Has my GPU been flashed?

[DevaVictrix]

I've just bought a manufacturer refurbished GPU from a reputable seller that seems to be flashed but I'm not sure! What do you think?

It is supposed to be a Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480. All the packaging and stickers on the card and the design of the card show it IS an RX480.

AMD drivers are up to date but report it to be an RX 580. Windows, GPU-Z and 3d Mark also report it to be an RX 580. I guess this could be because the drivers say it is!? The alarm bells are ringing!

When I check the Vendor/DeviceID it comes back as an RX480.

So it must be a flashed card.

But when I started benchmarking it I noticed all the timings run at RX 480 speeds. I dug a bit deeper and using TechPowerUps database it seems the BIOS installed on the card is an RX480 BIOS.

Could it simply be that the drivers are misreporting the card (for god only knows what reason!) or that it has been flashed.

[nullable]

Where did you buy it from, and how you determine a reputable seller exactly?

I mean either scenario is plausible. Depending on a few more details that might tip the scales one way or another a bit more.

[DevaVictrix]

Ultimately, it came from eBay but the seller is a large scale legit organisation. It sells hundreds of every model, has been registered with companies house for nearly 30 years and is owned by VIP Group... it's huge turns over £100s of millions.

When I finished playing with benchmarks I'll see what Linux says.

[nullable]

Well as you describe it sounds like the seller wouldn't be scamming you at least, but maybe has an issue with their source. If you can sufficiently prove to yourself it's flashed you could probably take it up with the seller. And eBay has pretty good buyer protections.

[DevaVictrix]

Linux also says it's an RX580. Someone has done something to it. I don't want to send it back because there isn't anything wrong with it. Having said that I bet if I need to use the 12month warranty they'll say I broke it trying to flash it! It'll have to go back. :-(

No more eBay purchases for me... the i5 6600 that also arrived today is horribly unstable, and an old Socket A board I bought for fun isn't the model they said it is. Three purchases in the past week, all of which are poor!

[nullable]

Yeesh. I mean I've never been against eBay or used, but it's hard to ignore a string of luck like that.

[-=SOF=-WID99]

why worry about it the 480 vs 580 vs difference is minimal .. may be a what new AMD drivers detect .. some 480 cards HAVE THE SAME PIXEL AND VERTEX SHADERS then the 580 cards

480
2304xPS 5.0
2304xVS 5.0

580 CARDS
2304xPS 5.0
2304xVS 5.0

see http://www.pchardwarelinks.com/video.htm

also some cards may have a higher clock speed .depending on model and memory chips and bin of the vid chip ..you may have won the silicone lottery

its just another AMD rebrand with better mem chips and binned chips they did the same with older cards too

[Carlsberg]

There are bios flashes around that flash a 480 with a 580 bios. will make the card run at 580 speeds so a little performance boost, the only real downside is that they run hotter. If that is what you have and you decide to keep it i would suggest you monitor your temps until your sure its ok.

Some cards are dual bios depending on manufacturer, if so you may have a safety net in the form of another bios.

[DevaVictrix]

Thanks for the replies. The seller said they buy the cards direct from Sapphire and that they will warrant the 12 month warranty regardless.

I'm still done with eBay buying!

[FluffyPinkDecoyBunny]

If you're still looking for help on the card, post on techpowerup - I want to say it's user eidairaman1 on TPU that's extremely knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to identifying cards. There are other folks on there that are really skilled at digging through BIOS for GPUs and MBs and modding them.

If by some chance the card is legit 480 and has a 480 BIOS, but reading as a 580 on GPU-Z, W1zzard on TPU would probably like to know since he wrote the program so he can figure out where the possible bug is.

[Snow]

Originally posted by DevaVictrix:

there isn't anything wrong with it.

Then why do you even think about it? Consider it factory overclock, which, if you don't like, you can tune back via MSI AB or something. It is a perfectly working card, just enjoy it.

[DevaVictrix]

Thanks guys. It is a bit of a mystery card tbh.

To be clear... it is definitely an RX480, refurbished by Sapphire (the seller confirmed today) and resold by a huge, legit, IT company.

Everything suggests its an RX480 - clock speeds, power (120w), performance (albeit tested with an i3-6100), temps when compared to flashed cards (70c max). It's simply always described as an RX580 in every check I've made in both Linux and Windows.

I'm now content with my £65 purchase and confirmation of a 12month warranty. And, certainly enjoying the performance boost - I used to get 60fps and drops with my R9 380 in WoT. Same CPU and 90-120fps and no drops. I didn't expect the drops to stop!

Shame the i5-6600 I bought off eBay is a pile of crap!

I think i'll be looking at a new m/b and CPU very soon. Second-hand (risk) i7-6700 for £150+ or an i3-9100 and m/b for £200 ish....

[Snow]

Originally posted by DevaVictrix:

I think i'll be looking at a new m/b and CPU very soon. Second-hand (risk) i7-6700 for £150+ or an i3-9100 and m/b for £200 ish....

You should totally check the AMD prices, as for 200ish you can get Ryzen 5 3600 and B450 motherboard. Anything below i7-9700k is out of competition now, especially i3-9100 which is only around 15% faster than your i5-6600 and has only 4 cores 4 threads.

Originally posted by DevaVictrix:

To be clear... it is definitely an RX480, refurbished by Sapphire (the seller confirmed today) and resold by a huge, legit, IT company.

Everything suggests its an RX480 - clock speeds, power (120w), performance (albeit tested with an i3-6100), temps when compared to flashed cards (70c max). It's simply always described as an RX580 in every check I've made in both Linux and Windows.

Looks like someone just flushed it with RX 580 BIOS before it was sent back to get refub. But since 480 and 580 are literally the same card with different clocks, it's quite a common practice to flash 580 BIOS on 480 card to get a bit higher base clocks.
Then again, it's easy to downclock and undervolt. My RX 480, which is piece of crap Red Dragon model, had some insane voltages, so I had to reduce them quite a bit. Right now it's on 1200MHz core, 1750MHz memory and 0.960 V. It sure can go way higher on core clock, but my PSU really doesn't like it.

[DevaVictrix]

Thanks for your reply. I'll start a new thread on the new m/b and cpu options... it's a bit of a minefield when you are on a budget. I realise the Ryzens are the way to go but my requirements are low and i3 9100s are cheap. The i5 6600 I bought needs to go back. Linux or Windows won't boot. I'm stuck to my old i3-6100 and RX480.

The game I play the most is WoT in SD on a 60hz monitor. Ultimately, I want to play in HD at 144hz. I know the RX480 might struggle with that but its one step closer... if the bloody i5 was working!

[r.linder]

I wouldn't really complain if it was flashed, because that's a free performance boost on a cooler that can take it.

[DevaVictrix]

tbh, there's no boost. It runs at 1306mhz on GPU and 1750mhz on RAM. I've used the auto-overclock option in the drivers which has taken it to 1376mhz and 1750mhz and it still runs at 70c. I think the 580s run at over 1400mhz?

I was initially worried about my warranty and should I return a 'good' card. I've been told my warranty stands so I'm happy. £65... it turned out to be the bargain I hoped it was.