AMD Rolls Out new HD 7950 BIOS, Expects Existing Customers to Look the Other Way

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

Hmmm, it seems like it's no different than overclocking. My 7950's stock speed is 880MHZ directly from Powercolor, and I have it overclocked to 900MHZ....so what's the difference? If I reflashed my card, I'd actually be potentially LOSING performance due to the base clock being lower than my card's stock (and currently OC'd) state.

I admit though, my interest is piqued by the addition of the powerboost function with the new BIOS flash and drivers. I like the idea of increasing the powerboost function and letting the card self regulate depending on load.

Since it seems that my board is one of the reference board designs that this applies to, I may actually use the two-position bios switch that comes on my card for this reason. Warranty be damned, I'm an enthusiast!!!!!!!

EDIT: I just read that the warranty is only voided if the user has the BIOS switch incorrectly set during the flash. The RAGE3D website indicated that the switch should be in position 1. Sky, any insight on this? Have you heard the same? What has AMD told you? All liability is assumed by the consumer, of course, and not by you, the reviewer/advice giver.

I'm assuming that the powerboost function is the difference between the new bios and just overclocking a current card.

[velias]

Every 7xxx card has dual BIOS right? I really don't see what the big issue is. I've never heard of a 7xxx failing from the GE BIOS change at OCN, also many there are flashing their 680s to get more voltage.

I don't think its a big deal, thats just me though I guess. SKYMTL is spot on about availability, hopefully AMD isn't trying to fool people in that respect.

[drkCrix]

I flashed it on my 3 cards last night, and from what I can see is that the clock is higher, but so is the default 3D voltage my first 2 cards now run a 1.168 and the third card runs @ 1.059 (Before the flash the defaults were 1.031 and 0.904)

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by velias

Every 7xxx card has dual BIOS right? I really don't see what the big issue is. I've never heard of a 7xxx failing from the GE BIOS change at OCN, also many there are flashing their 680s to get more voltage.

I don't think its a big deal, thats just me though I guess. SKYMTL is spot on about availability, hopefully AMD isn't trying to fool people in that respect.

It's really about the sequence of events more than anything else (and AMD's position on bios flashing responsibility). If they had released (and promoted) this bios upgrade for all present card owners a few weeks ago, they could reasonably request that reviewers compare the 660ti to results from those cards (if those current cards exhibited performance improvements). IMO that wouldn't be any different than asking reviewers to use the latest available drivers. In this case, it's more akin to sending out non-release beta drivers (which may never make it out to the public).

If AMD wants the cards with new bios' on them to be reviewed against the 660ti, they should send out review units once the cards are ready for public release, not request that reviewers use benchmarks from a currently non-retail card.

[kingnubian]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

We typically shy away from controversy. Not this time. This has nothing to do with overclocking.

I'll come out and say it: AMD lmost apulled the wool over everyone's eyes with the "GHz Edition" by claiming it would be almost immediately. That never, ever happened. It was simply a way to divert attention with a mythical product.

This situation has the same smell to it and I for one am not jumping onto the bait so quickly. I'm taking a wait and see approach instead of benchmarking a card that may or may not ever be available at the price AMD claims it will be.

IMO, what we have here is a situation very much like our refusal to benchmark an overclocked GTX 460 card during subsequent AMD launches. This differs in one major way though: NVIDIA's cards were available at the time. AMD's claims are nothing more than smoke and mirrors trying to divert attention from an upcoming card that may have them beat clean. That is until we see product on the shelves at the prices they promised....THEN we'll talk. :)

It's time for someone in the media to start talking straight, regardless of the party stepping over the line....be it Intel, AMD, NVIDIA or anyone else for that matter. This is just the first step.

Am I pissed with the BS being fed by these companies to readers and forum goers they think are naive enough to lap it up like eager puppies? Hell yeah. Enough is enough with the shady marketing tactics.

This has always been my favorite review/news site but now my respect has gone up yet another notch. Paper releases and reviewing products that the consumer has no chance of purchasing in the foreseeable future has made me so tired of companies and the many "Lemming" review sites that my bookmarks for said sites has been reduced to only a handful with Hardware Canucks at the top. I applaud the honest approach taken here.

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by kingnubian

This has always been my favorite review/news site but now my respect has gone up yet another notch. Paper releases and reviewing products that the consumer has no chance of purchasing in the foreseeable future has made me so tired of companies and the many "Lemming" review sites that my bookmarks for said sites has been reduced to only a handful with Hardware Canucks at the top. I applaud the honest approach taken here.

I honestly don't even mind the "paper releases" if a product is sent to reviewers for it's own review. In this case, AMD is asking reviewers to use "paper release" benchmarks in reviews for another manufacturers product... they know that the great majority of folks only look at the charts and thus wouldn't have a clue that the numbers don't represent an AMD card they can order off of the shelf.

[trayton]

I'm not sure what to do anymore lol I have 2 7950's and gave up my 560ti and 570 (both super clocked) plus cash for them. Starting to wonder if i should have stayed NVIDIA :(

Don't get me wrong these are great cards and work fine the AMD 7950's (mine are the Sapphire Dual Fan ones).

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by trayton

I'm not sure what to do anymore lol I have 2 7950's and gave up my 560ti and 570 (both super clocked) plus cash for them. Starting to wonder if i should have stayed NVIDIA :(

Don't get me wrong these are great cards and work fine the AMD 7950's (mine are the Sapphire Dual Fan ones).

Don't worry about it. They're still mighty fine cards. While your 7950's MAY not perform as well as a GTX660, they still perform yards better than the old 560/570/580.

Look at it this way. If you had waited to replace your 560Ti and your 570, with a GTX660, you'd still be waiting even to this day. Meanwhile, you've been enjoying your 7950s for a couple of months now.

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

EDIT: I just read that the warranty is only voided if the user has the BIOS switch incorrectly set during the flash. The RAGE3D website indicated that the switch should be in position 1. Sky, any insight on this? Have you heard the same? What has AMD told you? All liability is assumed by the consumer, of course, and not by you, the reviewer/advice giver.

This is the issue. AMD wants users to have the switch in Position #1 when flashing to the new BIOS. Flashing the Position #1 BIOS overrides the primary albeit writable BIOS, thus voiding your warranty.

Originally Posted by velias

Every 7xxx card has dual BIOS right? I really don't see what the big issue is. I've never heard of a 7xxx failing from the GE BIOS change at OCN, also many there are flashing their 680s to get more voltage.

Again, this is why I am up in arms about this.

First and foremost, not all HD 7950 cards have a dual BIOS switch. Next of all, some like Sapphire and Powercolor have reversed the BIOS position on their cards where the primary BIOS is stored in bank #2 rather than #1. Will this cause a serious issue? Who knows....

[SugarJ]

Anandtech has the updated BIOS posted in their launch article. Use at your own risk: http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/...Jul12_2012.zip