phxrider
I'm seeing conflicting info on the BIOS switches... Some say there's only 2 BIOSes and the 2nd switch is write protect, others say there's 3 BIOSes.  I also hear people referring to 2 switches and 3 switches depending on who's posting.  What one is correct FOR THE 970 FTW, how many switches are there and which BIOS does each switch position combination select?
 
Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I'm not at home and can't look physically at my card... and I just got it yesterday so I haven't exactly memorized the layout yet.  I'm just prepping to flash this BIOS when I get home. :)
 
(BTW, thanks for the research and the BIOS, Roach.)

phxrider
I'm not doing this to overclock, I'm doing it because at the stock boost frequency where it reaches about 1404 Mhz, the card bounces off the max TDP and causes it to throttle down. This can cause stuttering in games. Roach details this in his original post and his analysis is sound.

phxrider
I'm not doing this to overclock, I'm doing it because at the stock boost frequency where it reaches about 1404 Mhz, the card bounces off the max TDP and causes it to throttle down. This can cause stuttering in games. Roach details this in his original post and his analysis is sound.

mrblue81
 
I still see the same behaviour, TDP goes up to about 80%. PerfCap Reason "Pwr" in GPU-Z. At least the voltage stays constant on this bios, but power is still the main issue.

hanson1979
I just remembered that the fan curve is really noisy in that BIOS. So here's oe with the same modifications but factory templimits and fan settings.
 

r0ach
Updated original post with working download link and new BIOS:
 
Description of the two BIOS located in the folder:

1) BIOS #1 -  220242.ROM - This is the original BIOS I made where the only thing changed was power limit increased from 170w default and 187w at max power slider to 220w default 242w max power slider.  This BIOS will run default boost clocks of 1400 without throttling (which takes 196w on my card), but it still probably can't pull more than 198w total due PCIE lane power not being increased.

2)  BIOS #2 - 225250.ROM - This BIOS has the following changes from stock:

- PCIE motherboard slot power limit increased from 66w to 75w.  Since the card most likely pulls power symmetrically, this means it can now pull 75x3 (225w) instead of 66x3 (198w) like the first BIOS.

- Power limits changed from 170w default/187w max slider to 225w default / 250w max slider.  Since you can physically only pull 225w from the card, you should leave power slider at default.

- The card won't temperature throttle until 89c instead of 79c.  The 91c shutoff feature is still there.  You will not reach that temperature with 225w anyway unless you put the card in a case with no fans.

vulcZ
 
BIOS 2 sounds perfect! Currently now with stock BIOS some games will cause my card to reach 80c (but never above), and I do notice the card lowers its speeds at that point. I'm not a huge fan of modifying fan profiles through Windows, I'd rather it done at the BIOS level.
 
Going to be trying this BIOS, thanks! Are fan profiles affected at all? Or is the same fan profile from the stock fan kept? I kind of like it because it isn't very loud at all. Though that may be because my card never exceeds 80C.

r0ach

Scarlet-Tech
Why wouldn't you make Bios 2 to pull 200w normal, and then 225w at max slider? Setting it to something that knowingly shouldn't work is just going to cause people to try it anyway.

I think you're confused.  BIOS #2 (225250.ROM) can pull 75w from each power source (225w total), and the default power limit is set to 225w, so it matches up perfectly.  If you raise the power slider to max for 250w power limit, nothing bad will happen, it's just pointless to do.
 
There are actaully 3 power constraining variables in the Maxwell BIOS:
 
1)  TDP limit - this is actually set to 250w even on stock BIOS and is still the same 250w limit on the two BIOS I've uploaded
 
2)  Power target limit - this was set to 170w default, 187w at max slider on original firmware
 
3)  PCIE motherboard slot + PCIE individual limit per cable - original limit was 66w on the PCIE slot, which means you could only pull 198w symmetrically (66w x 3), so it had to be changed to 75w to reach 225w limit.  75w is what the slot is rated for, so it's not dangerous, but I wouldnt' go higher.
 
The original stock BIOS was constrained by variable #2 & #3 and would do 170w at default slider.  The first BIOS fix I uploaded was constrained only by variable #3 and would do 198w default slider.  The second BIOS I uploaded is still constrained by variable #3 but will do 225w now.  So as you can see, if you're always constrained by variable #3, it doesn't matter how high you raise the power slider to change variable #2, you will still only be able to pull 225w max.  That's why I said leave power slider at default, but increasing it shouldn't cause any problem, it's just pointless.
 

r0ach
*Deleted, doesn't pertain to my statement/question*

- Power limits changed from 170w default/187w max slider to 225w default / 250w max slider.  Since you can physically only pull 225w from the card, you should leave power slider at default.

*Deleted, doesn't pertain to my statement/question*