Everex XT5000T Support thread

[Whipsmack]

I managed to get the case off, you have to pop off the speaker panel cover from the sides and can do this with your hands but its pretty hard. I spent hours dismantling this thing to get acess to the graphics card. Used the heat gun on it, and well I think i completely fried the graphics card cause now it's a black screen. Epic fail and many hours wasted. It's a real shame to see a good computer down the drain.

 

[Rereg]

I managed to get the case off, you have to pop off the speaker panel cover from the sides and can do this with your hands but its pretty hard. I spent hours dismantling this thing to get acess to the graphics card. Used the heat gun on it, and well I think i completely fried the graphics card cause now it's a black screen. Epic fail and many hours wasted. It's a real shame to see a good computer down the drain.

I feel for ya! I took mine apart a few months back and baked the mbd 385 degrees F for 7 minutes. Ran for 3 days afterwards. Prolly didn't bake it long enough but I've got other things to play with before I spend another weekend on this again, lol.

 

[Meleniumshane90]

Just a heads up, both of you guys might give it a shot again. I was able to do the heatgun method on 3 laptops. Only one of the laptops needed to be done a second time, but they're all working still.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvn0esIXVZw

 

[Whipsmack]

Just a heads up, both of you guys might give it a shot again. I was able to do the heatgun method on 3 laptops. Only one of the laptops needed to be done a second time, but they're all working still.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvn0esIXVZw

It turns out I forgot to hook up that switch that tells if the monitor is closed. So it turns out.. IT WORKED !!! HAHA

I cooked the motherboard so hot with the heat gun, that it melted some plastic on the backside of the motherboard and was smoking! 6 minutes on the high 1000F setting with the Wagner heat gun from wal mart.

I now have an operational Everex XT5000t. The only problem, my GPU is running 101c!!! What were they thinking when they made this thing? I actually replaced that thermal pad with a copper penny but I don't think that is helping one bit. If you take off the thermal pad there will be a gap between the heat sink and GPU so it's tough.

Has anyone managed to get GPU temps down into some 70c levels at max load? What was your secret?

I feel like i'm living in 2008 again. Who needs a new computer now days? All the video games suck and I stopped playing them.

 

[Whipsmack]

It's scary to think how hot this computer got! I never worried about it because it was under a 3 year warranty Now that I am taking it apart it's crazy. I left the keyboard out and the plastic just above where the GPU would sit got so hot I would burn myself...ON THE PLASTIC. I am thinking of using a drimmel and cutting all the plastic to expose the GPU and drill in a couple fans. ( It's going to be a desktop anyways so I don't care what it looks like)

One more thing! Is there a tool that can allow me to underclock and lower the voltage of my GPU?

 

[Meleniumshane90]

Ohhh. so you're the guy who commented on the video. Yeah 1000F lol, I'm surprised you didn't melt the plastic on the cables around it .

I started working on making my own heatsink assembly for the laptop. I could never get enough people to design a new one and send them off in bulk to be made, so I figured I'd do some welding and make one myself.

I might put out a video on that progress. Basically, I bought some 5V fans, several GPU and NB heatsinks on here, plus I have a heatpipe I can use from a large Mascool heatsink. I just need to get some welding equipment and re-sketch a layout again. Let me know how you make out.

 

[Whipsmack]

I used a drimel to cut an opening where the GPU is and i'm attempting to place a fan over the opening. (I should have just cut this opening to access the GPU in the first place) WAY EASIER than taking this computer fully apart.

Attaching it shouldn't be a problem with the right screws and drilling some screw holes. The major issue though. How do you hook up a 3 prong case fan to a laptop? I imagine a laptop has no alternate fan hook-ups.

 

[Whipsmack]

I hooked up the 12v fan to a 12v AC DC adapter and plugged her in. I also cut another opening above the memory for a place for the air to enter in.

When gaming my GPU temp is a max of 72c!!! Before this fan modification I was running 101c!!!

CPU runs 15c cooler too. I wish I had done this years ago. Good stuff i'll let you know if she keeps running after the heat gun treatment

 

[Meleniumshane90]

The biggest challenge is heat evacuation, but you should look into changing out the thermal pads with a shim and some Arctic Silver 5. Plus, you can run RMClock to undervolt the thing a bit to cut back. (which is waaaay at the beginning of this lengthy thread).

I've been setting up my desk and everything, so I'll have some more room and time to work on mine. I'll post here if I work on the heatsink and cooling the system.

 

[allbeengone]

Here is what i did for my laptop
120~127F when idle and 170ish when running a game (specifically halo 2) with the ambient temperature around 90F. Im using the hidden usb port to power a 5v fan and im thinking of adding another fan over the wireless module... Heres the link to the fan i used http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290617342344

 

[Whipsmack]

Excellent, I think your solution was way better than mine. Since yours can be used as a laptop once again. Mine is just used as a desktop.

 

[pendinglf]

good price for this laptop . I will buy one .

 

[enieves137]

I did a post previously about a Ebay seller who did some rework for me December2010. Paid this dude to fix my laptop with upgrades, came out to be $150 then shipping $35. Thought he was good but not even good he completely lied about fixing laptop. When I actually got the laptop it did the exact same thing at boot up. Yes it's the Nvidia graphic chip.

Well I kept the laptop in pristine order put it in a seal tote till I could find rework tech in town. So October 2011 found a guy in Phoenix. When he opened the laptop found some serious problems. Broken motherboard!

He didn't heat sink the graphic ship correctly, the nuts that the heat sink mounts to were broken, the express card slot, wireless were broken. Missing screws.

Read as follows copy paste email I got from him, not the total email but I kindly sent him my results:


Ee we would never do any of that damage..

Obviously someone got in there and did something..

Wes

The Pc Pitstop
Avon New York
www.mylaptopisbroke.com
585-226-1222

This message may contain confidential information for the use of the
addressee(s) above and may contain legally privileged information. If you
are not the addressee, or the person responsible for delivering it to the
addressee, you are hereby notified that reading, disseminating,
distributing, or copying this message is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this message by mistake, immediately notify us by replying to the
message and delete the original message immediately thereafter. Thank you.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Nieves [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2011 12:38 PM
To: wesly aldrich
Subject: Re: warranty repair form

Hello Wesly,
Don't know if you remember me but the client with the Everex XT5300 Nvidia
graphic IC problem. Not asking for anything just some info for you, after
having my laptop fixed. I finally found a local person to do the BGA reflow,
he fixed it, been running none stop for two days. I still have heat problem
on the GPU but trying to figure out something permanent.

The email is to let you know that when I removed the motherboard I found
several issues with your work.
1) The nuts that are soldered to the motherboard and there is only two, were
broken off the MB. These are used to keep the GPU heat sink mounted to the
motherboard.
2) No thermal pad on the GPU IC or the north bridge IC so you had to have
removed it. Buy some Amazon XBDepot has a great deal they use on Xbox
repair. The heat sink compound was not enough since there is a gap about
1/4" from heat sink to IC, a little thermal pad would have been better.
After research this common practice on most laptop manufactures.
3) Missing screws.

You were very nice and professional on the phone. I spent $150 to fix it but
you didn't, plus your work could be better. Hope you take constructive
criticism, just care for you customers.

 

[allbeengone]

So... i got my board back from avonpcpitstop and installed my board into my lapotp and everything is working. On closer inspection it does not seem like they switched out the graphics chip as they state they would. So i dont know if i got a reflow or a complete reball even tho i ordered a reball.

 

[enieves137]

I had them upgrade my CPU but they didn't give me the old one back. So, I to question there honesty, I know there rework is bad. Found a motherboard on Ebay the other day, going to buy it to get my XT5300 back up fully functional. He also said that he, being Wes said that they were not going to work on the Everex model because of the difficulty reworking the motherboard.

Also made a BBB complaint, they are not registered with them but BBB will try anyway to resolve the issue.

 

[jasmineaura]

Motherboard placed on a grill net atop a very old school heater
K-type thermocouple passed through hole in board to measure the temp directly below it.

Trying to keep temp range between 95-100 degrees to bake out any possible moisture, as to avoid "pop-corning" effect during smd reflow / hot air session. let sit 2 hours

Kada 852 SMD Rework Station (hot air). K-Type thermocouple taped (with heat-resistant tape) to the center of the Nvidia GPU Chip, after fluxing both it and the nearby NorthBridge chipset, with liquid flux completely underneath it. Profile roughly equivalent to this: http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f404/nvidia-gpu-chip-problem-746159/index5.html#post5793699
Modded it with copper shims for GPU & NB chips, and the bridge between their heatsink and heatpipe of cpu. For the copper shims, I cut out parts of a small piece of copper pipe that was used for A/C, with a saw, then flattened with hammer and polished to a near-mirror finish with filer

Laptop working, on battery power (or whats left of it)

Temps at idle, on battery power, power saving mode (both GPU and CPU Throttled). Time to update windows, and switch to Debian Linux

Temps at peak load, on AC power, full cpu speed, Nvidia PowerMizer "balanced" mode. CPU cools quick but not so for the Nvidia GPU.. (after few minutes idle, CPU down to 30C, GPU @ 49C)

Notes:
Bios Version: 1.1D
CPU: Turion 64 X2 TL-50 (original)

Original wifi card seems to be working perfectly now.. Absolutely no signs of wifi drops as before.

 

[jasmineaura]

Windows 7 (incl. x64) updated drivers:

Realtek High Definition Audio (currently R2.66):
http://driverscollection.com/?H=High Definition Audio Codecs&By=RealTek&SS=Windows 7 64-bit

Alps Touchpad (with V/H and circular scrolling & zoom gestures)
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers...ormats?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&DriverId=R305170

Atheros AR5006EG (XT5000T/XT5300T)
http://driverscollection.com/?file_cid=401890303987c3300da7ef1f631
The best performance I can find, and better sensitivity & signal strength accuracy than the older (10/20/2006) WLAN driver on pcambrosia's mirror from "Vista x64.zip". Although this driver version is still a bit dated (07/10/2007, 7.3.1.42), none of the many 8.x.x and 9.x.x drivers I found (and installed OK) worked right, even after restart...

BattCursor -- for use with hotkey driver to see volume & brightness up/down On Screen Display (OSD):
http://en.battcursor.net/download.aspx
you can disable almost all BattCursor's features if you only need the OSD when changing volume/brightness (for example, when using Win7 OS PM or RMClock PM)

 

[Meleniumshane90]

The BattCursor looks interesting - though I'm more interested in what the 'circular scrolling gesture' is.

I really wished someone would program something like Ik8FanGUI for the thing so I could crank the fan up without having to put my own on there. Oh well, my laptop project is all the way on the back burner.

 

[jasmineaura]

Circular scrolling, like vertical/horizontal scrolling, allows you to scroll vertically & horizontally, but only without having to take your finger off the touch pad to keep scrolling up/down or right/left.

 

[jasmineaura]

Updated Windows 7 and Vista (x86 & x64) WLAN driver for the stock Atheros AR5006EG adapter in the XT5000T:

Edit:
Version 7.6.1.204 (1/13/2009)
http://files.laptopvideo2go.com/wlan/atheros_v7.6.1.204.exe

Version 7.6.1.237 (4/9/2009)
(It seems this driver version doesn't work with the Wifi on/off button (front panel). sometimes wifi turns off but quickly comes back on by itself, ignoring wifi off switch.)
http://files.laptopvideo2go.com/wlan/atheros_v7.6.1.237.exe

Retrieved from (updated thread): http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/to...wlan-drivers-for-windows-7-and-vista-x86-x64/

I decided this is the most up-to-date driver we can use without sacrificing throughput/low-latency, after TONS AND TONS of testing of all drivers listed on the above source (and several others sources / manufacturers)

Here's a technical briefing on what I found (if you're so inclined):

Version 9.2.x, 9.1.x, 9.0.x, and 8.0.0.x weren't optimized with older (pre Wireless-N) Atheros cards in mind. Though it would've been nice to use one of these, as they employ the newer NDIS 6 (Vista/7 only) interface and allow for dual wireless operation (Client + AP), they all result in quite poor performance, least of which is about 10% - 25% packet drop.

So lesson learned: For the sake of the Atheros a/b/g only cards (non Wireless-N) on Vista/7 x64, stick with the 7.6.1.x series or older (for fun, I also tested 7.3.1.127 & 7.6.1.204, looked OK in my testing).

 

[jasmineaura]

By far the best Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 driver I can find for Win7 x64 yet, simply because the latest from Nvidia (179.xx), as well as the one from MS Update, suck frog legs.. Think frequent IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL & nvlddmkm.sys stop error BSOD's, recurring "driver stopped responding and recovered" issues, etc.. Also stay away from the 19x.x drivers. They all suck for us Go 7600'ers.

DOX Optimized Forceware Driver 185.85 (Vista/7 x86/x64):
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/24003-forceware-18585/
(Powermizer on by default, and up/down-stepping is real smooth, which makes me at peace of mind to try playing some games on it once again, in the near future

You also must get this little gadget.. works real well with the 185.85 driver (the only driver that gave me gfx mem stats btw):

http://blog.orbmu2k.de/sidebar-gadgets/gpu-observer-sidebar-gadget

Edit: on a side note, if you wanna mess with Powermizer, check out NVidia Powermizer Manager: http://somemorebytes.com/wp/index.php/software/nvpmmanager/

 

[jasmineaura]

I really wished someone would program something like Ik8FanGUI for the thing so I could crank the fan up without having to put my own on there. Oh well, my laptop project is all the way on the back burner.

I'm working on a hotkey driver replacement for the function keys, at least for ones that don't work out-of-the-box on Win7, like display brightness, (and throw in on/off display features), the touchpad on/off (with the updated dell touchpad driver i posted prior), and the media keys atop the keyboard..

During my poking around with the old hotkey driver to see why it suddenly stopped working and refused to ever work again (in Win7 x64), and before I decided to start developing a portable replacement, I played a little with the WinIO driver (which FIC's hotkey driver used).. I hope I'll figure out a way to mess with the stock FAN.. Keep posted.

 

[jasmineaura]

The best I can find so far in terms of simulating direct fan control:

1. Download latest RWEverything (currently v1.5.2)

2. Click Access -> Embedded Controller (or the EC icon in the toolbar)

3. Enter 006E and 006A for the EC_SC and EC_DATA values

4. Change bit E9 (E0 + 09 in the table) from 01 to FF to increase fan speed, or FF to 01 for low fan speed..

Changing bit E9 to 00 (whether from 01 or FF) seems to consistently result in quick system powerdown, even if temps are low. In some prior testing, I somehow managed to boot system with fan off, but couldn't duplicate this again... Oh well

 

[jasmineaura]

Unlocked BIOS version 1.1D Download Link

Thanks to Ahmed Hossam, Phoenix section moderator at bios-mods.com forum (XT5000T thread link)

Flashed and confirmed working like a charm, by me.

Some emulated screens from Phoenix Bios Editor Pro, highlighting your changes:

1. USB Bios Legacy Support moved to main page

2. Static Info page replaced with several options.. Most interesting is the CPU Throttle option which is disabled by default. Couldn't tell a difference yet after enabling it.

3. Advanced page.. Some possibly useful options

4. iGPU - Chipset settings page. Enabling it doesn't seem to make any difference. Windows doesn't detect any new hardware, and CPU-Z only lists the standalone Geforce Go 7600 in the GPU tab, with the drop down list dimmed. Ponders whether Dynamic Crush Voltage would be of any use then. From quick preliminary testing, enabling it doesn't seem to cause any change in terms of idle GPU temp (GPU shares heatsink with NB chipset).

Some real screenshots of the iGPU - Chipset page:

 

[jasmineaura]

Everex users may be interested to keep an eye on my bios-mods thread for updates to the ACPI DSDT table of BIOS 11D. This first update concerns all users who have problems with Video / Wireless, especially due to the IRQ resource mess..

DSDT Update v0.1:

Most notable highlights of fixes:
1. Incorporated fixes from the DSDT of the Amilo Xa1526 Bios 11S, particularly to how resources are assigned or distributed.
2. Fixed a bunch of errors and warnings for both iasl (intel) and asl (microsoft) compilers to ensure better ACPI Spec compliancy

http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Everex-XT5000T?pid=43969#pid43969

Cheers

 

[jasmineaura]

As posted on my bios-mods.com thread:

DSDT v0.2 Thermal / Fan Control Update

Download:
Code only: http://jas.gemnetworks.com/DSDT_PSS/DSDT_v0.2.dsl
Code & binary AML: http://jas.gemnetworks.com/DSDT_PSS/DSDT_v0.2.zip

Highlights of changes:
1. Much more sensible temperature trip points for Active Cooling, Passive Cooling, and Critical Temperature -- kick fan earlier.
2. Much more sensible Fan speeds and fan speed management, using preexisting hysteresis logic for Active Cooling Levels 0 and 1.
3. Implements additional fan speeds, including a quite-mode/ultra-low fan speed (for battery operation mode to conserve power), medium-high, and high (near full-blow) fan speed (for AC operation mode).
4. No longer are speeds always low & medium-low (both in Battery/AC mode). Now speeds for AC mode is: low -> medium-high -> high, and for Battery mode is: ultra-low -> low -> medium.
5. Adds the new speeds while maintaining existing ACPI Fan devices, by associating the higher two speeds in each power profile with each of the ACPI Fan devices, and statically using low/ultra-low speeds as default for AC/Battery profiles when both ACPI Fan devices are off. Fan off method is discovered (in comments in the code) but not used for safety, due to NVidia GPU heat issues in these laptops.
6. Fan speed transitions occur depending on current temperatures, even while the OS is booting -- provided enough stress on CPU (on all of Win XP, Win 7, and Linux). Now, ACPI/Thermal Zone temp never reaches 70C on any OS (with this DSDT + SSDT undervolt), regardless of how much stress you throw at the CPU, due to kicking the high fan speed (in AC operation) at 65C (drops back down to medium-high when CPU temp drops to 55C).
7. Accurate temp readings by fixing Celsius->Kelvin conversions.
8. Bunch of code optimizations and some minor code logic fixes.

--

Screenshots:

Original DSDT (v0.1 -- with minor changes incorporated from Bios 11S for Amilo Xa 1527):

After the DSDT update:

Win XP:

Win 7:

Linux (3.0.0):

--

Todo:
Drivers for direct user fan and throttling control on Windows/Linux

 

[jasmineaura]

As just posted on the same Bios-mods thread I mentioned prior:

vBios mod for Geforce Go 7600 in Everex XT5000T / Amilo Xa 1527 (same vBios md5sum)

This mod undervolts the 3D performance state in the G73M vBios to 1V (down from 1.1V)

Tools used:
1. phoenixtool195 to unpack/repack the bios
2. NiBiTor 6.04 (NVidia Bios Editor) to edit the OPROM1.rom module containing the vBios

Caveats:
Unsurprisingly, NiBiTor shows there are only two VIDs (Voltage IDs) available: "01" (1V) and "00" (1.1V). By default, "2D" and "Throttle" states both use 1V, and 3D uses 1.1V.
Unfortunately, one can't additional VIDs as the VID bitmask is "01".. Because, if you do a bitwise-AND anything with 1, you'll either get 1 or 0, so only 2 VIDs for this board (XTB70).. I've looked at it's schematic, page 22 iirc shows the voltage control logic, quite unflattering to say the least.
That said, I may have to resort to a hard-mod to undervolt the 3D state further, and the 2D/throttle states.

Screenshots to prove it:

Before the MOD:
After 17 minutes of EXTREME burning of GPU which results in it reaching a near-critical 88C before THRM temperature hits the 64C/65C mark and activates the "Active Cooling 0" level (which triggers the ultra high fan speed, per my last DSDT mods)

Once the high fan speed is triggered, temp drops to 85C (only -3C difference), and stays there. This is of course due to GPU sharing HSF with CPU..

After the MOD:
~7.5 minutes, ACPI THRM hits 64-65C, at the exact moment that the GPU is 78C, compared to 88C before. That's a 10C drop for only 0.1V !!!

10 minutes later (with high fan on), the GPU is snagged @ 77C, compared to 85C before.. 8C drop, still one heckuva deal for only 0.1V

Download Modded BIOS 1.1D for Everex XT5000T

Cheers

 

[rage27]

Damn guys my laptop still works !!! i have baked it around 5 times over the past 3 years and it works every time, hope you guys remember me, i joined this site cause it had this thread (the only good source of information on this laptop) just to let you guys know about the baking method and 3 years later this thread still going and i think the heat gun method is the best cause you can put the heat where it is needed most but i dont have a thermostat so i dont use my heat gun on mine. I also installed a fan over the gpu recently and it hasen't stop working yet but I bought 2 new laptops recently cause this method of baking allowed me to save enough to get a quadcore and a dual core. But if Everex was still going strong maybe i would have been tempted to buy one more of there laptops, cause they normally have good hardware for the price, i am crazy right . Even with the gpu problem this laptop has soul thats why it has fans they never forget the deal they got with this Everex laptop being at least $500 cheaper than other brands with the same hardware at the time. Mine wil be a backup for now never selling this too many memories with this machine. CHEERz

 

[rage27]

BTW any know of or have any logitech z 5500 for sale second hand in good condition for good price let me know in pm k or you can call me at 876-450-3529 . thankz

 

[jasmineaura]

For reference, the DIP switch is documented in the XTB70 motherboard schematic, page 47 of 57: http://www.scribd.com/doc/83072469/PTB50-FIC-XTB70#page=46

From top to bottom:

1. CRISIS: Enables "Boot Block / Crisis Rescue" (According to FIC's terms). From quick google search: "Bios Recovery Boot Block is a special block of BIOS. It is used to boot up the system with minimum BIOS initialization. Users can enable this feature to restore the BIOS firmware to a successful one once the previous BIOS flashing process failed."
For Phoenix, this typically involves using a program called "phoenix crisis disk build" (wincris.exe) to prepare the crisis disk / usb key, then copying a known-working bios to the crisis disk with the name "bios.wph" (rename flashabl.rom to bios.wph?), then rebooting with both the battery in and the AC adapter connected. Then after booting, the usb key will be accessed for a few seconds then flash should begin and take a few minutes (up to 5 min?). Then you can turn off the laptop, turn the crisis switch back off, and turn the laptop back on and it should successfully boot with the working bios.

2. CMOS_CLEAR: just what it says

3. KBSEL1: This tells the BIOS the type of keyboard installed (ex. US vs. UK keyboard).

4. CIR_ON: The Amilo Xa 1527 BIOS has option to enable CIR Controller. The Everex XT5000T doesn't have that, hence why there's a switch there, as both laptops share same board, but with minor differences/additions in the Amilo.

 

[jasmineaura]

9 Steps to completely disassemble XT5000T motherboard (XTB70):

1. Remove backpanel screws, pull off. Remove fan power connector & its three screws and pull fan out. Remove 4 screws around CPU and gently lift off the heatpipe/heatsink assembly. Disconnect wireless RF antenna cables.



2. Flip over, open lid, then start popping off speakers cover from the bottom end, going left to right, starting at the point right above the Insert key, then pop off from left and right sides:



3. Remove 2 screws holding down keyboard, the power board ribbon connector and the 2 silver screws holding it down



4. Remove top cover screws, pop out the 2 small hinge covers and the large cover hiding the monitor/antenna cables, and disconnect all cables on right side and the touchpad ribbon cable on left side



5. Remove hinge screws from the back, and lift off LCD monitor slowly.



6. Make sure you remove hidden speaker connector at the top side while slowly sliding off the top cover. Dont rip it off



7. Disconnect cables going to subwoofer connector and modem jack connector. Then remove two screws holding down the SATA connectors board, and slowly lift it off out of its socket (at the right), and slowly wiggle the SATA connectors out of there slots.



8. Remove 5 screws holding down the main board, and the two screws holding down the attached front panel board. Double check that the correct two connectors noted in previous steps are disconnected. Also, when lifting board off, do it slowly, paying attention to the BIOS battery cable on the underside, which you will have to disconnect while slowly lifting the board off. I forgot to note in the pictures that you also need to unscrew the two nuts securing the DVI connector on the back, using a small pair of pliers or whatever (otherwise you will not be able to lift the board out). Finally, you will have to pay close attention to gently push the side of the plastic case near the firewire connector on the rear/right side to be able to easily wiggle the board out.



9. Mainboard removed and front panel board detached.



Please note that in these steps I did not care to remove the modem card nor the wireless cards.I also did not remove the GPU/Northbridge heatsink. Obviously, if you were to reflow the board, you'll need to do all that.

Cheers

 

[jasmineaura]

GPU UNDERVOLT MOD for XT5000T/XTB70 Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 (G73M)

Thought I could make temperatures go down further by under-volt-modding the 2D/3D VIDs (Voltage IDs), especially since my previous success in (soft)modding the vBios module in the main BIOS to make 3D performance state use the lower (2D) voltage of 1.0V instead of the default 1.1V. To make a long story short, I was able to attain a ~0.08V drop in both 2D and 3D voltages, from stock voltages.

For more info, electronic/mathematical details here: http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?p=11356125#post11356125. Also quoted below:

MOD Details:
Removed R55 (10K&#937, soldered thin wire to the positive end of its place in the circuit, and soldered a wire to ground (the DC jack housing), then connect these to wiper and a terminal of a 20K pot (adjusted to 10K). Also soldered a (red) wire to the positive end of C15, to measure vCore (in reference to ground).

Findings:
With stock vBios, VIDs correlate to 1 and 1.1V
However, with R55 exactly = 10.00KΩ, The readings are a tad higher, 1.025-1.028V and 1.128-1.130V, respectively. That's about 0.028- 0.030 overvolt, in the stock configuration.

Now, from extensive testing, the lowest vCore that will run 2D perfectly is 0.945V, by adjusting R55's replacement pot to 11.93KΩ. That makes the 3D voltage = 1.048V. So that's ~0.08V drop in both 2D and 3D voltages, from stock.

By flashing a modded BIOS (vBIOS module modded) so that 3D uses same VID as 2D, I was able to determine that lowest vCore possible for 3D without corruption = 0.987V.

But, I wanna keep the lower 2D voltage (0.945V) while having ~1V for 3D.

If I only modify R60 (leaving R55=10K&#937, that wouldn't get me much closer:
R1 = (Vout/FB - 1)*R2
R60 = (0.945V/0.5V - 1)*10 = 8.9KΩ
when VDD_SEL=L,
Vout = 0.5V (1 + 8.9/8.333333) = 1.034V

So, best option is leaving R55=11.93K, and modding R44 to adjust the 3D voltage.

To get Vout = 1.0V:
R2 = 10/(1.0V/0.5V - 1) = 10KΩ
And, Since:
R2 = 1/(1/R55 + 1/R44), when VDD_SEL=L
Therefore:
R44 = 1/(1/R2 - 1/R55)
And given new R55 = 11.93KΩ
R44 = 1/(1/10 - 1/11.93) = 61.8KΩ

So I guess one could connect another 20K pot in series between R44(50K&#937 and Q8 to add ~ 11.8KΩ to effectively drop the 3D voltage to ~1.0V

But I decide it is not worth the effort to do any further MOD. As is, with R55 @ 11.93KΩ, I'm getting 1.048V for 3D, and the temp difference for another -0.05V drop will probably be negligible. Besides, this should give me a little head-room to up the 3D clock a bit, for fun

Pictures, cuz everyone love em

1. Locations of R55 (for modding) & C15 (for measuring vCore)



2. Closer pic, also showing positive versus ground ends of R55



3. Removed the 10KΩ SMT resistor at R55, and soldered thin (white) wire to positive end of R55 and another thing wire (red) C15.
I used an old CD-Audio cable, and stripped off one end. Make sure to not strip more than 1 or 2mm of the end of the wire that you're going to solder to R55+ because the area is quite small, and the original resistor is 1mm long! MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT BRIDGE positive & ground terminals after removing the resistor, or when soldering your wire to the positive end. This requires your soldering skills -- and eyes, or lens(es) -- to be top-notch



4. Solder thicker (black) wire to DC jack for a ground. without potentiometer connected, R55+ to ground should be exactly 10.0KΩ. After connecting the pot, pre-adjusted at exactly 10.0KΩ (just as the SMT resistor we removed), the resistance between R55+ to ground should drop to exactly 5.0KΩ. If you're way off, recheck your work.



5. Fold wires down around to the bottom side and out through the back-panel. Cover soldered areas with electric tape or whatever, and fold over the other side of the board for added physical protection to the soldered ends.



6. Picture showing our control end after semi-complete reassembly



Now you can test for yourself. Make sure R55=10KΩ by setting and measuring your pot's resistance out of circuit. For a 20KR55=10KΩ linear pot, the dial should be around the center of the ~180degree range.
Measure vCore while GPU is idle, and when in 3D mode (use gpu stress tool like furmark or whatever to invoke it), and verify your findings are close to mine -- in the quote above.
Of course, never measure resistance in circuit while the system is on. You'll kill your multimeter's resistance-measuring circuit, or the whole thing.
As mentioned in the quote above: In my case, the highest resistance I can set the pot to, and have no corruption in 2D was 11.93KΩ (2D vCore=0.945V).

7. Once you're done and happy with your mod, wrap connector with electric tape so no active voltage points are visible/exposed. Then, wrap the whole thing (connector+pot) with electric tape as well. Finally, fold cable and stash the whole package to the right side of the fan, that way you can re-close the backpanel and start checking actual operating temps.



Cheers

 

[enieves137]

Thanks jasmineaura all this great information and motherboard schematic. Now I can finish my XT5300.

 

[allbeengone]

Can anyone tell me how to flash the bios? Im having trouble creating the USB FDD

 

[enieves137]

I used the HP USB bios flash tool:
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197

Really need to be careful with this type of software; you can erase any drive without any flags. Make sure your pointing to the correct drive when you start.

Once you get the usb drive configured to boot then copy the bios utility software and the .bin file to the usb drive. Boot the computer it should boot to DOS, once in find the executable file for the bios utility software.

 

[allbeengone]

Sorry im a noob at this but where do i get the .bin files?

 

[enieves137]

Sorry I said .bin but I meant .rom file. Tanware, another HardForum dude has most if not all the files you need. He may have instructions on his website, in how to use flash programs.

http://www.pcambrosia.com/xt5000t/

Just be careful and again I express my need to mention to read the instructions.

 

[allbeengone]

Ok so i used the HP disk tool and selected create a DOs-Image. I pinpointed it to the windows 98 startup files and after the programs runs i look at the USB and nothing is created? I have folders unhidden. When i try to Boot to the flash drive nothing appears on the screen except for a clashing cursor.... Any idea why?

 

[enieves137]

First don't think this software works in Win7 so you need to do this on a WinXP machine. I've always used "internal MS-Dos files", which copies files from within the OS.

If you pointed to the folder that has the Dos files it should have worked, unless nothing was in the folder. Now you need several files to boot into dos, earlier dos version needed 6 main files but later version 6.22 adds many more files. Anyway answer to your question is your missing key files that will boot the machine.

http://www.allbootdisks.com/disk_contents/dos.html

If you don't have the files.

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

 

[allbeengone]

I still cant create a bootdisk... can you list out the steps and files you used to create one? Im using windows xp