How to flash bios from amd graphics card with ati flash ⭐️

The practice of flashing the BIOS of an AMD graphics card is not common in normal users, since manufacturers do not usually update this type of code on their cards after an official launch. However, there are cases where last minute changes are made, such as the case of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT where it has been necessary to carry out this procedure.

In other cases, it also serves to correct stability problems of certain graphics cards and even install modified BIOS to further squeeze our GPUs. All this we will do in a simple way with a program called ATI Flash without having to enter the command line.

Index of contents

Do GPUs have BIOS?

Of course they do, like any motherboard, a graphics card consists of a PCB full of electronic components that must be initialized and controlled by microcode, firmware or BIOS. With it all the performance parameters of the card are loaded in addition to the way it communicates with the motherboard through the PCIe slot.

A GPU BIOS has parameters such as the maximum TDP that the chipset uses, the frequency at which the chipset works or the frequency of the VRAM memory. All this and much more is parameterized in a file with a BIN or ROM extension that is loaded into a ROM memory integrated in the GPU itself.

Each assembler has a different BIOS adapted to the needs of their own creation, so it is not possible to update an Asus GPU with a Gigabyte BIOS for example. It also does not have a graphical interface like the UEFI, it is something much more closed and in principle only available by the creators.

Store BIOS of a GPU with GPU-Z

Before starting to flash the BIOS, we believe that it is highly recommended to store the current BIOS that the graphics card has, to have a backup in case something goes wrong or the BIOS that we install is not stable.

The best and fastest way to do this is using the ATI Flash program, but we wanted to teach a second way with a well-known program and because it can be used with any type of AMD or Nvidia graphics card.

The program in question is GPU-Z, which we can download directly from its creators TechPoweUp. This program allows us to see in detail the technical characteristics of our graphics card or integrated graphics CPU. It also includes a real-time performance monitor useful when overclocking, in addition to the function to store the BIOS.

It will be as simple as installing and starting the program and clicking on the button to the right of the " BIOS Version " line. Then click on " Save to file " and choose a place to store our file with the extension " .rom ". We will have it ready in case something goes wrong and we want to return to the previous situation.

This technique works for both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards, while ATI Flash will only allow saving AMD cards.

Flashing AMD GPU BIOS with ATI Flash

The program in question is called ATI Flash, as it is specific to this type of card, and we can obtain it directly from the TechPowerUp page. In addition to this application, we also have a list where the Nvidia GPU BIOS flash program, NVFlash, will appear, for which we already have a tutorial available in Professional Review.

Without further ado, let's unzip the Zip file and get into the " atiflash_xxx " directory. For greater comfort, we recommend taking our directory or file with the new BIOS and moving it to the program directory.

Now we are going to open the program " amdvbflashwin.exe " with administrator permissions, which will be in charge of opening the flashing software. Keep in mind that, if our graphics card is Nvidia, the program will show us a warning informing us that there is no discrete ATI card installed in the system.

The interface shown in the program is quite simple. In the upper area we have located the graphic card or cards that we have installed in our computer, always from AMD / ATI. Lower right we find some of the characteristics of the graphics card and our system.

If you want to save the current BIOS before…

If we wanted to save the BIOS before installing the new one, we should only click on the " Save " button. We will choose a name and directory for the BIOS that is currently installed on the graphics card.

Continuing with the flashing

The section that interests us the most is “ ROM Details ”. In it we can see first of all the current BIOS that the GPU has installed and the buttons to load the new BIOS and install it. We just have to click on " Load Image " to find and load the BIOS file.rom or.bin. If the BIOS is in another extension it does not matter, since the program will know for itself that it is a correct file or not.

After the file is loaded, click on " Program " and a status bar will open indicating that the BIOS is being loaded on the graphics card.

Just press " yes " when the message appears that we must restart so that the changes take effect on the system and hardware. The AMD GPU BIOS flashing process is complete.

Now when we start the program again, we will see that the new BIOS is already installed and appears in the current version.

Features before flashing

Features after flashing

We can also see the modifications that have been made to the graphics card specifications from the GPU-Z. In the example that we give you we see that there are quite a few changes from one version to another, being specifically an AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT. The clock frequencies of both the GPU and GDDR6 memory have changed, increasing from the effective 12 Gbps to 14 Gbps. This also results in increased bus width in memory. And something that has also changed and that is not reflected here in itself in consumption is the TDP, which went from 150W to 180W.

Manufacturer's Own Methods: Asus GPU Flashing

After seeing the general method with the previous program, some manufacturers like Asus will provide us with an even easier method of flashing with their own BIOS.

In this case, the file that we have of this assembler for your GPU consists of an executable which we will only double click on, and a command window will open for its execution.

If the graphics card has the Dual BIOS mode (switch integrated in the PCB to choose between one of the two available BIOS), then it will show us a warning message. Basically it is telling us that the new BIOS will be installed in ROM P or Q, depending on where we have the switch. While in the other space will remain the original so to speak, being able to alternate between them.

We just click on OK and after a few seconds the program will have flashed the GPU. Just touch restart as in the previous case so that the changes are reflected in the system.

Conclusion on flashing AMD GPU BIOS

As we can see it is an extremely easy and fast process, we only need the BIOS file and the program that we can download for free from the link we have left.

Perhaps it would be good for the user, we can have a program that would do the procedure for both AMD and Nvidia's GPUs, since they are more generic. Another aspect that we see very positive is the possibility of saving the current BIOS of the card, so as not to have to resort to a second program such as GPU-Z, although it would only be valid for AMD / ATI GPUs.

Now we leave you with some interesting tutorials:

If you have had any problems in the process, use the box below to tell us what it was. Did you know it was so easy to flash a BIOS?