, it'll save you the hassle.

RBA - could you send me the BIOS for HD5870 Vapor-X OC?
I`m experiencing similar problem with crashes in game :(

Did the new BIOS worked for you?

Hello e-tomek
I can say that the BIOS flash for my card fixed all the lock up issues and I have been gaming with NO issues. I originally contacted Sapphire Tech support and they were very helpful. I will send you the BIOS as requested but please note "Use at your own risk".They sent me this link to explain how to flash the card. Guide to Video BIOS flashing Read the helpful responses I received after I posted here as well. Don't lose power wehn flashing your card and let me know how it goes. If in doubt email Sapphire tech support.

e-tomek I PM'd you.

BIOS flashing
 

I'm guessing you went with a newer BIOS, not adjusting clocks? My displayport LCD sometimes goes to sleep when changing resolutions..