flashing bios for noobs..

[thissiterocks]

ok so basically i want to know how to turn fastwrites on...

i hear that it might help around 100 points in benchmarknig... but i'm more interested in just trying it out than the fact whether it helps or not...

i was told that i'd have to change it in the bios... and since not there.. i'd have to get nvidia bios editor... flash bios or something and then i'd have it...

ok so i'm a nooob... i can shove on heatsinks and ramsinks... but this software stuff i really can't do...

i dled this software... and in hlep it says to get a setup disk i think... go to dos and "parameter <-b>" so and fill in the name so my bios is saved, then enter the new one and voila...

but i'm confused... rather from how to enter "parameter"

i need some sort of a guide for noobs...

basically i go into dos... get into the nvidia foder where this proggy is installed... then what??

and then how do i edit my bios so it allows me to fW...

thanks guys...

 

[Nodsu]

First of all, fastwrites can be turned on by driver software on the vid card side, if supported by the card and your (motherboard) BIOS, of course.
On the system side, you can turn it on in _system_ BIOS, if there is no option, you should try flashing the BIOS on your motherboard first. Also, if you can get info on the BIOS revisions, you should check whether the needed features are really available in the newer version of BIOS.

When flashing BIOS, you should be prepared to face a non-functional PC.
If you mess up with your system BIOS, then it's not too bad - at last resort, you can take out the ROM chip and flash it on some separate device.

If something goes wrong with the video BIOS, then it's much more messier...

I can tell from my own experience - BIOS flashing mechanism on the vid card was faulty and after erasing the old BIOS, I couldn't write another one. Even worse, the ROM chip was soldered to the card... I got a brand new video card ( instead of a TV card )

As for a guide for dummies (no offense ), it has to be video card specific. It would be nice to know what kind of video card you have and which program are you are going to use.

 

[thissiterocks]

i've got a asus geforce 2 mx 400 64 mb... aka asus v7100

please continue with ur guide... and please include the answer to this question... if i flash, is it gonna allow me to add this opetion?? i basically have to find a bios info that allows it or use an editor... like nvidia bios editor..

would you recomment to flash mobo first... i swear it used to be there... but i think it dissapeared... does that point out that maybe its the vga drivers?? should i try to go back to 23.11's or assus drivers and see if its unlocked; then its confirmed to be vga not letting me fw...

thanks.

 

[Didou]

The FastWrite feature is known to be very unstable on most chipsets. Flashing a BIOS can go very wrong & could result in the complete loss of your mainboard ( & the loss of your warranty at the same time ).

As Nodsu pointed it out, you can enable it by software & it's a much safer way to do so.

You can turn them on by using a program such as GTU ( GeForce Tweak Utility ) or RivaTuner. If you get stability problems when it's enabled, boot into safe mode & deactivate it.

You'll be going through a lot of trouble just to get 100 extra points in 3dmark IMO.:dead:

 

[thissiterocks]

where in rivatuner?? i can't find it... thanks guys...

also point out where in gtu please...

but i'm more used to rivatuner... if its not there in rt i'll go to gtu...

thanks again...

 

[Th3M1ghtyD8]

My program http://tweakdb.tk also has several graphics card related options including enabling AGP Fast Writes.

 

[Tarkus]

rivatuner can be found at..

http://www.guru3d.com/files/

under video card utilities

 

[JAV]

Riva Tuner > Power User > nVidia xx.xx (driver #) w9.x (or 2k/xp) System Global > Enable AGPFW (fast wrties) Enable AGPSBA (side-band addressing). Reboot & you're done.

As stated, BIOS flashing is a last resort & as tempting as Ray Adams BIOS flash for vid cards is, I'll pass.

HTH,