Is flashing a 7850 to r7 265 possible?

[Theduckman]

Hi all,

As the title says, is this possible?

I have a msi 7850 that overclocks to 1190/1600, vcore 1.175 which is over the r7 265 speeds and same vcore, I know I wont gain much, but it mite have tighter memory timings, better bios etc.

So what do you think? seen as the r7 265 is basically a re-badged 7850 and if it is possible what bios should I use?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Wayfur]

I'm not 100% sure they actually changed anything aside from the name, but if you want to flash your GPU BIOS I recommend taking a look at this guide: http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2288384/upgrade-gpu-bios.html

*They did tweak some things when they rebranded, but honestly, I wouldn't bother messing with it if your card works fine. Just weigh the risk vs reward, a bricked card or an unnoticeable upgrade?.

 

[boosted1g]

I don't think there was enough of a change to make it remotely worth the risk.

 

[Theduckman]

Thanks for the reply and link to that page, sure it will come in handy.

I been googling around and it does seem its just a re-badged 7850, but with higher clocks, vcore and memory speeds, I just want to make sure before I do it, I wont be bothered if I brick the card tbh.

 

[Wayfur]

If you really don't care if the card makes it through this ordeal or not, and you think the upgrade is worth any trouble, I say why not? It'll be a learning experience anyway!

 

[mamasan2000]

I tried flashing bios on hd7870 with same clocks as I had etc but diff manufacturer. Did not work. Luckily I had a backup and a backup gfx card so I could flash it again, connecting both gfx cards in at the same time and making sure to reflash the right card.

Are there no bios OC tools for AMD? Like KeplerBiosTweaker for Nvidia. That way you could keep your BIOS, just up the clocks etc. Currently I have Asus 290x and it comes with an utility that can burn clock/volt settings to GFX BIOS.

 

[Theduckman]

If you really don't care if the card makes it through this ordeal or not, and you think the upgrade is worth any trouble, I say why not? It'll be a learning experience anyway!

That's my point, I'm not bothered, it just gives me an excuse to buy a new card! the misses moans when I upgrade!, she wont say anything if its broken lol

I love playing around with hardware! And like you said it'll be a learning experience!

 

[Theduckman]

I tried flashing bios on hd7870 with same clocks as I had etc but diff manufacturer. Did not work. Luckily I had a backup and a backup gfx card so I could flash it again, connecting both gfx cards in at the same time and making sure to reflash the right card.

Are there no bios OC tools for AMD? Like KeplerBiosTweaker for Nvidia. That way you could keep your BIOS, just up the clocks etc. Currently I have Asus 290x and it comes with an utility that can burn clock/volt settings to GFX BIOS.

I will backup the old bios, and I have a 3770k so should be able to flash it back if it goes wrong anyway.

Just thinking about what bios to flash it with as there's a few 265's about now.

 

[Wayfur]

That's my point, I'm not bothered, it just gives me an excuse to buy a new card! the misses moans when I upgrade!, she wont say anything if its broken lol

I love playing around with hardware! And like you said it'll be a learning experience!

Sounds good! definitely go for it then, I'd like to hear how it goes

*About the BIOS, you should try and go for the same manufacturer as your card, if not, try the closest substitute.

 

[Quixit]

You won't see any advantage at all, that is if you don't brick the card. There is a fair chance you will brick the card because of differences in RAM manufacturers or other on-board components. This is just a bad idea.

 

[Theduckman]

I'm still not sure as to which bios to flash it with, there's a few

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/2558/radeon-r7-265.html

2 msi ones but ones with boost, not sure which one to use, think I'll go with the non boost, then the boost if it works.

Another problem is what type of memory, my card has Hynix some others have Elpida.

also I'll bench this card as it is, take some screen shots then after (if it works that is lol)

 

[Wayfur]

You won't see any advantage at all, that is if you don't brick the card. There is a fair chance you will brick the card because of differences in RAM manufacturers or other on-board components. This is just a bad idea.

I agree with you, but as he said he really doesn't care, and in fact sounds like he wants to brick is card so he can get a new one without his other half complaining about it, I don't think there's actually a way to talk him out of it

 

[Theduckman]

You won't see any advantage at all, that is if you don't brick the card. There is a fair chance you will brick the card because of differences in RAM manufacturers or other on-board components. This is just a bad idea.

I'm honestly not bothered if I brick the card, I'll have fun doing it, I need an upgrade anyway.

And from a few of reviews I've just been looking at, the original sticker has been taken off then flash to a r7 265 beleave it or not, the reviewer even mentions it

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r7_265_review,2.html

page 2 last paragraph.

Update:

I've checked the Sapphire R7 265 bios using this editor: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/vbe7-vbios-editor-for-radeon-hd-7000-series-cards.189089/

And its "almost" the same as my MSI 7850, same memory etc
Going to give it a go in the morning!

 

[Theduckman]

Update:

Thought I'd give it a go tonight but it didn't work, tried 3 different bios, just a no go, didn't brick my card tho (what a shame lol)

I installed it using the onboard gc and it said it was a r7 200 in device manager but it just wouldn't work, no display at all even after reinstalling drivers etc etc etc

oh well never mind......

 

[Wayfur]

Update:

Thought I'd give it a go tonight but it didn't work, tried 3 different bios, just a no go, didn't brick my card tho (what a shame lol)

I installed it using the onboard gc and it said it was a r7 200 in device manager but it just wouldn't work, no display at all even after reinstalling drivers etc etc etc

oh well never mind......

Too bad haha.

There is a thread about flashing a 290 to a 290x on overclock.net forums that may give you some insight. According to the discussion over there, they are only able to get it working with a few select cards from specific manufacturers.

Here's the thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1443242/the-r9-290-290x-unlock-thread

 

[Quixit]

I'm confused as to why you actually have to brick the card? Why not just claim it's bricked? And then sell it on eBay.

 

[Theduckman]

I don't want to brick the card, just wanted to test it out, and if I did brick it it would have been an excuse to get a new one without the misses moaning like f*** (I try not to lie to her shes the unforgiving type lol), she wont moan about me getting a new card in the summer when the work is rolling in!...

 

[Undying89]

I flashed countless 7950 to 280's and 7970 to 280X, it works. I even edited the bios with VBE7 for higher clocks, voltages.

 

[Theduckman]

I flashed countless 7950 to 280's and 7970 to 280X, it works. I even edited the bios with VBE7 for higher clocks, voltages.

Yeah I was using VBE7 to check the bios before I flashed them (check memory types etc), tried 3 different R7 265 bios, non worked tho, cant seem to find any others other wise I'd give them a go.

 

[hd7850user]

I flashed countless 7950 to 280's and 7970 to 280X, it works. I even edited the bios with VBE7 for higher clocks, voltages.

can I have some tips? I want to flash the BIOS from r7 265 to my 7850, because my card does not want to be detected by my software for 3d modeling, unlike r7

 

[USAFRet]

can I have some tips? I want to flash the BIOS from r7 370 or 265 to my 7850, because my card does not want to be detected by my software for 3d modeling, unlike r7

The person you're replying to and asking hasn't been here since 2015.