Location of MX MX25U4033E on G5-793 motherboard

fejerm
fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
edited November 2023 in 2019 Archives
Dear Ace members !
Could some one please check the service manual of the Predator G5-793 laptop and tell me the location of the Macronix MX25U4033E chip which is storing the vbios ?
Would help a lot since otherwise the whole motherboard would have to be sweeped :) 

Thank you! 

Best Answer

  • fejerm
    fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
    edited January 2019 Answer ✓
    Update
    Found the vBIOS!
    It is NOT stored in the system bios, it is on a separate Macronix MX25U4033E chip! (as I suspected)
    The chip is on the same side as the System BIOS and EC chip (the other side of the motherboard). 

    Default TDP is 78W for the VGA and with OC maximum graphics score I was able to get was 12200 points in Fire Strike. 
    I have modded the vBIOS from 78W to 110W, now the max points have increased to 13467 ! Not bad compared to the factory default 11400 :) 


    Was a bit tricky to flash the modded vBIOS. 
    An RT809F SPI programmer gave validation error when reading the factory vBIOS. 
    Then we tried an TL866CS which was able to read and save the vBIOS to an 512 kb ROM file. 

    However when writing the modded vBIOS (256 kb file saved with nvflash) the TL866CS gave write error. 
    However RT809F was able to write and verify it. 

    tl;dr: for saving an TL866CS was needed, for writing a RT809F :D 

    ps: funny thing is, the GTX 1060 still has some power throttling, so it wants to use even more than 110W :O but I am afraid to give more because it might damage some components. 

Answers

  • xapim
    xapim ACE Posts: 7,253 Pathfinder
    edited January 2019
    Why would you be looking for that chip in particular are you trying to unlock your bios in some way ? because if its that no one will help you just stating as it's against all rules


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  • XdxD
    XdxD Member Posts: 1,584 Community Aficionado WiFi Icon
    Have you forgotten your BIOS password?
    Trying to do my best here - Your happy Predator owner =)!
  • fejerm
    fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
    edited January 2019
    I am trying to increase the low TDP of the GTX 1060 set in the vBIOS. By default it is locked at 78W, even a minimal increase to 100W would help the gpu boost clock a lot and the cooling could easely handle the extra TDP. 
    By increasing the TDP from 78W to 100W the performance of the VGA would increase about 5% without any overclock. With overclock 20% percentage increase would be possible with 100W TDP. Temp increase would be about +10C so still well within acceptable range. 
    Higher TDP and more performance increase might be possible but going above 100W could damage the laptop (or the EC might not even allow boot). 

    My G5 went through a lot of modding, for instances my BIOS is already unlocked :) 

    More info here: 
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/acer-predator-g5-modding.826771/

    The reason why I need the location of the chip is because the modded vBIOS can only be flashed with an SPI programmer. 
    Would have been easier to check the service manual for the location of the chip, but oh well, I guess I have to find it the old fashioned way. 
  • Red-Sand
    Red-Sand ACE Posts: 1,892 Pathfinder
    I don't think you quite understand.

    A laptop GPU is set as is with power limits and apart from a shunt mod I don't think it can be changed. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure laptops have their limits set different.

    In any case if you send me some quadrant quality pics I'll point out your BIOs chip for you.
    - Hotel Hero
  • fejerm
    fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
    edited January 2019
    Red-Sand said:
    I don't think you quite understand.

    A laptop GPU is set as is with power limits and apart from a shunt mod I don't think it can be changed. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure laptops have their limits set different.

    In any case if you send me some quadrant quality pics I'll point out your BIOs chip for you.
    Not exactly :)
    The TDP of the card is stored in the vbios.
    Vbios=  bios of the video card and not the system bios. These are 2 different things 
    The reason why people are using shunt mod is because if you change the TDP in the vbios it will loose it's cheksum and nvflash will not allot it to be flashed from windows or dos .
    The only way  to flash a vbios without an officially signed cheksum is with an spi programmer and for most people a shunt mod is cheaper and easier.
    This checksum check was introduced for Pascal cards by Nvidia so users could not mod the card at home.

    If the laptop VGA is using an MXM board it can definitely be modded.
    If the laptop is a bga laptop it all depends on if the vbios is stored on a separate chip OR built inside the system bios.
    If the vbios is inside the system bios it can not be modded.

    But you are right, there is a limit.
    The Embedded Controller might not allow the laptop to boot if a component exceeds the power limit set for it in the EC.
    Perfect example is when I modded the GTX 1060 in an Asus G752VM.
    The vbios there is stored on a separate Winbond chip .
    2 different vbios was programmed on it with an spi programmer.
    The laptop did not boot with a vbios using 120W tdp limit, but worked fine with a 100W tdp.
    Increasing there the TDP from 78W to 100W made it possible to set the gtx 1060 to gtx 980 performance.
    Maybe a 110W tdp would have worked too but it would have been really close to the edge.

    I doubt I can get more than 100W in the G5, but that would mean a huge performance increase as well.

    I know where the bios chip is (and as you can see flashing a modded bios was also done), is the mentioned vbios chip on the same side or the other side (where the CPU and GPU is)?

  • fejerm
    fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
    If I remember correctly both bios and ec are stored on 1-1 Winbond chip in the g5, or I am not remembering correctly and the system bios in the g5 is not stored on a Winbond chip like the EC and 

    MX25U4033E

    Is actually the system bios chip and nvflash is reading the vbios from the bios (meaning the vbios is built inside the system bios in this model ?) ?
  • Deejay_tech
    Deejay_tech Member Posts: 356 Seasoned Practitioner WiFi Icon
    edited January 2019
    what about the vbois on a helios 300 with 1050i chip. can it be modded, if so how to do it. i mean what setting to change in vbois. ( if 1050i has seperate vbois i can read the rom , that is no lroblem.)
    i have no issues with flashing through spi programmer as i have all the accessories llike 1.8v adapter, and the chip clip etc ..

    if the vbois chip needs to be desoldered and removed i can get that done from my friendly neighbourhood pc repair guy. i can flash it on pc and solder it back.
    My personal Acer m/c's
    1) Gaming: Acer Predator Helios 300 PH315-51
    Config:Core i5 8300H, 16GB, 250GB SSD, 1TB HDD, 1050ti GPU

    2) Daily Use: Acer Aspire A315-53  59GR
    Config: Core i5 8250u, 8GB, 256 SSD, 1TB HDD, IPS FHD 

    3) Linux Learning: Acer Aspire A315-53 P4MY
    Config: Pentium Gold 4417U, 8 GB, 256 SSD, 500GB HDD.
  • fejerm
    fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
    what about the vbois on a helios 300 with 1050i chip. can it be modded, if so how to do it. i mean what setting to change in vbois. ( if 1050i has seperate vbois i can read the rom , that is no lroblem.)
    i have no issues with flashing through spi programmer as i have all the accessories llike 1.8v adapter, and the chip clip etc ..

    if the vbois chip needs to be desoldered and removed i can get that done from my friendly neighbourhood pc repair guy. i can flash it on pc and solder it back.
    If it is not built in the system bios, then yes.
  • Red-Sand
    Red-Sand ACE Posts: 1,892 Pathfinder
    edited January 2019
    I would like to apologize I was vague and didn't read what you posted 100%. Its nice to see someone understand what they are talking about 😁.

    That being said I do believe it's built into the system BIOs. Thus why shunt modifying has been the only course of action for TDP.
    BUT.. the only people I've known to utilize a shunt mod ended up with a fried mobo... no idea why as they were all competent at modding.
    - Hotel Hero
  • Red-Sand
    Red-Sand ACE Posts: 1,892 Pathfinder
    Then again I have a very basic understanding and only use the SPI programmer to unlock my BIos for fan curve editing as well as CPU TDP.

    Beyond this is all speculation on my part.
    - Hotel Hero
  • fejerm
    fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
    edited January 2019 Answer ✓
    Update
    Found the vBIOS!
    It is NOT stored in the system bios, it is on a separate Macronix MX25U4033E chip! (as I suspected)
    The chip is on the same side as the System BIOS and EC chip (the other side of the motherboard). 

    Default TDP is 78W for the VGA and with OC maximum graphics score I was able to get was 12200 points in Fire Strike. 
    I have modded the vBIOS from 78W to 110W, now the max points have increased to 13467 ! Not bad compared to the factory default 11400 :) 


    Was a bit tricky to flash the modded vBIOS. 
    An RT809F SPI programmer gave validation error when reading the factory vBIOS. 
    Then we tried an TL866CS which was able to read and save the vBIOS to an 512 kb ROM file. 

    However when writing the modded vBIOS (256 kb file saved with nvflash) the TL866CS gave write error. 
    However RT809F was able to write and verify it. 

    tl;dr: for saving an TL866CS was needed, for writing a RT809F :D 

    ps: funny thing is, the GTX 1060 still has some power throttling, so it wants to use even more than 110W :O but I am afraid to give more because it might damage some components. 
  • fejerm
    fejerm Member Posts: 97 Fixer WiFi Icon
    Oh, the new TDP after vBIOS mod (after running 1 Fire Strike test):



    A bit higher than the default 78W :astonished: