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

[great_big_abyss]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

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 BIOS, thus voiding your warranty.




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....

Really? So if I do this, they purposefully want me to override the primary BIOS to void the warranty? That's sneaky!

What if I flash my second bios? Will that void the warranty?

I have a Powercolour Card. I'm assuming that the primary bios is the one that was set when my card shipped. Is this the position closest to or farthest away from the Xfire connectors? I haven't switched it yet, so if I flick the switch, I should be selecting my secondary bios, right?

EDIT: After Reading ANANDTECH'S in depth review, I think i'll be passing on this 'Upgrayedd' spelled with two 'D's for a double dose of this pimpin'.

The benefits don't outweigh the risk, as far as I'm concerned.

[Sam_Reynolds]

Originally Posted by great_big_abyss

I think i'll be passing on this 'Upgrayedd' spelled with two 'D's for a double dose of this pimpin'.

Liking the Idiocracy reference. Points for you.

[BlueByte]

After reading about this here and on extreme tech I am starting to think AMD was screwed with this from the start.

If they did what they did, then some existing users that fall within certain guidelines(reference vs non reference? what is the guidelines?) can get a free update. Granted this as was pointed out is confusing as hell to keep track of and AMD will have to pony up special warranty for "official" bios updated cards with their board partners.

The old tradition that I like less, is throw some letters on the end and call it a new product. say like the 7950XT??? Then everyone one would complain that its just a slightly refreshed product to try to one up the competition probably for $20 more then the current 7950.

This is under the assumption that all new 7950 being produced now run at the new specs and is not a paper launch? refresh? what ever this is....

If AMD users can update their bios with a easy flash that checks to see if their card will compatible with the flash, and the warranty's are rewritten to allow for official updates. THEN I think AMD should be commended on updating a product for free that could have been a different label. otherwise this is chaos and there could be a lot of pitch forks.

[SKYMTL]

A user that posted on the front page brought up a good point. AMD is conveniently distancing themselves here by rolling this out to the press and not making it an official update. It means that AMD can claim it wasn't them that bricked cards but rather users flashing with an "unofficial update that wasn't meant for public use".

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

A user that posted on the front page brought up a good point. AMD is conveniently distancing themselves here by rolling this out to the press and not making it an official update. It means that AMD can claim it wasn't them that bricked cards but rather users flashing with an "unofficial update that wasn't meant for public use".

Heh... I guess that's why I couldn't get a hit off of the AMD website when I searched for the download / release notes.... ;)

[EmptyMellon]

Let's see:
- Average 6% increase in performance
- Increase of 3 dB under load
- Increase of ~25W under load

So heat and noise goes up for an average 6%, for all this AMD marketing poo-storm , why not drop prices on all their HD 7000 cards by 20-25 dollars and people might actually have some respect for AMD, but not this...door to door vacuum salesman tactic.

[velias]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

A user that posted on the front page brought up a good point. AMD is conveniently distancing themselves here by rolling this out to the press and not making it an official update. It means that AMD can claim it wasn't them that bricked cards but rather users flashing with an "unofficial update that wasn't meant for public use".

I really feel like you're making something out of nothing here when arguing from the warranty perspective, honestly. Its like a 100mhz increase - most 7xxx cards OC really well. It would take some intentional effort for a BIOS upgrade to cause a catastrophic failure with a dual BIOS switch, IMO.

You can argue the availability thing and i'm right with you but this..I dunno. I think its kinda silly to argue about a BIOS update bricking a card - when said cards have a dual BIOS switch. I don't see this causing issues - The kepler has tremendous issues with long term overclocking because it has thermal throttle and overpower throttle, but 7xxx doesn't have any of that. I think for the most part 7xxx cards would be fine with 50mV more voltage and 100mhz, at the cost of more power use. I think its kinda sad that you have to buy MSI lightning or EVGA classified to get a good overclocking 680, but hey whatever. Its the only way to avoid the pitfalls of kepler throttle (temperature, power throttle).

[SKYMTL]

I'm just stating the facts....nothing more. ;)

[nvidiots]

Wow, I cant believe the fuss you guys are making, never saw this here with the 680 paper launch, plus this BIOS update is just that, an update, just like drivers...

This update is FOR REFERENCE CARDS ONLY and is available to ALL ref card users (Updating BIOS does not void warranty) which is why you have dual switch in the first place.

The 7970 GE are availabe on USA newegg and most of the EU/UK etc. people that had purchased them before the BIOS can also update, so whats all the fuss about?

Everything you have said about bios, 7970 gigahertz edition and 7950 BIOS, warranty etc etc is not true

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



That title is not accurate bcoz existing reference card holders are expected or have an choice to upgrade, which makes the title moot.


Am expecting 90% of reviews of the 660 to have an fully updated BIOS 7950 card (Some after market cards will get it, some wont - but this is about standard 7950 cards), so don`t think it will matter much as most people look at a couple of reviews when deciding.


I just don`t think its worth doing what you are, i would rather stay neutral to both camps and install updates as requested from either camp, in the end, its you're choice



(I thought review sites were supposed to be neutral)

Wow, so you guys are going to block me (2nd message of mines not showing) for saying or asking a few stuff (Nothing i said were against the rules)

3 consecutive posts merged into one by mod. In the future please use the edit feature rather than spamming consecutive posts. -Mod

[JJThomp]

Originally Posted by nvidiots

Wow, I cant believe the fuss you guys are making, never saw this here with the 680 paper launch, plus this BIOS update is just that, an update, just like drivers...

This update is FOR REFERENCE CARDS ONLY and is available to ALL ref card users (Updating BIOS does not void warranty) which is why you have dual switch in the first place.

The 7970 GE are availabe on USA newegg and most of the EU/UK etc. people that had purchased them before the BIOS can also update, so whats all the fuss about?

Everything you have said about bios, 7970 gigahertz edition and 7950 BIOS, warranty etc etc is not true

lol so you made an account here just to troll... This BIOS update is not being released to the public just reviewers so if you try to flash it you will void your warranty if it bricks. Just like flashing a 6950 to a 6970 voided your warranty. It's not meant for the card, just for reviewers so the card looks better. I suggest you provide some sources from AMD.

The difference between the 680 paper launch and this is that AMD is giving a bios out to just reviewers so the card looks better than it will perform in your machine. nvidia didn't specifically try to decieve people on the 680 launch whereas AMD is trying to decieve us on the 660 launch.

Edit:

Originally Posted by nvidiots

Wow, so you guys are going to block me (2nd message of mines not showing) for saying or asking a few stuff (Nothing i said were against the rules)

It's against the forum rules... if you have something to add and your post has not been on for long you are supposed to edit it... Kind of like what I am doing now.