Sajin

TheTiesThatBind

Sajin
Yes, the rom files are listed in the post.

Do you mean the ones that you posted from techpower? 

The ones I listed are older versions. There are newer ones available...
 
Master = www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/198855
Slave = www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/198856

Updated Master first, works like a charm! 5508MHz. Thank you Sajin! you are the best :D Someone should really update the main topic

No problem.

Worked for the secondary as well, thank you again mate! Really appreciated it!

JuliusDigital
Hi everyone,
 
I've received my GTX 1080 FTW2 GAMING P/N 08G-P4-6686-KR and as many of you it is equipped with the latest BIOS version 86.04.60.00.80 / 86.04.60.01.80 (master / slave). So the max memory speed is set by default at 10 GHz effective (1251 MHz in GPU-Z). I've checked the manufacturing date with the S/N and it appears my card was made in November 2017, quite recently.
 
Don't give up if you purchased such an FTW2 card from new stocks: there is a SOLUTION for updating the BIOS to unlock 11 GHz memory hard-coded! See below my GPU-Z screenshots before and after the update:
 

 
Download the updated BIOS and NVFlash from TechPowerUp website: (don't pay attention to the default card picture which is not matching the FTW2)

• EVGA GTX 1080 FTW2 11 GHz master/primary BIOS 86.04.60.00.81 [www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/198855]
• EVGA GTX 1080 FTW2 11 GHz slave/secondary BIOS 86.04.60.01.81 [www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/198856]
• Latest version of NVFlash [www.techpowerup.com/download/nvidia-nvflash]

 
You can simply use NVFlash in Command Prompt as Admin with the following commands: (64bit system for me)

• nvflash64 --save <filename.rom>  to backup your card original BIOS in .ROM format (you can do so quite easily with GPU-Z as well)
• nvflash64 --version <filename.rom>  to check both your original BIOS 86.04.60.0*.80 and the updated BIOS 86.04.60.0*.81 have the same "Board ID" and "Subsystem ID" so it is safe to use
• nvflash64 <filename.rom>  to flash your card BIOS to the newer version, or restore the original

 
Now don't forget to disable your "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080" in the Device Manager, uninstall the drivers, reboot computer, reinstall the drivers and voilà: enjoy max memory speed at 11 GHz effective (1376 MHz in GPU-Z)
 
Remark 1:
As you may have seen in my GPU-Z screenshots, I'm using the slave/secondary BIOS. I want to take credit of the more aggressive fan curves of this BIOS for better cooling performance. The reason I noticed different maximum temperatures reached by the card when benchmarking at full load (with untouched default fan curves):
- Original master BIOS 86.04.60.00.80 (10 GHz) GPU stabilizing at ~70°C
- Original slave BIOS 86.04.60.01.80 (10 GHz) GPU stabilizing at ~60°C
- Updated slave BIOS 86.04.60.01.81 (11 GHz) GPU stabilizing at ~65°C
Of course this is just a hint, not an exhaustive test campaign, but my room temperature was roughly the same at +/- 1°C and I found the trend clear enough. I assume that the 11 GHz memory update remains overclocking, thus dissipating more heat, as for any GTX 1080 card (opposed to the GTX 1080 Ti with memory chips made for that speed). Then it should be treated as deserved: with proper cooling. So be careful and test your card in severe benchmarking after the BIOS update to confirm its stability!
 
Remark 2:
Prior to achieve the above steps, I've been trying for hours and hours to update my BIOS but every time it was not successful! Either the memory was recognized as "Unknown" and stuck at 405 MHz, or some other BIOS at 11 GHz such as 86.04.66.0*.8* were not compatible for flashing my FTW2 card in NVFlash throwing "Board ID mismatch" error impossible to override.
Finally the BIOS versions 86.04.3B.40.81 / 86.04.3B.41.81 provided in post #1 are definitely older revisions for former card stocks! So I guess EVGA should update this post with the appropriate files for every BIOS revision now available on these compatible cards...
 

I had the problem you described at "Remark 2"... but the files that you provided solve my problem. Thank You!!

JuliusDigital
Hi everyone,
 
I've received my GTX 1080 FTW2 GAMING P/N 08G-P4-6686-KR and as many of you it is equipped with the latest BIOS version 86.04.60.00.80 / 86.04.60.01.80 (master / slave). So the max memory speed is set by default at 10 GHz effective (1251 MHz in GPU-Z). I've checked the manufacturing date with the S/N and it appears my card was made in November 2017, quite recently.
 
Don't give up if you purchased such an FTW2 card from new stocks: there is a SOLUTION for updating the BIOS to unlock 11 GHz memory hard-coded! See below my GPU-Z screenshots before and after the update:
 

 
Download the updated BIOS and NVFlash from TechPowerUp website: (don't pay attention to the default card picture which is not matching the FTW2)

• EVGA GTX 1080 FTW2 11 GHz master/primary BIOS 86.04.60.00.81 [www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/198855]
• EVGA GTX 1080 FTW2 11 GHz slave/secondary BIOS 86.04.60.01.81 [www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/198856]
• Latest version of NVFlash [www.techpowerup.com/download/nvidia-nvflash]

 
You can simply use NVFlash in Command Prompt as Admin with the following commands: (64bit system for me)

• nvflash64 --save <filename.rom>  to backup your card original BIOS in .ROM format (you can do so quite easily with GPU-Z as well)
• nvflash64 --version <filename.rom>  to check both your original BIOS 86.04.60.0*.80 and the updated BIOS 86.04.60.0*.81 have the same "Board ID" and "Subsystem ID" so it is safe to use
• nvflash64 <filename.rom>  to flash your card BIOS to the newer version, or restore the original

 
Now don't forget to disable your "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080" in the Device Manager, uninstall the drivers, reboot computer, reinstall the drivers and voilà: enjoy max memory speed at 11 GHz effective (1376 MHz in GPU-Z)
 
Remark 1:
As you may have seen in my GPU-Z screenshots, I'm using the slave/secondary BIOS. I want to take credit of the more aggressive fan curves of this BIOS for better cooling performance. The reason I noticed different maximum temperatures reached by the card when benchmarking at full load (with untouched default fan curves):
- Original master BIOS 86.04.60.00.80 (10 GHz) GPU stabilizing at ~70°C
- Original slave BIOS 86.04.60.01.80 (10 GHz) GPU stabilizing at ~60°C
- Updated slave BIOS 86.04.60.01.81 (11 GHz) GPU stabilizing at ~65°C
Of course this is just a hint, not an exhaustive test campaign, but my room temperature was roughly the same at +/- 1°C and I found the trend clear enough. I assume that the 11 GHz memory update remains overclocking, thus dissipating more heat, as for any GTX 1080 card (opposed to the GTX 1080 Ti with memory chips made for that speed). Then it should be treated as deserved: with proper cooling. So be careful and test your card in severe benchmarking after the BIOS update to confirm its stability!
 
Remark 2:
Prior to achieve the above steps, I've been trying for hours and hours to update my BIOS but every time it was not successful! Either the memory was recognized as "Unknown" and stuck at 405 MHz, or some other BIOS at 11 GHz such as 86.04.66.0*.8* were not compatible for flashing my FTW2 card in NVFlash throwing "Board ID mismatch" error impossible to override.
Finally the BIOS versions 86.04.3B.40.81 / 86.04.3B.41.81 provided in post #1 are definitely older revisions for former card stocks! So I guess EVGA should update this post with the appropriate files for every BIOS revision now available on these compatible cards...
 

Thank you!
 
This worked perfectly!

I just bought a FTW2 from ebay and it came with bios version: 86.04.3B.41.80 which DOES NOT match the versions in OP. I googled this bios version and found it listed on Techpowerup as an "unverified" bios. Am I using a modded bios of sorts? Which version should I have? And is it safe to upgrade using OP method?
 
EDIT: I called EVGA and they told me it's a legit version. Was a secondary bios. I went ahead and updated my primary bios to the 11ghz one. First thing I noticed was that my Power Limit slider only goes to 120 now, instead of 130. Second thing I noticed is that I can only get to around +500mhz on memory clock now, whereas my old bios, I would get +1000mhz. According to Afterburner's perf monitor, on either bios, my memory can go up to around 6000mhz before I start to get crashes during benchmarks. I can get about +45 on the CPU core. Another thing I noticed was that when I overclock on either bios, raising my voltage doesn't seem to help any. Why is this? And is it common?
 
So I dont know which is better-- The new one with lower power limit, or old one with lower memory clock and higher power limit... 
 
The highest Firestrike score I could get was 20361

blehblah
Another thing I noticed was that when I overclock on either bios, raising my voltage doesn't seem to help any. Why is this? And is it common?

The reason adding voltage isn't helping is because the slider doesn't actually add voltage it only unlocks higher voltage ranges that must be applied manually. My oc guide listed here will show you how to manually apply the extra voltage.

Sajin

blehblah
Another thing I noticed was that when I overclock on either bios, raising my voltage doesn't seem to help any. Why is this? And is it common?

The reason adding voltage isn't helping is because the slider doesn't actually add voltage it only unlocks higher voltage ranges that must be applied manually. My oc guide listed will show you how to manually apply the extra voltage.

 Will your method lock my voltage at highest voltage during idle? I dont really want that because my gpu is in a tiny itx case and would get hot. But I would like to be able to get more voltage out of my gpu if it is safe. What should I set my max voltage to when I ctrl+F? I have a FTW2 6686-KR

1.093mv is the max safe for a 1080 ti, and that is also the max you can apply. It won't lock the voltage at idle as long as you press ctrl+l again to unlock the voltage.

Sajin
1.093mv is the max safe for a 1080 ti, and that is also the max you can apply. It won't lock the voltage at idle as long as you press ctrl+l again to unlock the voltage.

 OK but I have a 1080 non-Ti..Same voltage?